How much should my ceiling fan installation cost?
July 23, 2015 11:22 AM Subscribe
We're looking to have two ceiling fans installed, and have gotten a couple of estimates that are much higher than we anticipated. Any educated guesses as to what this might cost in your neck of the woods?
We're not replacing a light or an old fan, so electric will have to be run in both cases.
Ceiling Fan #1:
This is the tougher install. The peak of our room is around 16 feet, and there's no easy way to get to where we want to hang the fan. There's electricity close by in an attic. (See this image -- we want the fan to go somewhere vaguely near the skylight. The door leads to a large attic that has electric in it.)
Ceiling Fan #2:
This one is in a smallish (12x12) bedroom w/ 7.5 foot ceilings. There are multiple sources of electricity nearby, including a switch on the wall and in the attic from the picture in the first description, which is directly on top of the bedroom.
Could you hazard a guess as to what this might cost? As I said, we've gotten a couple of quotes, but I don't want to bias you by telling you what they are.
We're new homeowners, and are feeling a bit down about the difficulty of finding service people who don't seem to be out to take as much money as they can get. Just trying to suss out whether that's what's happening with these quotes or not.
We're in rural New England, so if your experience is elsewhere, just let me know. Thanks!
We're not replacing a light or an old fan, so electric will have to be run in both cases.
Ceiling Fan #1:
This is the tougher install. The peak of our room is around 16 feet, and there's no easy way to get to where we want to hang the fan. There's electricity close by in an attic. (See this image -- we want the fan to go somewhere vaguely near the skylight. The door leads to a large attic that has electric in it.)
Ceiling Fan #2:
This one is in a smallish (12x12) bedroom w/ 7.5 foot ceilings. There are multiple sources of electricity nearby, including a switch on the wall and in the attic from the picture in the first description, which is directly on top of the bedroom.
Could you hazard a guess as to what this might cost? As I said, we've gotten a couple of quotes, but I don't want to bias you by telling you what they are.
We're new homeowners, and are feeling a bit down about the difficulty of finding service people who don't seem to be out to take as much money as they can get. Just trying to suss out whether that's what's happening with these quotes or not.
We're in rural New England, so if your experience is elsewhere, just let me know. Thanks!
When we built our house we were quoted $250/fan for the framing of the fan box and new electrical. Actual cost of the fan was extra.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:44 AM on July 23, 2015
posted by blue_beetle at 11:44 AM on July 23, 2015
Best answer: Does installation cover cosmetic stuff (any patching or repainting of the drywall) ?
This is the big question for me. Are they planning on running conduit over the existing ceiling/drywall to the fan and to the switch locations, or are they planning on running the electricity in the walls? Conduit will look cheap, but running it through the walls or ceiling will increase the cost considerably. For your second fan, they can probably access an electrical connection directly through the attic, but getting to a wall switch might be tricky. Even if the attic is closeby, there's no way to get electricity from there to the first fan location without ripping up that ceiling and drilling through the roof rafters or running conduit along the ceiling to wherever you want the fan.
I think proximity of electrical service is a bit of a red herring here - a modern home will have some kind of wiring in nearly every wall of the building. Electrical cord costs money, but it shouldn't be the most expensive thing for a fan installation.
posted by LionIndex at 11:45 AM on July 23, 2015
This is the big question for me. Are they planning on running conduit over the existing ceiling/drywall to the fan and to the switch locations, or are they planning on running the electricity in the walls? Conduit will look cheap, but running it through the walls or ceiling will increase the cost considerably. For your second fan, they can probably access an electrical connection directly through the attic, but getting to a wall switch might be tricky. Even if the attic is closeby, there's no way to get electricity from there to the first fan location without ripping up that ceiling and drilling through the roof rafters or running conduit along the ceiling to wherever you want the fan.
I think proximity of electrical service is a bit of a red herring here - a modern home will have some kind of wiring in nearly every wall of the building. Electrical cord costs money, but it shouldn't be the most expensive thing for a fan installation.
posted by LionIndex at 11:45 AM on July 23, 2015
The question regarding #1 is whether the area above that ceiling is accessible in any way. If not, the job gets more complicated in terms of having to snake wires into that area from somewhere. Assuming it has to be snaked, I would add a few hundred bucks to k5's estimate. Learn how to do the drywall patching yourself so you only have to deal with an electrician.
posted by beagle at 11:46 AM on July 23, 2015
posted by beagle at 11:46 AM on July 23, 2015
When we built our house we were quoted $250/fan for the framing of the fan box and new electrical.
