How to Mount a Ceiling Fan in a Steel Framed House

[Joolz007]

Hi

What is the best way to install ceiling fams throughout a steel-framed house?

Obviously, steel makes this a harder project to complete, as the steel is a lot thinner material than a wooden frame built to use to strengthen the hold.

What is the best way to identify the best position to locate the ceiling fans taking into account ceiling lights already there now, an airconditioning vent and we are planning to install hanging ceiling lights at a later stage?

Thank you for the guidance.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Joolz007. It's amazing to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about installing a ceiling fan.

You might need to do a bit of exploratory work in the ceiling to work out an appropriate mounting location for your ceiling fan. You can use timber framing to bridge the steel frame and give you something to fix into. You might also like to contact the manufacturer of the steel frame it find out if there are any guidelines you need to follow.

Generally, you'd want to fix your ceiling fan in the most centralised location in the room. If you can show our helpful members a picture of the steel frames above your proposed installation location, I trust they'll be able to provide some guidance on how to best install the fan.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[MikeTNZ]

Hi @Joolz007,

What sort of steel framing are we talking here?

I do realise that some of the ceiling joists they use in steel-framed houses can be a bit on the light side, 

but there are ways of getting around this sort of thing.

Are the fans you're looking to install, the type that have a short stalk coming out of the bracket that mounts to the ceiling or

are they the type that screws directly to the ceiling?

The reason I ask that is because the ones with the stalk on them are more prone to wobble when they run, that will have a bearing

in how you mount something like that, having a spinning fan fall off the ceiling isn't going to be that enjoyable.

Personally, I think @MitchellMc , is on the right track here, in that you need to contact the manufacturer of the steel framing to find out what

the weight capacity of a particular ceiling joist actually is, given that it's already holding up a ceiling as well.

Depending on what the manufacturer says, you could actually bridge between two joists with something like rectangular box section or a couple of sections of angle section, tek screwed to the existing joists to give you a decent fixing for the mounting bracket for the fan.

It's hard to say where you should put the fans without seeing the ceilings you're referring to, is there any chance of a picture or two?

Cheers,

Mike T.