We’ve helped you choose your fan and given you the pros and cons of various switching options. Now the easy part: actually installing it.
Start by checking the mounting of the fixture box. With the existing light fixture removed, you should be able to see if it’s screwed securely into a joist or mounted on a metal bracket setup. It may not be. Some past retro-fitter (not you, of course) may have simply jammed a box up there and trusted it would hold. If this is the case, you’ll need to get access to the ceiling joists. If you’re lucky, you can do it through the attic.
Chances are though, it’s secure. And if you’re going for a basic two-way switch, cord-pulling setup, you’re nearly done. Shut off the power to the circuit, remove the existing light fixture, and hook up the fan to the wires, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Turn the power back on, and you’re in business.
If you have a three-wire switch to the light already, hook one hot wire to the motor wire, and the other to the light (making sure the motor and lights are hooked to the correct wires on the fancy light setting/fan speed switch you’ve picked up.) Connect neutral to neutral, and ground to both the box’s grounding screw and to the ground wire.
There’s another wrinkle here we hesitate to even mention, but if you had a 3-wire going to the light already, you probably had two switches controlling the light. Space doesn’t really permit, so talk to us or an electrician to decipher your switch wiring if this is your setup.
If the fan wobbles when you turn it on, use the balancing magnets supplied with many kits, and adjust it till it’s running smoothly and noiselessly.