And this was with exposed framing where they could still run electricity wherever they wanted right?
posted by LionIndex at 11:47 AM on July 23, 2015
And this was with exposed framing where they could still run electricity wherever they wanted right?
posted by LionIndex at 11:47 AM on July 23, 2015
I just had a ceiling fan installed and it was $300-500 (sorry for vagueness, I can't remember exactly). However, it was replacing an existing ceiling light fixture so no additional wires or switches needed to be run into place. Additionally, the room was only about 9 feet tall so installation was pretty easy. This was in Seattle.
posted by joan_holloway at 11:48 AM on July 23, 2015
posted by joan_holloway at 11:48 AM on July 23, 2015
I believe all ceiling fans need a box with hanger bar for support. Getting access to install this will complicate the installation.
posted by H21 at 11:56 AM on July 23, 2015
posted by H21 at 11:56 AM on July 23, 2015
Response by poster: Does installation cover cosmetic stuff (any patching or repainting of the drywall) ?
Nope. Both electricians have said that would be up to us.
There's electricity there, but can the fans be installed on the circuit nearby ?
Yes.
Are there joists nearby that the fan can easily be rigged to ?
Not sure, so let's assume no. And the area directly above the ceiling is inaccessible, so they'll have to snake wires (either from the attic or from somewhere else).
We already have the fans, as well as the downrod and special mount for our sloped ceiling.
Thanks for the help so far!
posted by nosila at 11:56 AM on July 23, 2015
Nope. Both electricians have said that would be up to us.
There's electricity there, but can the fans be installed on the circuit nearby ?
Yes.
Are there joists nearby that the fan can easily be rigged to ?
Not sure, so let's assume no. And the area directly above the ceiling is inaccessible, so they'll have to snake wires (either from the attic or from somewhere else).
We already have the fans, as well as the downrod and special mount for our sloped ceiling.
Thanks for the help so far!
posted by nosila at 11:56 AM on July 23, 2015
Best answer: The problem you have in #1 is that the ceiling is narrow, and almost certainly packed with insulation. That will make pulling wires harder - and they have to go all the way across and down and then get to a switch. I would bet that would be probably 3-4 hours of work at least, plus the time to hang the fan and so on. So, probably 5-6 hours.
So, if I were getting quotes, I'd expect they would be in the 1000 dollar range for that one job, and possibly a bit more. It's a two man job, so even at 100 dollars/hr per person (which is low), you are looking at 1200 dollars. The second job is more straightforward, but still. For both, 1500-2000 dollars doesn't seem out of line - and maybe quite a bit higher depending on going rates where you are at.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 12:03 PM on July 23, 2015
So, if I were getting quotes, I'd expect they would be in the 1000 dollar range for that one job, and possibly a bit more. It's a two man job, so even at 100 dollars/hr per person (which is low), you are looking at 1200 dollars. The second job is more straightforward, but still. For both, 1500-2000 dollars doesn't seem out of line - and maybe quite a bit higher depending on going rates where you are at.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 12:03 PM on July 23, 2015
For your #2, for reference, we had a similar install done and it was around $400 and that's the really easy one. So the other would go up from there. I agree with estimates in the $1000 - $1500 range.
Edit: New Jersey; but more rural than city.
posted by Busmick at 12:17 PM on July 23, 2015
Edit: New Jersey; but more rural than city.
posted by Busmick at 12:17 PM on July 23, 2015
Best answer: If you're not afraid of the drywall work, you can make this considerably easier and cheaper by just telling them not to be dainty and knock holes in the ceiling wherever they need to to get the wire through. That will make the cost much closer to what it would be if there were no drywall up yet at all.
posted by beagle at 1:36 PM on July 23, 2015
posted by beagle at 1:36 PM on July 23, 2015
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How many switches do you want ? (none is an option with a number of new fans that are all remote controlled)
There's electricity there, but can the fans be installed on the circuit nearby ? What's the household wiring like - modern romex or old mismatched stuff (rural NE says mismatched, and probably a fuse box, not a breaker box).
Does installation cover cosmetic stuff (any patching or repainting of the drywall) ?
Are there joists nearby that the fan can easily be rigged to ?
I mean, some of those are simple/easy, and some can be a real PITA to handle and deal with. (plus, what's the attic access like -- sure a door, but to a confined space, or pretty open space, etc). The fans themselves can go 300-600$, especially in the tall ceiling place, where it needs a long bar to support it. Then the fans need to be balanced (again could be trivial, could be PITA).
I'd like to think, just labor, it would be $200-300/fan to install, plus materials (fan, wire, switch, etc). If they have to run a lot of new wiring for a switch where there isn't one to piggy back off, etc, the cost just keeps going up.
posted by k5.user at 11:35 AM on July 23, 2015