Just moved to new house 2 months ago. Bedroom ceiling fan/light fixture doesn't have any chains and did not have a remote with it. I have 2 wall switches, one turns the entire unit on/off and the other does nothing that I can tell. One switch on the fan unit with only function of switching blade direction. Aside from unscrewing the light bulbs anytime I want the fan on to sleep, or buy a remote, is there a way to control off/on function of fan seperatly from lights (not worried about adjusting the speed of the fan, just want to turn it off or on at current speed).
I assume I will eventually need an electrician or new fan/remote however those aren't options for me financially for at least 3more weeks. Seeing as to how it's a bit cold outside, I'd like to use my lights without needing to throw on a few extra layers every time or worse, walk in, flip the light switch to see where I'm gong and be instantly annoyed with the cold air and fact that I can't seem to fix the problem.
There are no brand symbols or names on the fan/light unit that I can see from below. have not seen ANY marks whatsoever but will add a comment if I figure out the brand of ceiling fan I'm dealing with. Most likely Hampton bay or the other "h" brand the commonly excludes pull chains on their ceiling units. And unit is 6yrs old or less (house is only about 6yrs old).
Is there a solution that doesn't involve dragging this on til I can replace the unit or remote?
Best Answer
Check the wiring of the fan (after taking the regular safety precaution of turning off the breaker and double checking that the wires aren't hot), chances are that there are 3 connections (besides ground): neutral, lamp and fan. It's very likely that lamp and fan are jumpered together.
To disable the fan entirely you can then simply remove the jumper and connect the switched live to only the lamp.
To fix it properly you can remove the jumper and connect a separate switched live wire from the second switch to the fan. If that isn't in place you will need to run that extra wire which can be difficult depending on access from above.