Adding a 12V Ceiling Fan

[UGL]

I will be soon receiving a 12VDC brushless PM motor 36" ceiling fan for my TT. I have lived my whole life with ceiling fans running, my parents were always the type to turn up the thermostat and turn on fans and turn down the heat a bit and run the fans in reverse.

So my point is I am very accustomed to them.

While in my living area I am hot when the A/C is off and also when the heater is running. So I opted to buy a fan.


I have three lights on the ceiling that I seldom use, they run from near the entry to the rear. The one located in the middle is best in my opinion.

I wanted to mount the fan in place of the light, running the power wires across the ceiling, through a over head cabinet and down the wall a bit to the switch and then run the control wires back to the fan. Of course using exterior wiring molding and the like to hide the wires and also putting the switch in a junction box.

Has anyone done this before? The fan seller claims it uses no more than 1 amp (12w) so the existing wiring and circuit fuse (15 amp) should be fine.

[mowin]

I added a 36" 110v ceiling fan above our bed in our master bedroom. I mounted a 1x8 by 4' pine board that I rounded the edges off and stained, to the ceiling. the board spans 4 ceiling rafrers, and I used three, 3" deck screws to secure the board to each rafter, 12 screws total. I countersunk the screws and glued in plugs to hide the screw heads. I then used a electrical pancake box to mount the fan to the board, and wire mold to hide the wiring. I could hang from the fan and its not moving.

[UGL]

I got the fan installed a while back, install looks good, works good.
Wonderful idea, glad I did it.

[BarneyS]

I just got an e-mail from Amazon.com today that advertised a 12v ceiling fan made for RV's. You might send the advertiser an e-mail asking what the weight is. It does not indicate it in the ad. Scroll down about 2/3 way on the page and it indicates a place to ask the seller a question.
Barney

[dowoplover]

Can anyone tell me what these 12V ceiling fans weigh? I too live in North Texas and I am remodeling an '82 Holiday Rambler to live in full-time. I am thinking of replacing the rearmost ceiling vent with a ceiling fan. Seems like the vent hole would be the perfect place for it. both for location and built-in bracing if the new fan is not too heavy.

[doughere]

Seems like a great idea.

Doug

[cpaulsen]

We already have a 12 volt fan in the living room but wanted another for the bedroom. I ended up getting a small 110 volt fan from HD. Took a light out and ran wire to the box from an outlet. Had to make sure it was small enough to clear the bedroom slide when it comes in. 3 speed remote and works great for us.

[Not_a_Clue]

We just had a 36" ceiling fan installed in the bedroom. We had a it installed by a RV shop that does remodeling. They reinforced the ceiling where the fan was attached. It really looks good and the slide closes just fine.
Haven't have a chance to use it yet, but it really looks great. It is a lot lighter weight than the usual ceiling fans you see in houses.

[DutchmenSport]

Considered doing the same thing with our Outback. Found the perfect fan. Figured how to mount doing my own ceiling reinforcement. All was planned. One more final measurement before buying the fan. Slides IN this time. Oops! Won't work. The top of the slides would hit the fan blades with the slides in. We scrubbed that idea saved a bun h of money and got a couple tower fans. Before proceeding check your ceiling clearance especially if you have slides.

[gatorcq]

Susan purchase the 12 volt remote control fan which I installed in 2013. I just tapped into the 12 volt going to our fantastic a foot away. And no the fan does not have to be on.

[UGL]

MrWizard wrote:
this topic cam up "VERY" recently
IIRC the 12v fans have short blades and low profile
that member/poster is putting it their bedroom above the bed

what we need is a link to the fan and the specs

might be something like this made for RVs

http://www.amazon.com/Global-Electric-36-inch-Non-Brush-Reversible/dp/B00E58CRL8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&...

That is exactly the fan I am getting. I won't be removing the light, but connecting on to it's power wires and solidly mounting it right on a rafter, right where two sheets of paneling meet. I also forgot to mention, I am a full time live in, and never plan to use my TT as a TT, It is my home.

I would also like to mention, I definitely don't want to use anything that pulls in outside air, in Northeast Texas most of the time it's to hot and muggy for fans like those roof or vent mounted models.
But whatever the temp outside, about 90% of the time it's humid here.

Thanks for the input folks. I'll post more later.

[MrWizard]

this topic cam up "VERY" recently
IIRC the 12v fans have short blades and low profile
that member/poster is putting it their bedroom above the bed

what we need is a link to the fan and the specs

might be something like this made for RVs

http://www.amazon.com/Global-Electric-36-inch-Non-Brush-Reversible/dp/B00E58CRL8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&...

[timmac]

What you need to do is this..

http://www.modmyrv.com/2008/07/28/rv-fantastic-fan

[navegator]

If you have a vent you might be able to replace it with a unit that has a fan and you can run that as a ceiling fan, other wise you are going to have a lot of modifications to do in order to secure the fan.

navegator

[Gdetrailer]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
How you gonna properly support it....not just the weight of fan but also the dynamic load as it goes down the road.

Trailers/RVs that have ceiling fans have been blocked/braced inside the attic area for those fans OEM.
The ceiling lights are just held in place by a couple of screws because they are flat against ceiling, light weight and aren't swinging about.

Good luck.....but I don't think you have the ceiling support for a fan

Old Biscuit has a very valid point!

RV construction does not lend its self to be able to hang heavy or large objects from the ceiling paneling.. The paneling is only 1/8" thick so mounting a 36" diameter whirling set of blades directly to the paneling would not be a wise choice.

Even bridging two of the ceiling studs with perhaps plywood and lag screws from the underside of the ceiling would be rather questionable at best.

What is done in homes is you use heavy duty workboxes which are specifically designed to support the weight of a ceiling fan and there is special bracing for these boxes which span between the studs.

RVs which are ordered with ceiling fans will have extra reinforcement in the ceiling area to handle the weight and torque of the ceiling fan motor and blades.

Retrofitting in a RV is not an easy task and a ceiling fan is not something you WANT to have come down :E