Ceiling Fan Installation Cost

How Much Does Ceiling Fan Installation Cost?

Installing a ceiling fan is a great way to get some air circulation during hot summer days and moving air always feels cooler even though it's actually the same temperature!

But ceiling fans can also help your central heating to circulate the warm air in winter that often collects at the ceiling and is wasted. So, ceiling fans are not just stylish, they are functional too as well as being much more more cost-effective than air conditioning.

Ceiling fans require very little energy to run with little in the way of ongoing running costs, using less than a fiver's worth of electricity per year at current prices.

This article is designed to be a beginner's guide to installing ceiling fans, covering typical costs, frequently asked questions, DIY tips and advice on hiring contractors for the job.

Any other jobs I could do at the same time?

If fitting a ceiling fan then this could be a good time to update the decoration, especially if you have not painted the roof for a few years. The last thing you want is everyone looking at your new fan and noticing the grubby ceiling!

In addition, there may be some light damage around the ceiling if removing the old light fitting to fit a combined fan and light. So use this as a good excuse to redecorate the room, then you can show off your new fan without embarrassment!

When you remove the old light fitting and expose the old wiring, if the wiring is obviously very old, it could also be a good idea to consider rewiring your home. Though old wiring may not necessarily be faulty or dangerous, it is likely not designed to cope with modern living.

Can I do this myself?

Adding a ceiling fan to a room is a fairly simple project for the average DIY enthusiast. Most modern homes are built with light fixtures in the centre of the room's ceiling, which is an easy place to fit and connect a ceiling fan. Simply remove the light fixture and install the fan in its place. This drastically reduces the amount of work required as you have all the necessary wiring already in place.

Ceiling fans come in a variety of shapes and sizes to accommodate the needs of a variety of different rooms. Determining the correct fan size is worked out based on the dimensions of the room. So, for example, in a room where the largest wall is 12 feet or less, a 36 inch diameter fan will be sufficient.

Whereas a larger room with a wall 21 feet in length will require a 60 inch fan. In fact, with larger rooms it is sometimes better to fit two small fans rather than one large one, this is straightforward as larger rooms often already have two ceiling light fittings.

There are a number of different types of fans to choose from, the main choices being: low-profile fans, ceiling fan downrods or ceiling fans with lights. Low profile ceiling fans have the fan blades mounted closer to the ceiling, so that even in rooms with lower ceilings you can still maintain a 7-foot clearance above the floor.

Conversely, in rooms with higher than average ceilings, the ceiling fan can be mounted using an extended downrod to drop the height of the blades down to 7 feet above the floor. Usually these extended downrods do not come as standard with the ceiling fan kit and need to be purchased separately.

Most ceiling fans come with integral lights or at least the option of adding lights to them. This means you can use the existing wiring for double duty, providing both air movement and lighting for the room.

If you are not confident with wiring, then you should probably get a tradesman in to connect up the fan (though for this type of work a qualified electrician is not required). The wiring in the ceiling can often be very old and it is not immediately obvious how to connect up the fan fitting correctly.

Wiring the fan up wrong will, at the very least, pop the breaker in the consumer unit, but could also damage the fan and could be dangerous. So if unsure, leave it to a professional. For peace of mind, you can get quotes from local electricians using the "Get Quotes" button in the top right corner. Simply describe what job you would like doing and wait for local trades to get in contact.

50%

Materials
£75

50%

Tradesmen
£75

0%

Waste Removal
£0

FAQ's

Do ceiling fans require any special wiring and are they difficult to fit?

No not really, a ceiling fan with or without integral lighting can be wired into an existing lighting circuit and is a pretty simple DIY job. But if you are in any doubt about the wiring, then consult a qualified electrician. Ceiling fan kits will also come with wiring diagrams which often show the most likely ceiling wiring configurations.

How much does a ceiling fan cost to run?

Modern fans run off the standard lighting circuit and are very economical, costing less than a 100w light bulb to run, just pennies for hours of use at current electricity prices.