How to Wire a Three-Way Ceiling Fan With the Light Wired Separately
- 1). Draw the outline of a remodeling electrical box on the drywall at the location of the new switch. Cut around the opening with a drywall saw.
- 2). Run a length of three-strand electrical cable from the switch to a power source, which can be either a nearby live outlet or switch or the electrical panel itself. Don't connect to the power source yet. Run a length of four-strand cable of the same gauge to the light. The four-strand cable includes a red conductor, and the white, black and bare ones in a three-strand cable.
- 3). Strip 8 inches off the ends of the cables with a utility knife and expose 1/2 inch on the ends of the wires with a wire stripper. Make connections at the fan first. Twist the black wires together, then do the same with the white wires. Twist the bare wire going to the switch with the green or bare wire from the lamp, and twist the red wire going to the switch with the wire that controls the fan, which is usually red or blue. Screw wire caps onto the ends of all four pairs of wires.
- 4). Make connections at the switch next. Attach the electrical box to the drywall by hooking the anchors behind it to the back of the drywall, then tightening the screws in front to hold it. Open up a spare length of cable about 6 inches long with a utility knife and extract the black wire. Strip the ends and connect one end to the bottom brass terminal of a three-speed switch. Hook the wire around the screw, then tighten the screw with a screwdriver.
- 5). Twist the black wire coming from the source and the one coming from the fan together with the other end of the black wire attached to the switch, then cap these wires. Connect the red wire from the fan to the top brass terminal on the switch. Twist the white wires together and cap them, then twist the bare wires together, but leave one end longer than the other. Connect the long end to the green ground terminal on the switch. Screw the switch onto the electrical box, then screw on the cover.
- 6). Wire the other end of the source cable to a live circuit. Be sure to turn off the power to that circuit before you make connections. The three-speed switch will now control the fan, and the light will always be hot so you can control it with the pull chain.
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