How can i mount a ceiling fan?

[sbishop]

the wife has been after me now for 1 no 2..actually 4 years now to mount a ceiling fan in our dining room. I keep telling the wife i have other priority's (cabin....HA)

Well, i need to get it done before the snow goes or there will be no cabin this year 

The ceiling in the dining room has a 9/12 pitch and the wire is coming out in the middle of the room at the peek, i need to mount an electrical box to hold the fan.

So here is my question,any suggestions on how to mount an electrical box at the peek of a 9/12 pitch?

Thanks for any help in advance.

Sbishop

[Raider Bill]

You will need a long drop rod the clear the ceiling.
I saw a cabin where the guy took a stump drilled a hole down the middle, cut the top end to match his pitch and mounted to that. It wasn't a big stump. Looked real nice.

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah I had one of those drop rods here. The ceiling mount for the rod has a swing base. I must have taken it back, as I just looked for it.

I have a ceiling fan on a 10 foot high ceiling. I thought I would use it, but I used longer pull chains instead to adjust the fan speed and lighting intensity. It was a little too long for me anyway, I think 3 feet. Wasn't thinking clearly that day. :

[Fla._Deadheader]

Any place you buy the fan will have everything you need to install it. As mentioned, measure the width of the space, so the blades will clear the ceiling by MORE than 6 inches each side. First time you turn the fan on, you MIGHT have to balance it. On a long drop it will gyroscope a bit, and, 6 inches gets taken up FAST.

  Have had to re-do several after clients tried to do it first  : : :

  There is a pancake-shallow electrical box, that you screw to the center beam, and go from there. Trim covers the box, later.

[Onthesauk]

Out here, at least in new construction, the box for a fan is different then the box for a light.  Much sturdier.  Not sure how you retro it though.

[Warbird]

Are you wanting to hide the box inside the ceiling?  If not, you should not need to retrofit the box too much.  Just get one of the sturdy metal boxes and make sure you get 4 screws into studs.  After that, simply get a fan with plenty of poles to drop it down far enough so you get the 6+ inches of clearance on each side, like the other guys said.  The guys at the store should be able to answer all your questions and make sure you get a fan made to have so much extension in it (it will need to have enough electrical wire to feed through the poles).

[CLL]

Sbishop, don't do it!! I put one up for my wife and now we have ceiling fans in every room in the house except the bathroom. On top of that we have to turn a box fan on so she can sleep of a night. With high ceilings they may be ok, but with eight foot ceilings I absolutely hate them.

[SwampDonkey]

I have mine over where I sleep. I can't sleep with it on, but on the other hand can't sleep if it's hot. It's not that it's noisy, it's quite quiet. No more noise than a furnace fan. But fortunately this old house is well insulated from the heat as well as the cold. So 6 of one thing and a dozen of another. ;D

[logwalker]

 I dropped a 8"x8" from the peak so I could use a 5' pole and it worked well.

[Raider Bill]

I dropped a 8"x8" from the peak so I could use a 5' pole and it worked well.

Log Walker
Love that heavy metal look!

[OneWithWood]

Be sure and use long and sturdy lag screws.  Through bolts would be even better.  The box will be supporting a good bit of weight that does not necessarily stay still.

[maple flats]

Absolutely, reguardless of code requirements or not, use a fan support rated box and anchor it as recommended on the package. The weight and constant vibration weaken regular mounts, break mounting ears and/or screws. Use the right box. After that use whatever you want to dress it up or drop it down as long as the support is good. If a box or mount breaks it could spark a fire and no one ever wants a fire in their house outside a woodstove or fireplace. As mentioned above, if you use a drop leg it is designed to acommodate the vibration without harm.

[rowerwet]

if your current box is not rated for a fan or is mounted between rafters/joists, get one of those boxes with a jackscrew rod that screws into two opposing studs, then the box attaches to the jackscrew rod, it is set up so all the work can be done through the exsisting hole in the ceiling (assuming you have drywall ceilings)
I have a ceiling fan in the master bedroom with a remote that can control the light level, and the fan speed, it will also turn on the fan automaticly when the room temp hits your set temp, each 4 degrees above that it turns up the fan speed, nice for those nights when it is very hot at bed time but you  don't want to be frozen out during the night. Also nice for me as I work nights and as it heats up in the morning the fan comes on to keep me cool. It also has a timer for the light (never used it yet), and the light comes on at its lowest level and then runs up to the last setting each time the switch is turned on so the bulbs last longer with a "soft" start.