How Much Does It Cost To Install A Ceiling Fan?

Ceiling Fan Installation Cost

The average cost of ceiling fan installation is $75 to $150 with most homeowners spending around $150 to $350 for both parts and labor. Hiring a handyman costs $50 to $80 per hour to install ceiling fan and typically takes 1.5 to 2 hours. If a professional is needed, an electrician's hourly rate averages $85–$100 per hour and it will usually take two hours or more for new wiring.

If you need to cool a room in your home without huge expense, a ceiling fan will help considerably by moving stale air and introducing breeze at a reasonable price. Let's go over the cost factors that will affect the cost of installing a ceiling fan.

Table Of Contents

1. Ceiling Fan Installation Cost
2. Cost To Replace Ceiling Fan
• By Room Size
• By Fan Type
3. Installing Ceiling Fan With Downrod
4. Installing Outdoor Ceiling Fan
5. Install a Ceiling Fan Where No Fixture Exists
6. Additional Ceiling Fan Features
7. Buying The Right Ceiling Fan
8. Ceiling Fan Installation Near Me

Cost To Replace Ceiling Fan

With a wide range of ceiling fan products on the market, you can a spend little or a lot depending on the features you want and the brand you choose. Ceiling fans are not always increasingly more expensive as the blade span increases in size. You can find more ornate, higher-end 36” fans for the same price as a more entry level 72” fan. Entry level 29” ceiling fans start around $30 and can go as high as $1,100, and on the other end of the scale, 72” fans can start around $180 and go as high as $1,300.

Room Size

Fan manufacturer Delmar suggests buying based on the square footage of a room. Fan prices below are from Lowes.com.

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Ceiling Fan Types

• Standard – This is the most common fan found in residential homes. Standard ceiling fans usually have 5 blades and come with a built-in light fixture. Average costs range from $50 to $300.
• Low Profile – Low-profile fans are suitable for a home with ceilings 8’ or under and keep the blades close to the ceiling. Also known as flush mount or hugger-fans. Like standard fans, average costs range from $50 to $300.
• Hanging Propeller – This fan is built for ceilings 9’ or higher and is hung down from a downrod, which keeps the blades at around 7’ from the floor. Typical costs range from $150 to $550
• Directional – Similar to a standing fan, directional fans can be pointed in any direction you would like. They can cost anywhere from $150 to $800+
• Rotational – Rotational fans are dual-motor fans with dual-heads. Each head rotates on a downrod axis and can be pointed in any direction. These fans cost $200 to $1,500+ on average.

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Installing Ceiling Fan With Downrod

The standard minimum distance between the floor and the blades of a ceiling fan is around 7 feet. Most homes have an 8-foot ceiling height, so homeowners will either have the ceiling fan mounted flush with the ceiling or with a low-profile 3” to 6” pole called a downrod. For ceilings with a height greater than 8 feet, installers will use a pole to connect the motor housing of the ceiling fan to the ceiling mount. Depending on the size and finish you need, your costs will land somewhere between $6 for a 3” and $80 for a 72” rod.

Downrods are available in diameters between ½” and 1” to suit the type of fan being installed. Here are the common downrod sizes based on ceiling height according to ceiling fan manufacturer Del Mar. ^[4]

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Installing Outdoor Ceiling Fan

Ceiling fans designed for exterior installation are designed to handle both a wetter and windier environment. In regards to the potential moisture exposure, the global safety consulting and certification company UL LLC has created three rating classifications so homeowners can safely purchase the right fan for the desired location.

• Dry Rated – Fans with this rating are only suitable for the interior of a home in areas where there will not be any exposure to moisture. Such locations include, but are not limited to, bedrooms, dining rooms, finished basements, a foyer, or a living room. Dry rated ceiling fans range from $50–$565.
• Damp Rated – This rating indicates suitability for use in both interior and exterior areas where exposure to damp conditions is a likely, regular occurrence. Interior locations include bathrooms and kitchens. On the exterior of the home, they can be used in carports, covered patios, or screened-in porches. The common thread in the installation location is that while there could be a high moisture content in the air, the fan itself will be installed in a ceiling structure which will prevent water coming into direct contact the housing for the fan. Expect to spend around $64–$4,458 for a damp rated fan.
• Wet Rated – To handle moisture as well as direct contact from water, fans with the UL Wet rating are designed for exterior installation in locations like exposed decks, gazebos, pergolas, and verandas. In addition to being able to withstand exposure to rain, they are also suitable for locations that experience snow and ice during the winter months. Wet rated fans cost around $70–$700 on average.

For any bathroom, kitchen, or exterior ceiling fan installation on your property, check the UL rating on the fan to ensure it is adequate for that location to make sure you, your family, and your guests are protected.

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Install a Ceiling Fan Where No Fixture Exists

If the installation is for a room that has never had a ceiling fan before, then it will need to have a fixture and the required mounting kit installed before the fan can be mounted. You will need to hire an electrician to bring switched 120V power to that location, at the cost of about $170 for the electrician’s time and another $40 for parts. However, costs go up depending on your answers to the following questions:^[1]

1. Where do you want the wall switch?
2. Where do you want the fixture?
3. Which way are the joists running in the ceiling in relation to the wall switch and fixture location?
4. Where can you pick up power?
5. Is there lath-and-plaster or drywall on the walls and ceiling?

Installing Ceiling Fan Wiring

Overhead lighting in living rooms is not typical. A switched receptacle is. Depending on how the room is wired, an electrician needs to change the box at the switch location to a two gang and keep the switched receptacle, or he/she may be able to change the receptacle and disconnect the line-in in the switch box. The existing wires are usually a 3-wire feed. Then the single switch/box can be used for the overhead light.

