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Changing lightbulbs in cathedral ceiling fans

Kevin should...

  • Hire someone to change his light bulb

    Votes: 4 16.7%
  • Hire someone to change the fixture so he can change his own light bulb in the future

    Votes: 12 50.0%
  • Buy a bigger ladder so he can change the lightbulb safely

    Votes: 6 25.0%
  • Buy scaffolding. He'll probably need it for other projects anyway

    Votes: 1 4.2%
  • Call Jersey Skier's wife to get a referal

    Votes: 1 4.2%

  • Total voters
    24

BS Slarver

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Poll is flawed
lower the fan, it’s to high or….
Change the fan to what @Tricia took a photo of today, it’s a Haiku, by Big Ass fan company.
They go in all our builds, the only fan with a woosh mode, like a variable breeze like the ocean.
Is that giving you any measurable light at that height anyway?

 

Tricia

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I
Makes please! :)
I think it was a Hampton Bay or Hunter fan. I know it started with an H.
I'll check when I get back home.

I do know that the first one I installed was quite loud so I returned it to Home Depot and looked for something quieter, and actually found one that the box said was "whisper quiet" recommended for bedrooms.

Edit:
Something like this, but not this exact one.
 

Lauren

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I’ll just leave this here…

2F1E2C56-CAA9-436D-A70E-00ECB1CAD73E.jpeg
 

Dwight

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Ha, 7 pages, that is funny.

Well, the first time I built 2' jump boxes and put my 8' ladder on them to get to my lights. 2nd time I purchased a 12' step ladder. 12' is a must in my house for lights, painting and other areas that need to be reached. :)
 
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KevinF

KevinF

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Is that giving you any measurable light at that height anyway?

Well, not anymore... ;) Previously it did though.

I have an appointment at a lighting store tomorrow; we'll see what they say regarding wattage, etc. to be effective.

The Haiku fan looks interesting, but that's a helluva an expensive fan.
 
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KevinF

KevinF

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Heh, the other question is whether you have a solid enough mount for it.

#couldbecomemuchmoreexpensivethanthepricetag

What's special about the Haiku fan mounts? I know ceiling fans have special mounts anyway, but there's already a ceiling fan up there; I've been assuming that the mounting bracket in the ceiling could be reused.
 

cantunamunch

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What's special about the Haiku fan mounts? I know ceiling fans have special mounts anyway, but there's already a ceiling fan up there; I've been assuming that the mounting bracket in the ceiling could be reused.

Yeh, I wouldn't assume that.

It's not just static load rating either - a bigger fan means more torque on startup so twist loads.

Also, low-speed fans do not do gyroscopic self-stabilization like high speed ones do - meaning any existing vibration/ play in the current mount will not disappear when the new fan reaches operating speed.

Could you get lucky? Sure. Could you get (very) un-lucky? You bet.
 

BS Slarver

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There is nothing special about the Haiku mount.

What is special is the fact you cannot hear them at all. Only once have I had to send blades back because they weren’t a properly balanced set and I’ve installed at least 20 of them.
On top of being absolutely quiet there is the whoosh setting that I haven’t seen on any other fan not to mention when they’re sitting still they look like artwork.
yeah, they are spendy
 
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KevinF

KevinF

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There is nothing special about the Haiku mount.

What is special is the fact you cannot hear them at all. Only once have I had to send blades back because they weren’t a properly balanced set and I’ve installed at least 20 of them.
On top of being absolutely quiet there is the whoosh setting that I haven’t seen on any other fan not to mention when they’re sitting still they look like artwork.
yeah, they are spendy

They might have made an awesome fan, but frankly, the Haiku website appears to be awfully sparse on any sort of useful details
What functions can be controlled through the phone app? The remote? The wall control? What are the specs on the light?

As I said in an earlier post -- if the fan direction (clockwise, counter clock wise) can not be changed while standing on the floor, then the fan is utterly useless and should be discarded.
 
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KevinF

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For what it's worth, the folks at the lighting store recommended another ceiling fan (Minka Aire F853) with an integrated light mounted somewhat lower (4' down rod instead of the current 2' down rod). So it'll be slightly easier to get to next time being two feet lower, but hopefully the bulbs last a long time so I don't have to go through this again anytime soon.

I'm getting some quotes from electricians on installing it... I thought about renting scaffolding from Lowe's (they have a 14' unit that would be perfect), but I just can't see getting up on it, so... Time to bring in the pros.
 

Tricia

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@KevinF did you ever get this done?
We're trying to clean our ceiling fan, which we can do with out long pole thingy, and we can easily change the bulbs with a different long pole thingy, but getting the globes off to clean is a whole different talk show topic.
 
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KevinF

KevinF

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Yep! New fan was installed on Tuesday.

The electrician had come out earlier for an estimate, measured the ceiling (18 feet) and said he'd need a 14' ladder... And then he came out on Tuesday with a 12' ladder which he made work, but admitted that it was "quite unsafe". Why didn't you bring the 14' ladder like you originally thought you'd need then? Whatever. Glad he didn't go "splat".

This new fan moves some serious air; I never felt a breeze from the old one, but the new one sure produces a breeze.

The fan light by itself does a "meh" job of illuminating the room, but coupled with the floor lamp, it's fine.

IMG_0589.JPG
 

James

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Nice!
Time to celebrate with a pair of somethings, with all the money you saved by not going to hospital.
 
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KevinF

KevinF

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For the record, the old fan had a regular light bulb in it. Just unscrew the cover and remove the bulb, although the bulb was mounted parallel to the floor, so one of those extended reach poles probably wouldn't be able to turn it.

What was really surprising was that they had an incandescent bulb in there. Previous owner was here for 15 years; how many times did he get up there to change that bulb?
 

dbostedo

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For the record, the old fan had a regular light bulb in it. Just unscrew the cover and remove the bulb, although the bulb was mounted parallel to the floor, so one of those extended reach poles probably wouldn't be able to turn it.

What was really surprising was that they had an incandescent bulb in there. Previous owner was here for 15 years; how many times did he get up there to change that bulb?
Maybe he just never used that light?
 

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