Ceiling Fan - Operating A Ceiling Fan

Operating A Ceiling Fan

The way in which a fan is operated depends on its manufacturer, style, and the era in which it was made. Operating methods include:

• Pull-chain/pull-cord control. This is the most common method of operation for household fans. This style of fan is equipped with a metal-bead chain or cloth cord which, when pulled, cycles the fan through the operational speed(s) and then back to off. These fans typically have three speeds (high, medium, and low); however, the speed range can be anywhere from one through four.

• Variable-speed control. During the 1970s and 1980s, fans were often produced with a variable-speed control. This was a dial mounted on the fan which, when turned in either direction, continuously varied the speed at which the blades rotated—similar to a dimmer switch for a light fixture. A few fans substituted a rotary click-type switch for the infinite-speed dial, providing a set number of speeds (usually five).
  • Different fan manufacturers used the variable-speed control in different ways:
    • The variable-speed dial controlling the fan entirely; to turn the fan on, the user turns the knob until it clicks out of the "off" position, and can then choose the fan's speed.
    • A pull-chain present along with the variable-speed control; the dial can be set in one place and left there, with the pull-chain serving only to turn the fan on and off. Many of these fans have an option to wire the light kit to this pull-chain in order to control both the fan and the light with one chain. Using this method, the user can have either the fan or light on individually, both on, or both off.
    • "Vari-Low": A pull-chain and variable-speed control are present. Such a fan has two speeds controlled by a pull-chain: high (full power, independent of the position of the variable-speed control), and variable (speed determined by the position of the variable-speed control).
• Wall-mounted control. Some fans have their control(s) mounted the wall instead of on the fans themselves; such controls are usually proprietary and/or specialized switches.
  • Digital control. With this style of control, all of the fan's functions—on/off status, speed, direction of rotation, and any attached light fixtures—are controlled by a computerized wall control, which typically does not require any special wiring. Instead, it uses the normal house wiring to send coded electrical pulses to the fan, which decodes and acts on them using a built-in set of electronics. This style of control typically has anywhere from three to six speeds.

• • Choke. This style of switch takes varying physical forms. The wall control, which contains a motor speed regulator of some sort, determines how much power is delivered to the fan and therefore how fast it spins. Older such controls employed a choke—a large iron-cored coil—as their regulator; these controls were typically large, boxy, and surface-mounted on the wall. They had anywhere from four to eight speeds, typically four or five. Newer versions of this type of control do not use a choke as such, but much smaller electronic circuitry; the switch is typically mounted in a standard in-wall gang box.
  • Solid state variable speed control. These controls, commonly used on industrial fans, can control more than one (up to 15) fans with one switch. 2.5 to 6 amp controls typically mount in place of a typical wall switch, while 8 to 15 amp controls are larger.

• Wireless remote control. In recent years, remote controls have dropped in price to become cost-effective for controlling ceiling fans. They may be supplied with fans, or fitted to an existing fan. The hand-held remote transmits radio frequency or infrared control signals to a receiver unit installed in the fan.