Fan Wiring and Dimmer Switches...

[funkydiver]

OK, firstly, I've searched the posts and found no mention so far... so apologies if this question has already been asked.

AS some of you know I move soon.

Currently in the lounge (& dining room but this aint an issue) there is a ceiling fan light combo, which we're going to replace during the course of the rewire.

The dilema...

We'd like to be able to control the light bit using remote dimmer identified in another post on the forum (lazy I know)

We also like a nice fan that the wife has seen in the B&Q lighting range which has it's own remote, to replace the existing one...

I never dealt with one of these units, so this question might sound daft.

Are the supply circuits for fan and lighting seperate, so we can operate them independantly? i.e. use dimmer on lights and use fan with lights off when necessary... say to cool the room with all the lights off...

Many thanks...

FD

 

[Big_Spark]

Without lookinf at the actual fan in question I do not think anyone can answer this question for you. The majority only have a single input and this is split via internal wiring to the various units that control the light.

If you dim the light, you will have an effect on the motor and it will draw more current via the circuit and so be a fault risk.

Unlike DC motors, the speed of an ac motor is determined by the supply frequency, not the voltage. The dimmer will, in effect, drop the voltage to the fitting, but as the resistance of the motor will remain the same, the load drawn will increase proportionatley with the decrease in voltage.

If you halved the voltage, you double the current drawn.

I would think this is impossible without some serious reworking of the internal wiring of the fitting and providing two independant feeds to the unit.

 

[funkydiver]

Cheers FWL, I didn't think it would be that straight forward...

However, seeing as how the old one is coming down anyway (as it is GOPPING!!) might give me a chance to have a bit of an explore of the internal workings... vis a vis a rewire on the new one