Install Ceiling Fan Mounting Box

With a fan weighing up to 50lbs., you’ll need a strong mount to support it. These are installed by attaching the mounting box to a support brace on the ceiling joists. A handyman will either do this by going through the attic or by ratcheting the brace in place from the room below.

A ceiling fan mount will cost $8 to $15. Your handyman will need to swap out the old light mounting box for a ceiling fan box; otherwise, the motion of the fan could shake the fan loose over time.

Installing Ceiling Fan With Light

If you are installing a replacement ceiling fan, then your contractor will first need to remove the existing fan from its ceiling installation and replace it with the new fan. Even if the original fan didn’t have a light, all the wiring should be in place for one with a light. A handyman can do this for about $75.

Ceiling Fan Electrical Box

It is worth having an electrician check out your circuit panels to make sure your ceiling fan installation won’t place too high of a demand on the breakers you have in place currently. Poor initial electrical wiring, or subsequent non-code compliant repairs or enhancements, can result in zone crossover with light fixtures on the same circuits as outlets.

The resulting load from the combined demand, which should never exceed 80% of the breaker’s capacity, could prove too much for that breaker and require an additional panel or the replacement of the old circuit breakers. If an additional panel needs to be installed, that could cost somewhere between $250 and $400, but if it is time to replace the entire circuit breaker setup, you could be looking at a cost between $900 and $1,300.

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Additional Ceiling Fan Features

• Lights – Ceiling fans are either designed with or without lights, but more commonly they are designed to include lights as in many cases a homeowner is replacing a light fixture with a ceiling fan. Outdoor ceiling fans are more likely to come without lights included.
• Ceiling fan with a remote – Ceiling fans with remote controls start at around $70 and can be as much as $1,100, depending on the brand and other design features. You don’t have to install a new fan to have a working remote control since a remote-control kit for your fan can be purchased for $20–$100. It should take about an hour for an experienced worker to complete the task, and if your handyman is able to install the remote control in the fan housing, it will likely cost around $75, or if you hire an electrician to do the work, the total cost will be around $120.
• Ceiling fan remote app – Smart technology gives homeowners the ability to schedule a ceiling fan to work in conjunction with the HVAC, with responsive on-off controls based on temperatures inside the home. Many products are also compatible with the like of Nest, Alexa, and Google Home, and that allows for the addition of features like being able to control the fan using voice, or over the internet when away from the house.

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Buying The Right Ceiling Fan

While many people are swayed by either price or visual appearance in the selection of a ceiling fan, the vital factor to consider is its ability to effectively produce a cooling effect. The span of the blades will affect this. While there are various ways to assess suitability based on total square footage and the fan CFM, as laid out in the table above, the Home Depot website suggests using a loose rule of thumb that breaks down blade span by the length of the longest wall in a room like this:

• Longest wall of fewer than 12 feet = blade span of up to 36 inches
• Longest wall of between 12 and 15 feet = blade span of between 40 and 48 inches
• Longest wall of more than 15 feet = blade span of up to 52 inches or more

The most common styles of ceiling fans are designed with either 3, 4, or 5 blades, which breaks fans into either an even or uneven blade setup.

Blade Span Calculator

To calculate the blade span for the different types, you can use the following formula:

• If there is an odd number of blades (like 3 or 5), then measure the distance from the tip of one of the blades to the center of the fan.
• If there is an even number of blades (like 4), then measure the distance from one blade through the center to the end of the blade opposite it.

Blade Revolutions Per Minute (RPM)

The max RPM allowed for ceiling fan motors is dictated by the same safety standards company, UL LLC, that defines the moisture safety ratings of fans. They have developed a scale, for the physical safety of a building’s inhabitants, that produces a maximum RPM based on the span and one of two thicknesses—3/16” and ⅛”. 

For example^[3]

The safety issue that this scale addresses is the potential injury to people if they were to come into contact with the spinning blades of a ceiling fan. To best protect yourself and your family, it is Important not to put blades from one ceiling fan onto another ceiling fan body.

Cubic Feet Per Minute

Another characteristic of ceiling fans is their cubic feet per minute (CFM), which is the metric used to measure the displacement of air a fan is capable of. While more is usually better, the difference is rarely something the average homeowner could detect experimentally.

In contrast to air conditioning, a ceiling fan doesn’t actually cool the air temperature, it just makes the air feel cooler. Elements that contribute positively or negatively to the CFM include the pitch of the blades, the shape of the blades, as well as the span of the blades and the maximum blade revolutions per minute (RPM) produced by the motor.

ENERGY STAR Ceiling Fans

In addition to looking for the best fan for your home in relation to its functional capacity to make it feel cooler, it is worth spending a little extra to get one that saves you money each month by getting one that is Energy Star rated. Many of the ceiling fans on the market are energy efficient, with savings as significant as 40% over non-energy star fans. This year, of the fans that achieved the ENERGY STAR rating, the most efficient fans were from Odyn and Stellar. Most energy efficient ceiling fans run on a DC motor.

AC/DC Ceiling Fan Motor

Ceiling fans with DC motors run on built-in magnets, which reduces electricity consumption by more than 300% than that of AC motored fans. They are also much quieter. However, DC powered fans are more expensive. Hansen Wholesale shows DC motor fans ranging in price from $227–$1,700.

All in all, hiring someone to install your new ceiling fan makes sense. Handyman will generally charge by the hour depending on the extent of the work. It will only take 1–2 hours to do the whole installation (unless a fixture box must be wired and installed), and you’ll have the rest of the day to relax in your cooler room.

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