Today's ceiling fans are more than just lights and paddles. Leading manufacturers like Casablanca and Hunter offer a wide range of remote control models with an equally wide range of features and prices. Not only are these controllers more convenient for everyday living, some even have ability to operate your home security system.
Typically ceiling fans come bundled with a basic remote to operate simple functions such as lights on/off, blades forward/reverse with three speeds either way. But if the remote and ceiling fan are so equipped you can fully control the spectrum of lighting from very bright to a soft glow. As mentioned earlier basic remote controls are somewhat limited, only allowing three speeds but the more advanced remotes allow up to six speeds in both directions. Sensors are also available that pick up the rooms temperature and automatically adjust the fans speed and direction.
Most people think of remote system as a hand held device but they can also be wall mounted. The hand held devices can operate up to thirty feet away. The remote can also be wall mounted either wireless or hard wired. Hard wired means the wires from the ceiling fan run through the wall to the location of the remote. This allows you a greater distance to operate the fan, but in reality most rooms are less that thirty feet so a hand held unit would work fine.
Hard wiring your ceiling fan remote may allow you more flexibility and operating features than a hand held remote but if you are considering this you need to realize the wires will need to be pulled from the ceiling fan to the remote location. This is much easier to do during new construction or renovations. It still can be done after the fact, however be aware that you may have to do some ceiling patching or wall repair which will add to the overall cost.
Once you have used a remote control you will likely never go back to the manual pull chain. I suggest when doing your research on remote controls take note of your existing ceiling fans make, model and compatibility with the remotes you are looking at. The good news is more and more universal remote controls are coming onto the market allowing you to easily get the functions and features you desire. One last note, make sure your ceiling fan is also equipped to do all the functions the remote is capable of doing, don't waste your money getting a remote that can do twenty functions but your ceiling fan is only capable of three.
