Our bedroom came with one that was on a remote only. It was super annoying, especially when the remote stopped working and battery change did not fix it. I DIYed a cheap fan that has pull chains, it’s ok but we would like to replace with something nicer and I think we will need an electrician to come in and add the switch. |
Mine are on remotes because I didn't want the extra expense and drywall work of running more wires and switches. But of course it can be done, your builder is wrong to tell you it cannot. |
We replaced a fan and had to do a remote because there wasn’t a wire installed for a wall switch. But if we had been opening up that ceiling/wall, they could have added the wire. |
Ours is on a remote but I just stuck the remote on the wall next to the switch with a velcro command strip, so its kind of like having 2 switches w the remote buttons. The rare times we need to control it remotely we pull it off but otherwise it stays on the wall so it doesn't get lost. |
You should be able to put them on dimmers to control speed. We have dimmers on our fans (2 kinds) and we can use the dimmers to control fan speeds. The oldest one has the wall switch dimmer that came with fan, the newest ones are just regular dimmers. |
Your builder is lazy and doesn’t want to pay for an electrician to connect the fan to a switch.
It’s an hour of labor, annd he doesn’t want to deal with it. This is a sign that he’s cutting corners on a lot of stuff and hoping that he can BS you to agree. |
Your electrician is an idiot. Anything that turns on and off a light is a switch. Of course any fixture can have a wall switch physically inserted on the line. What do they think circuit breakers are? |
It's not the switch on/off that's the problem - it's the switch that controls the fan speed. Only ones rated for a motor and not for a dimmer should be used. |
Sounds like someone doesn't want to deal with running the wires to install a wall switch. |
This. Ours are all replacing existing fans and are on remotes but those are mounted on the switch with a little plate. So I can take the remote with me or just use it at the switch. However when the remote fails it's a PITA as the fan won't turn on. |
With Minka fans you can order a wall switch as an extra item - not just a holder for the remote but a hardwired wall switch. It doesn’t come with the fan but controls the fan and the fan light. |
Have you read the NEC? Ceiling fans have the ability to run a single line now. Your builder is right. It reduces the number of hot wires in yiur boxes. |
We have something similar to this on all of ours. The bottom toggle controls the light and the top thing controls the speeds of the fan. Down is fan off.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Skylark-Fa...FSQ-LFH-WH/100399014 |
Similar here-the fan came with a holder for the remote that could be attached to the wall. But I also think your builder is lazy or ignorant. |