More ceiling fan installation

Wow time flies! I haven't posted anything in over a month, and the first thing I post is about yet another: ceiling fan installation. Let's recap:

1. I've done the master bedroom
2. Keenans room
3. Karmen's room
4. And now my Mom's first floor bedroom
5. Still to be done: The living room, which I converted into my office
6. The guest bedroom...one day

At this point, this was my 4th ceiling fan installation. It should have been quicker right? Wrong! In all fairness, this one took a little bit longer because my Mom bought a different brand then the previous ones I had installed. Also, hers came with a remote kit that had to be installed.

Lessons leaned or things I've noted from this process include:

• The wires they fans come with are tooooooo long! As in, stuffing them into the ceiling fan casing while trying to not allow the wires to become disconnected is just a nuisance
• Make sure you have electrical tape on hand so you can wrap the wires together before you put the caps on. That was the mistake I made with my first installation in Keenan's room (not having electrical tape). 

In any event, mission was a success, and my Mom now has a working ceiling fan and light!

Note those pesky wires...

It's working!

And then let there be more light!

Having a black asphalt driveway can be (not) surprisingly difficult to navigate at night, especially when reversing down it as some (ok, just me) have a tendency to do. Also, for some reason or another, we didn't initially have our external lamp post installed at time of moving in. And while the lights around the garage and the garage floodlights do an awesome job of illuminating the parking pad portion of our driveway, I felt as if some runway lighting wouldn't hurt.

After a quick look on Amazon, I found some easy to install and inexpensive solution in terms of solar LED lights. While I was weary of the lights effectiveness, I took a flyer and ordered a set, in part do to mostly positive reviews and the quite reasonable price tag. Night time pictures aren't the strength of my phone's camera, but I'll let you be the judge of their effectiveness. Oddly enough, our PM stopped by our house for our 30 day move in meeting, or maybe it was a pre-30 day meeting? I can't remember. In any event, he put a rush order in to have our lamp post installed and he also noticed the lights I was preparing to install and remarked that he didn't think they'd do much (which in part, I think is what prompted him to put the rush order in, given how sad he thought the lights would be).







Overall, I have found them to be excellent. However, I think in part that's because each of the solar powered LED lights come equipped with a  factory pre-charged NiCAD battery. Thus for the first few nights, they shone bright. But I did notice the other night, that the nights were noticeably dimmer in some cases. I think that's because the batteries have now expended their initial charges, and have been relying on the partly cloudy winter day's to refuel themselves finally. And the results are so so. I'd still recommend them, but I can't give a true assessment until we get some sunny weather.

Ceiling Fan Installation: Let there be light

One of the things you may or may not consider when building a new home is: How am I going to illuminate this room? In our case, we decided on ceiling fans with light kits, and purchased ceiling fan rough-ins (at $250 a pop I believe) for every bedroom and the family room. To be clear, it's money well spent. As it gives you the option of not being forced to use lamps or have invasive drywall surgery done later in order to add the necessary components.

Here we are, vigorously patting ourselves on the back

While we were pleased that we got the necessary framework, we then realized that we actually needed to do work--or at least I did. So here was my first home project. Low hanging fruit right? Mind you, I'm an electrical engineer by trade, so I felt as if my efforts in this were definitely minimized by my fiance and father (also an electrical engineer). But I was proud of myself, so that's all that matters right??

We actually purchased ceiling fans a few days before we even closed, so that we could install them ASAP after moving in. And indeed, I decided to tackle installing my first one the day after we moved in. I won't bother you with all the details on how an estimated "1 hr" project turned into a 3hr project, filled with quiet curses, a frightened puppy based off random things falling (screws, tools, etc.,) and a sore back from standing and hunching on a step ladder. But overall, the initial ceiling fan installation, which was in Keenan's room, was 50% successful!

Editors note: Why just 50%? Well, let's just say that someone, namely the editor himself, didn't have any electrical tape on hand. And so while the light portion of the ceiling fan works, the ceiling fan motor wire most have come undone, because the caps that keep the wires in place likely fell off when I was installing it. No big deal overall, as it's winter and the ceiling fan portion definitely isn't needed and I can easily take it down, tape up the wires, and proceed from there. I just don't feel like doing it and will probably hold off til Spring at least.

So it begins

Not as fun as it looks

Ok, this isn't so bad!

Melo is unimpressed

That much closer. Also, notice all of that excess wire...stuffing that in was actually problematic

Success!!! Except, the motor wires apparently came off

Next up: Karmen's room. This went WAY smoother, after the lessons learned from Keenan's room. However, the challenge for this one was that I worked in the complete dark. Seriously, I had flashlights taped to the ceiling and all kinds of craziness. Yet, it worked!! Lights and fan.

Look at those fan blades spin

And the light works

Today, if all goes as planned, I'll tackle the master bedroom fan. Wish me luck.

Editors note: Master bedroom done!!