You can always rely on circuit breakers to make your connection safe. It may be difficult to determine whether your fan needs a separate circuit breaker or what size it needs to be to run properly. You can easily find out what size circuit breakers your ceiling fan will require.
What size breaker for ceiling fan?
A ceiling fan usually consumes between 80 and 100 watts. An ordinary ceiling fan requires a circuit breaker rated between 1A and 2A. In addition, if the room already has a circuit breaker, it is not necessary to install another one separately for the ceiling fan.
Four basic factors determine the size of the circuit breaker for the fan.
(1) How many watts does the fan consume?
(2) What voltage does the supply line have?
(3) What power factor does the fan have?
(4) What kind of load do fans have?
It is common for ceiling fans to be less than 100 watts. Power supplies in America are 120 Volts, while in other countries they are 220 Volts or 230 Volts. We are dealing with capacitive loads here. In electrical systems, the power factor is Cos θ or 0.8.
The formula for determining the size of an electrical circuit breaker is as follows:
“Total watts ÷ (supply Volt × 0.8) amp”
If you are using a 100-watt ceiling fan and your home’s supply voltage is 120 volts, a circuit breaker will be required like this –
= Total watts ÷ (Supply Volt × 0.8) amps
= 100 ÷ (120 × 0.8) amps
= 1.04 amps
The circuit breakers are usually larger than the number that was obtained. In this case, you can use a 1.5 amp breaker. The calculation will be different if your home power supply is 220 volts or 230 volts, respectively.
= Total watts ÷ (Supply Volt × 0.8) amps
= 100 ÷ (220 × 0.8) amps
= 0.56 amps
Therefore, you need a 1 amp breaker. The standard size for a circuit breaker is 2 amps for 120V and 1 amp for 220/230V. You already have a circuit breaker in your room, which means the electrician has already calculated that and added it to that circuit breaker.
How many ceiling fans can be on a 15 amp circuit?
You can install at least 14 ceiling fans in a 15 amp circuit breaker if no other electronic devices are present in your room. To calculate the number of fans you need, use the formula previously given.
= (Total volt × amp size × 0.8) watts
= 120 × 15 × 0.8 watts
= 1440 watts
Thus, a 15 amp circuit breaker can handle 1440 watts of power. An average fan consumes 70 to 100 watts. With 100W ceiling fans, you can install at least 14 ceiling fans on a 15 amp circuit breaker. It seems like too many ceiling fans for one room unless it is a warehouse.
Do ceiling fans need to be on a 20 amp circuit?
A 20 amp circuit breaker can handle a maximum load of 1900 watts. Therefore, it can handle up to 1900 watts of electrical devices. However, for most fans, there are no more than 100 watts. That means a 20 amp circuit breaker is not required to power only a ceiling fan.
You can, however, use a 20 amp circuit breaker for the whole room. The average room has many types of devices, such as a fan, light, and TV. In general, it is safer to use 15A / 20A breakers as the main breakers in your room.
You can use any type of fan in your room if the main circuit breaker is 20 amp. However, 20A breakers are not required for just one fan.
Do ceiling fans need their own circuit?
It is not necessary to have a separate circuit breaker for ceiling fans. Ceiling fans are pretty normal electrical devices. They consume electricity just like regular electronic devices. Their power consumption never exceeds 100 watts.
It requires a small amount of load and, therefore, does not need a separate breaker.
A dedicated circuit breaker is required for devices that consume high power. Examples include refrigerators, motors, etc.
Installing a separate breaker for the ceiling fan would be a waste of money since circuit breakers had already been installed based on the total power load of the room.
5 reasons why ceiling fans do not need their own circuit breaker
A few vital reasons have been discussed below why ceiling fans do not need their own circuit breaker –
Ceiling fans are low power consuming:
The ceiling fan is a regular electronic device that uses a very normal amount of electricity. An average desk fan consumes around 50 watts of power. The power required by ceiling fans, on the other hand, typically ranges between 70 and 100 watts.
As it consumes a small amount of electricity, a separate breaker is not required. The room in which you install the fan already has a breaker. You are not required to use a double breaker here.
It is not high capacitive:
As a general rule, all fans are capacitive loads, but the capacitive load of a ceiling fan is too small. Because the capacitive load of a ceiling fan is so small, adding a separate breaker is unnecessary.
The inductive level isn’t high:
High inductive devices are those that need an additional load when they are turned on but have a low load when they are put into normal operation. Examples include electronic motors and refrigerators.
In general, 100-watt motors consume four times the amount of electricity to start, so they take a very high load when starting. However, fans do not consume more when starting. They take the same load as they do during normal operations.
It does not require a dedicated circuit breaker since it is not high-inductive.
The fan draws insufficient current to trip the circuit breaker:
The fan can run on very little electricity since it cannot generate current that may trip the circuit breaker. A dedicated breaker is not needed for a standard ceiling fan.
Lower amperage:
In general, ceiling fans consume a lower amperage than ordinary devices such as bulbs or televisions. Higher amperes are usually found in refrigerators and motors. Since ceiling fans consume a lower amperage, no special circuit breaker is needed.
Final Thought
For an average ceiling fan, a 2 amp breaker is sufficient. If the fan is less than 100 watts and the power is 120 volts, a 1.5 to 2 amp breaker would be sufficient. In 220 volts, a 1 amp breaker will be needed. If the room already contains a breaker, there is no need for an extra for the fan.