installing ceiling fan with lighting - need electrician

Has anyone installed a ceiling fan that has lighting with it? If so, can anyone please recommend an electrician and at a reasonable price. We're in disparate need.

If anyone can help us with this or knows anything at all, please get back to me. We're in W1 in Marylebone.

Thanks!!!

Bridget

I can't recommend an electrician, you might want to check at your local newsagent for signs in the window, or ask your neighbours, they might be able to help.

I had ceiling fans installed in all our bedrooms and what a difference they make in this warm weather! Good luck!

I don't know anyone in the area I could recommend, but depending upon the existing wiring method and the type of switching you require, it might not be a very difficult job to do yourself if you're reasonably happy doing basic electrical work like wiring a plug. 

If the existing ceiling light is wired to the "loop in" method you will already have power for the fan available so that you can have the existing wall switch control just the light and then switch the fan separately on its own pullcord.  If the light isn't wired as loop-in, then you'll either have to accept the wall switch turning off both light & fan (and control them individually with the pullcords) or go to the trouble of running a new cable to the ceiling outlet.

Thanks for the replies. I really want to do this as soon as I can. I guess I'll keep my eyes and ears open for a decent electrician. Did you install them yourself or get someone you knew to do it.  We installed our own in the US but I'm sure the wiring is different as mentioned.

I asked my new landlord about this and he told me the following:

" Lighting here splits into two categories, “high” voltage and “low” voltage.  High voltage is 240v which comes from the mains supply, to get from high to low you need a transformer which is generally hidden away in the ceiling void.  The lighting in the sitting room and bedroom in your flat is high voltage so you need fittings that connect directly to a high voltage supply."

I think I just need someone that knows what they are doing to take a look at what we have here and then do the installation. I just don't want it to cost me a fortune.

I can't offer you any suggestions on WHO to get, but why not just call around to a few local electricians and explain the situation and ask them to come over to give you a (free) quote? 

Tim was explaining a bit about electricity to me while I was there because he wants to wire the outdoor workshop but his has to be either done by an electrician or inspected by an electrician if Tim does it himself because of the power coming directly from the mains supply, so that might be what you're landlord is referring to.  Getting an electrician to inspect your work is a lot cheaper than hiring one out to do it for you...you just risk the electrician finding something wrong and making you do it over again OR hiring someone, so I wouldn't attempt to wire it yourself unless you or your spouse is knowledgeable about UK electricity/wiring.

I asked my new landlord about this and he told me the following:

" Lighting here splits into two categories, “high” voltage and “low” voltage.  High voltage is 240v which comes from the mains supply, to get from high to low you need a transformer which is generally hidden away in the ceiling void.  The lighting in the sitting room and bedroom in your flat is high voltage so you need fittings that connect directly to a high voltage supply."

The low-voltage light fittings he's talking about there are a type which have become more common in very recent years.  They're usually 12V, hence the need for a transformer.  But as he says your lights are normal 240V types and any ceiling fan you are likely to buy here will be 240V as well, you needn't worry about that.

We installed our own in the US but I'm sure the wiring is different as mentioned.

Different in the color code, the types of connector, and the physical mounting of the fan,  (and of course in being 240V instead of 120V), but otherwise pretty much the same in the different wiring & switching configurations you can encounter. 

Tim was explaining a bit about electricity to me while I was there because he wants to wire the outdoor workshop but his has to be either done by an electrician or inspected by an electrician if Tim does it himself because of the power coming directly from the mains supply, so that might be what you're landlord is referring to. 

In this case the work comes under the scope of the Building Regulations - The recently introduced (2005) "Part P" which has brought certain electrical work under those Regs. for the first time.   The actual rule is that work covered under Part P must be either (a) done by a person who is a member of an accredited scheme, or (b) notified to the local council in advance of the work, the same as many other types of building work.  The latter course involves paying a fee to the council (which may be anything from £75 to £300-plus, depending upon the area and extent of the work) and having the local council building inspector check the work (or somebody acting on behalf of the council, but don't let them tell you that you must pay again for someone else to inspect - some councils are trying that but are not allowed to do it).

But installing a ceiling fan on an existing circuit in living room or bedroom does not come under the scope of the Building Regs., so it's a different issue entirely.

Ah okay. Thanks, Paul

Hi there,

There are many electricians listed in the local yellow pages - so a thumb through that could be your first step - have a look on Yell.com as well.

However, as I've recently needed an electrician - and with the current economy as it is, and tradesmen short on work and taking on almost anything that comes their way, you have to be a bit clever in order to get a good deal.

I did the following

Go to ratedpeople.com - here, you enter a brief description of the job you require and local trademen will respond to you. I got a call from a local electrician company and they said they'll come out later that afternoon for £83+VAT plus any parts prices needed. I said thanks but I'm not paying that amount for the type of work I wanted to do and I'll continue looking. F.Fwd 3 hours, and they called back saying they'd do it for £59+VAT plus parts prices. Again, I politely declined. In the meantime I was looking into how to do it myself, but told them I was talking to other electricians etc as well.
By 2pm they called back again and said they do have an engineer slot available - and should we go ahead, so I said, if they do me a deal right now at £50 inc VAT I'll be there in 20 minutes, they agreed. I got the heater looked at and realised it wasn't worth fixing. Whilst I had the electrician there I got some other minor electrical bits looked at.

So, I was happy with a 50% reduction in price that I 'wangled' out of them, I had wanted a simple check only and really only wanted to pay £30 but with my tenants wanting it done I had to move quickly. Please do the same as installing fanlights, is relatively a straighforward job for these kinds of people. Hopefully, you'l be able to 'wangle' a discount in the same way I did!

Good luck! DtM! West London & Slough UK!