Let's talk ceiling fans

[Sam Leon]

Does everyone offer ceiling fans in their properties?

Being in Florida I offer a ceiling fan in every room.

As I turn over a property the first time I would verify every breaker every circuit and pretty much open all the switch boxes and junction boxes to give me an idea of the state of the electrical wiring.  At that time if a room is not already wired for a ceiling fan I would run the wiring for it.  Most times there is already wiring for a light but not for a fan, so I need to either add bracing or secure a fan rated box, and add an additional hot conductor so I can control the light and fan separately.  I like to control the fan and light individually with a wall switch, with dimming and speed control for both the light and fan.  I pretty much use exclusively this Pass & Seymour / Trademaster light and fan combination control switch for all my rentals.  One compact switch with preset and toggle for both.

That has worked pretty well for me over the years until recently.

The problem is more and more fans now come with a remote.  Most times the remote don't work well with wall switches.  It's one or the other.  If you use both, say turn the remote fan speed to 2 then use the wall switch to turn it off, next time you turn it back on depending on how you do it it may go bananas.

The same issue with pull chains, but when I have a pull chain fan I typically remove the pull chains after I get the fan wired to the combo wall switch.

I could do the same for the remote - disable the remote and the controller and wire it directly to the wall, the only problem is more and more I find the fan would "hum".  When I call the manufacturer they all say I HAVE TO use the remote, the fans are not designed to work with third party wall switches.

OKAY...

But the problem is remotes do not survive too long in a rental.  They are dropped, stepped on, battery fluid leaks out, or even get lost - sometimes behind the couch, sometimes under the bed, who knows.  When I do recover a remote after a move out, more often than not it has "bio matter" on them.  One remote I got back I thought it was dipped in BBQ sauce.  At least I hope it was BBQ sauce.

Add to this complication more and more fans are now equipped with E12 bulbs, CFL bulbs, LED bulbs and most of those are not dimmable by traditional dimmer switches.

So the bottom line is, are you a fan or remote controlled fans?  Pull chain fans?  Wall switched fans?

Have you found a fan that works well with wall switches AND the remote?

What is your most favorite fan?  One that is competitively priced, good as a rental "workhorse" fan, easy to install and wire?

Finally, is there any advantage to buying the same fan for all your rental so it's easier to install and maintain?