Spinning Wheels of Fire

Fire, its hypnotic flickering warmth, draws us into its glow like a moth. It brings out something primal in all of us. Who does not love to sit around a camp fire or watch fire works exploding in a warm summer sky, raining down colorful ciders to our collective ohs and ahs.

But there is the dark side of fire, it can destroy like a swift marauding band of Huns, spreading through a home in minutes. One common cause of a house fire is an electrical defect. The culprit, homeowner or a contractor (not an electrician) installed wiring.

The other morning while inspecting a quite well maintained Connecticut home, I noticed the living room had a ceiling fan. Nothing unusual about that, except this one had a decorative chain going from the fan to the wall. The type of chain used to hide wire.

Looking closer I saw there was indeed a wire entwine through the chain in order to camouflage its presence. It was lamp cord, which is for one too small for a ceiling fan. It can easily over heat and could cause a fire. Following the cord I found it plugged into an outlet behind the couch.

A ceiling fan can not be permanently wired using lamp cord. This was clearly done because the handy homeowner because there was not have a wired ceiling fixture in which to install the fan.

I found a second fan wired in the same way in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Some of the wire on that fan was actually hidden inside a wall.

The other important aspect of installing a ceiling fan that escapes many installers is the need for a fan box. A fan box is an electrical box with an additional support nailed to the joists. Ceiling fans are heavy and rock about when operating, which can cause a standard electrical box meant just for a light to come loose with fan crashing to the floor.

I could just imagine the ultimate worst case scenario; the lamp cord over heats starting the fan on fire, which then breaks loose from the ceiling, spinning out of control across the floor like some medieval weapon.  A spinning wheel of fire.

James Quarello
Connecticut Home Inspector
2010 - 2011 SNEC-ASHI President
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC

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