The red wire in a ceiling fan with lights is the hot wire for the lights.
A ceiling fan with a light kit can serve two purposes, keeping a room ventilated and well-lit at the same time. Wiring one to a wall switch is not much more complicated than wiring a simple light fixture, but you have three options, and the connections depend on which option you choose. You can wire the lights and fans together to a single switch, you can wire them to separate switches or you can bypass the switch altogether for the lights and control them with a pull-chain. The red wire is usually the hot wire for the lights.
Instructions
Wiring the Fan and Lights to the Same Switch
1. Turn off the breaker that controls the circuit to the switch. If you're not sure which breaker it is, test the wires with a non-contact voltage tester. Touch the tester to all of the wires within the box, and turn off breakers until the tester light stays off.
2. Install a single-gang switch box and run a length of three-strand electrical cable from the switch box to the electrical box for the fan. Use the same gauge of cable as the live circuit cable. Pull the ends through the backs of both boxes, and then cut off 6 inches of sheathing from both ends with a utility knife and strip 1/2 inch from the ends of the insulated wires with a wire stripper.
3. Connect the black wire from the house circuit to the top brass terminal of a switch. You can either loosen the terminal screw with a screwdriver, hook the wire around it and tighten it, or you can push the end of the wire into the self-clamping location behind the terminal screw. Connect the black wire from the fan to the bottom brass terminal in the same way.
4. Join the white wires by twisting them together with pliers. Twist them clockwise, and then screw on a wire cap clockwise to hold them securely. Twist the bare ground wires together with an extra bare wire, six inches long. Attach the extra ground wire around the green ground screw on the switch, then tighten the screw.
5. Twist the red and black wires from the fan together with the black wire from the switch. Twist the white wires together, and then twist the green one from the fan with the bare one from the circuit cable. Secure all sets of wires by screwing a wire cap onto each set.
Wiring the Fan and Lights to Different Switches
6. Install a two-gang electrical box large enough to accommodate two switches. Run a length of four-strand electrical cable of the same gauge as the circuit cable between the switch and the fan. Pull both ends through the backs of the boxes and pull the circuit cable through the back of the switch box. Strip sheathing from the cables and expose the ends of the wires.
7. Back-feed the black circuit wire into the hole behind the top brass terminal of a switch and the black wire from the fan into the hole behind the bottom one. Connect the red wire from the fan to the bottom brass terminal of a second switch, either back-feeding or hooking it around the terminal screw.
8. Cut open a 6-inch length of electrical cable with a utility knife and remove the black and bare wires. Strip the ends of the black wire and hook one end around the top terminal screw of the first switch and tighten the screw. Back-feed the other end into the hole behind the top terminal screw of the second switch.
9. Twist two 6-inch lengths of bare wire together with the two ground wires in the electrical box. Attach one of the extra ground wires to the green ground screw on one of the switches and do the same with the other wire and switch. Tighten both screws. Twist the white wires in the box together and screw on a wire cap.
10. Twist the black wire from the fan together with the black wire from the switch, the red wire from the fan and the red wire from the switch, the white wire from the fan and the white wire from the switch and finally the green wire from the fan and the bare wire from the switch. Screw a wire cap onto each pair of wires.
Bypassing the Switch for the Lights
11. Install a single-gang switch box and run four-strand cable to the fan.
12. Back-feed the black circuit cable into the hole behind the top terminal of a switch. Connect the black wire from the fan to the bottom terminal in the same way. Hook the red wire around the top terminal screw and tighten the screw. Twist the white wires together and cap them. Twist and cap the ground wires together along with an extra wire to connect to the green screw on the switch. Attach the extra wire to the green screw on the switch.
13. Twist together the black pair of wires, the red pair and the white pair at the fan. Twist the fan's green wire with the bare wire from the circuit cable. Cap all pairs of wires.
Tags: wire from, black wire, black wire from, circuit cable, from switch