Ceiling Fan Installation & Summer Cooling Needs in Apartment
Hi, this is John Dale here from GlobileNet. Just talking about our customer interactions. This one was from Paul, Paul Russell, who was very happy with the work that he wanted. But initially, he contacted us because he wanted some fans installed in an apartment, a new apartment getting a little hot in the summer.
Free Electrical Consultation & Local Service Advantage
So when I went to have a look, and as we always do, we do a consultative service. It doesn’t cost anything, mainly because we work in the local area, so we can go without a high expense and keep things to a low cost and give our customers the benefit of not charging for a quote.
Customer-Supplied Ceiling Fans & Electrical Planning
So he had four rooms where he wanted to put these fans. He wanted to supply the fans. He had a particular fan or fans in mind. We didn’t discuss the specifics of those models, except in general terms, they were a four-bladed fan.
Airflow Requirements & Ceiling Fan Sizing Calculations
I do advise a client, generally, when I go through that process of consultation, saying “Well, this room needs a certain size fan, at least. This room needs a minimum”, such and such. So a couple of these were small fans. One was a larger fan because it was in the lounge, needed a lot more airflow. And so to resolve his problem of heating without putting on air conditioning and losing a lot of money in energy costs, he wanted to put these fans in.
Electrical Quote, Load Considerations & Fan Positioning
So we gave him the quote as we would normally do. We agreed and identified those positions for the fans, not necessarily on the day. The reason it’s not on the day is because we don’t know where the timber or the metal framing is for the ceilings.
Apartment Electrical Constraints & No Roof Space Access
In an apartment, there are special considerations because if you’re an apartment unit sandwiched between, for example, you’re the 13th floor and you’ve got 14 and 12 below it, then you’re not going to be able to go up in a roof space.
Suspended Ceiling Structure, Concrete Slab & Cable Pathways
Typically in an apartment, you’ve got a concrete structure, you’ve got a gap of, say, about 100mm or so, typically between the concrete and the suspended ceiling. The suspended ceiling is typically a metal frame construct with gyprock attached to the metal frame.
Cable Routing Challenges & Fixed Electrical Wiring Constraints
There’s always a problem, number one, in attaching a fan in a specific position, if that’s what you want. And always a problem running cable because you can’t just, for example, pull a cable going down to a switch because during a pre-build, cable ties and tape and whatever holds that cable to the metal framing before before they put the gyprock on.
Electrical Risk Management & Installation Feasibility
So it’s almost impossible to move those cables. You can do it, but it takes time and effort. And we have to build in a certain risk for that. Obviously, we have to be reasonable in our price as well. So it takes experience to get that risk factor right.
Installation Execution & Pre-Existing Cable Limitations
And that showed when we gave the quote, it was accepted, and we went in to do the work because indeed this lived up to every expectation that we had envisaged. That is, the cables were taped.
Ceiling Access Techniques, Push Rods & Cable Fishing
It was quite difficult to get through the ceiling space itself. We used push rods and all sorts of little tricks of the trade in order to get through a roof space. But at some stage, we’re going to have to drill a hole. We typically would drill that on the ceiling. We’ll drill a decent size hole, by the way, not just a piddly hole. It’ll be a 90mm hole that we can actually get our hands in because then we’re on top of the switch cavity so that we can drop cables down or manipulate the existing cables a little.
Downlight Alignment, Fan Positioning & Structural Support Issues
Once we do get the wiring done, then we’ve got the issue of, well, you’ve got four downlights in this room. You ideally would want this fan to be centred to the downlights, and that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s any timber there or structured support there. In this case, there were a couple of fans where it was too far off to actually attach the fan to the metal construction of the ceiling.
Reinforcement Methods: Timber Nogging & Secure Mounting
Even if we do attach it to the metal structure, we usually put timber behind on top of that metal just to make sure we’ve got a very, very secure long life connection that’s not going to end up causing the fan to wobble later or even worse, fall down. Sometimes I’ve seen those happen, too.
Installation Assumptions, Structural Modifications & Client Approval
So in this case, we always have notes and assumptions, and we assume in this case that the fans are going to fit on existing support positions. And if not, then we have to add timber or have a discussion. Because in that scenario, we have to not only add timber, but we’ve got to cut a slot in the ceiling.
Ceiling Cutting, Gyprock Patching & Aesthetic Considerations
It’s a nice new building, of course, and you’re going to disfigure the environment. Because whatever I do, unless you’re planning to bring in a painter and decorator, although I can do a reasonably good job or we can do a reasonably good job at patching, you’re going to see the finish. I mean, even if I paint it over with a similar white paint, you will see just like an old scale on your body, you’re going to see it unless you paint the whole ceiling, basically, and then you’ll get a uniform colour and finish.
Timber Installation Across Metal Framing & Load Distribution
Anyway, in this case, as I said, we had a couple of places where we had to include timber. And by the way, it’s not easy to install that timber. You have to get it across two metal struts. That means there’s a gap that you’ve got to fill. Otherwise, when you put the fan up, it will compress the gyprock. So it’s not an easy task, but we know what we’re doing. So we do it quite successfully.
Site Clean-Up, Electrical Workmanship & Professional Standards
And of course, that brings about When we have to do that, there’s a mess. So we are very conscientious about cleaning up after us.
Client Preparation, Dust Protection & Risk Responsibility
We also have the discussion with the client about making sure that they put covers on their beds or furniture or anything special because at the end of the day, they’re their special things; it’s their responsibility in a lot of ways. I mean, of course, if we’re careless, then that makes it our responsibility. But if they’ve got something precious, they should make sure they do cover it. And we try to make sure that they do cover it anyway.
Project Duration, Labour Considerations & Electrical Complexity
So after all the works were done, Paul was very, very happy. Again, it took longer, by the way, this quote. I think we typically look at an hour per fan, another half an hour, probably to run a wire. That’s for two people, by the way. That’s three quarters of an hour for two people. So that should, in theory, take us no more than, say, three hours or four hours.
Additional Works, Structural Reinforcement & Transparent Pricing
But on this occasion, we took the whole day. Now, the thing is, There was some extra, which Paul was quite happy with. We’d had a discussion before doing the extra work for installing the support timbers. So there was no surprises. We obviously had to make sure that the fans were going to be robust.
Customer Satisfaction & Completed Ceiling Fan Installation
Paul was happy enough to say this: “they were efficient, friendly and affordable. Did an excellent job of our ceiling fans and left everything very tidy. We were very impressed with this service.” So if you’d like to be impressed, we’d like to impress you. This is John Dale from GlobileNet.
