Two ceiling fans on a single control?

HerHusband · 2006-06-15T15:21:04+00:00

My in-laws have two ceiling fans in their living room. Currently the lights are controlled by two separate light switches (in one box), and the fans are controlled by pull strings. As part of a rewiring project, I'd like to rewire the fans to be controlled by wall controls instead of the pull strings.So, I'm curious if I could wire both ceiling fans to a single control?Each fan has 4 lights, so that's about 480 watts for the lights. I assume I should be OK there as long as I get a control with the proper wattage rating.What I don't know is how two fan motors would cope on a single speed control? Would this cause any problems?Thanks,Anthony

Jun 15, 2006 23 Replies

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HerHusband 20 years ago

Single wide box (single gang).

It's where the original light switch was before the ceiling fans were installed.

Anthony

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lee_houston 20 years ago

Anthony, even if you find a single control for both fans, it would not fit in your "1/2 depth" outlet box. seems you'll have to make other arrangements. Is there perhaps a 'kinder, gentler' place to put the new box (wood rather than lath)?

lee h

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HerHusband 20 years ago

"IF" I could find the single control for both fans, I would be willing to relocate the box on the other side of the wall in the kitchen. This would let me use a full depth box in the living room.

We cleaned and painted the living room a few years back and it still looks nice. I hate to tear into that unless I have to.

The kitchen is still in dire need of improvement, so a patch in the wall wouldn't look out of place there. :)

Still, it seems like the only real solution is to replace the single gang box with a double or triple box.

I'm thinking a triple box which would let me use three slider controls. One for the lighting, and one for each fan. Simple generic stuff I can pick up at any home center.

Anthony

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