Ceiling fan/wiring questions

[Mike Ballard]

Hi -

I'd like to install a ceiling fan. The room it's going in has no existing wiring to the ceiling (no fans, overheard lights exist). We have 60-amp service and the fuse box is in the garage which is almost directly below the room I want the fan in (the garage ceiling is this room's floor). The fan housing says it draws less than one amp.

This room has the garage (where the fuse box is) almost directly below it and the attic directly above. In the attic I've found about a dozen or so cables(?) of Romex which have been brought up from the fuse box and the Romex fans out to different circuits in the house (where I imagine they drop down through the walls to the outlets).

My questions concern how to wire the fan:

1. Should I create a new circuit just for the fan, running new Romex from the fuse box up into the attic (just like the others)? If so, how do I fuse this circuit considering the fan only draws one amp or less? We have the older-style screw-in type fuse box and although I haven't checked yet I'm guessing I'm probably not going to find a 1-amp fuse to fit it;

1. Should I tap into one of the existing Romex cables in the attic passing near the room I want the fan in? By tap into I mean cut it in half and create a T (so that if the fan is removed/damaged/blown it doesn't break the already-existing circuit)?

Never having run Romex and not knowing about a 1-amp fuse this might be easier but it seems like it's a fire hazard since if the fan motor blows the circuit would still be live. But I don't know.

Obviously I'm not an electrician and have never done either of the two above before (running new Romex, making a T from existing Romex). But I have done other home electrical work so I'm not concerned about not being able to do it, just that I don't know which of the two would be proper/best.

Mike

[donald girod]

If you are serious about doing this yourself, you had better get some kind of book that shows basic wiring practices at the library. You CAN'T just cut into a wire and splice things together--all wiring has to be in approved boxes, and junction boxes have to be accessible. If you cut an existing wire, there usually won't be enough slack to make the splices in the box properly (you should have about a foot of slack), and so you will have to run new wire to wherever the wire you cut was coming from or going to. For this reason, you should instead find an existing box serving a circuit which has enough capacity for a fan, and run new cable from that box to wherever the fan is going to be. This will likely require fishing cable thru walls and so on.

And fuse size is not dictated by what devices are on the circuit, it is dictated by the size of wire in the circuit. #14 wire -> 15A or less, #12 wire -> 20A or less, and so on.

Please study up and learn enough to do this properly--don't go making some kind of major wiring error. You could cause a fire or worse, though it might not get you and your family, it could be the next people to live in the house. Many people in your position would simply bite the bullet and hire an electrician to do the job, and I think that may be your best bet as well. A ceiling fan is usually not a terribly expensive installation, though I sort of doubt you will get away for much under 2 or 3 hours of labor.

[Trent©]

No.

If you need to ask this question, you should not be wiring this fan yourself. Hire someone.

Yes...but tap into a junction box.

Another question that demonstrates you don't have enough basic knowledge to do this project.

That's pretty obvious. Either get educated about electricity and wiring...or hire someone to do the fan install for you.

Now THAT'S scary!!

Mike, your question about the FUSES shows your ignorance of wiring procedures. Its not just this particular installation where you have no knowledge.

With all due respect...hire someone.

Have a nice week...

Trent

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!

[Mike Ballard]

Wow - I returned hoping to find answers to OP and the first reply included helpful information but I'm a little unclear on what your post was supposed to add. I get the impression you think I shouldn't have stopped at a degree in electrical engineering and instead gone on to get a Ph.D. in "electrician"?

A shorted 1-amp device fused at wire capacity does nothing except insure the shorted device is continually fed current (until the wiring breaks down). I therefore see no reason to fuse a 1-amp, one-device circuit at wire capacity unless the wiring you prefer I use is speaker wire or something.

Since I'm unable to divine anything useful from your one-word answer, perhaps you'd care to share why you think I shouldn't have a ceiling fan on its own circuit?

Mike

[Gary Tait]

Becuase for the load, it is a waste of a fuse/breaker spot, and it is often easier to tie into an existing circuit than into fuse/breaker box.

[Trent©]

Exactly...if you want to perform as an 'electrician', that is. Yer not suggesting that the 2 are the same, are you? lol

Exactly.

I got that impression from your original post...the fact that you don't see the reasoning behind it. That's one of the reasons that electrical engineers and electricians perform different tasks in life.

I never said that...and that isn't what you asked.

Have a nice week...

Trent

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!