# Ceiling Fan Lights Come on After a Power Outage



## A Little Short (Nov 11, 2010)

I have a customer that says his ceiling fan lights come on by themselves after a power surge or outage. The fan/lights are Hunter and have a remote.
Is this a default setting where the lights come on after an outage?
He didn't mention whether the fan comes on also, or if maybe the fan might already be on.
If this is by default I would think it is after an outage and not just a surge, but I don't know.

Anyone know if this is a default setting? If not, what could the problem be? He said the remote has been changed 3 times which leads me to think it's by default.

Also, I don't think this is a problem with other radio frequencies, because he says it happens in the middle of the night.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

Many are designed to do that for safety reasons. Hunter, for one. I have 4 of them and they all do the same.


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## A Little Short (Nov 11, 2010)

480sparky said:


> Many are designed to do that for safety reasons. Hunter, for one. I have 4 of them and they all do the same.


Can you change a setting to stop this, or just have to use hardwired switches to prevent this?


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

Little-Lectric said:


> Can you change a setting to stop this, or just have to use hardwired switches to prevent this?


Not that I know of. It's just a quirk to be lived with.


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

I had an old switch- like an X10 that did the same thing. PITA


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## CanadianSparky (May 10, 2011)

On a side note I had a customer with a hunter fan(with remote) and she said they every now and then the light would just come on at the same time every time it happened(approx 2pm). I switched the remote and receiver IDs and ti stopped and she was happy....she thought her house was going to burn down.....not sure if anyone ever experience this. Must be getting a signal from another source on the same freq?


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## cguillas (Jun 25, 2009)

CanadianSparky said:


> On a side note I had a customer with a hunter fan(with remote) and she said they every now and then the light would just come on at the same time every time it happened(approx 2pm). I switched the remote and receiver IDs and ti stopped and she was happy....she thought her house was going to burn down.....not sure if anyone ever experience this. Must be getting a signal from another source on the same freq?


Those fans are now so common that it's more than likely the neighbour's unit. I have a buddy that bought himself a home in a new development here in Ottawa. A cheap ceiling fan was standard for each install in a high part of the front foyer to circulate air. Instead of running a 3-wire down for the switch leg, they just used the remote that came in the box. Every single one was set to the same code.

These are row houses, twenty feet wide. It was pure chaos. He took his down and replaced it with a chandelier. 

I get the appeal of those remotes but cannot figure out why you'd ever use anything wireless in new construction.


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## union347sparky (Feb 29, 2012)

Odd things like that happen. My neighbors fan does the same thing. He just lives with it. A friend of mine who lives out in the country has a garage door opener that opens by itself. He'll come home from work and the door will be open. He'll be working out in the garage working and the damn thing opens by itself. It has no rhyme or reason to it. I think he finally disconnected it.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

cguillas said:


> ...........Every single one was set to the same code..........


I never install a remote using the factory code. I always change them.... even if I'm installing one fan in an SFD.


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## cguillas (Jun 25, 2009)

480sparky said:


> I never install a remote using the factory code. I always change them.... even if I'm installing one fan in an SFD.


That's because you're not an idiot.


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## CraigV (May 12, 2011)

union347sparky said:


> A friend of mine who lives out in the country has a garage door opener that opens by itself. He'll come home from work and the door will be open. He'll be working out in the garage working and the damn thing opens by itself. It has no rhyme or reason to it. I think he finally disconnected it.


 
Is he near any military bases or installations?


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## Bill C. (Feb 10, 2021)

I have a ceiling fan that turns on (to high speed) every time there is a power failure. The ceiling fan can only be operated by remote control. Annoying, especially if you go somewhere for 2 weeks and return home to a ceiling fan that's been running on high speed 24/7 for days! The electrician who installed it should have installed an additional wall switch to control the fan's power. When a wall switch is off, the fan cannot turn on by itself regardless of its dumb factory settings. Installing a wall switch now will be difficult (I have concrete walls in my house). So, I'm considering using 1 inch white pvc plastic conduitt pipe to run a wire to to a new wall switch. It will look like sh*t but at least it will solve the problem. The other thing I do it turn off half my house (with circuit breakers) when I'm on vacation. Very clunky. It pays to hire union IBEW electricians.


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## Kevin (Feb 14, 2017)

Bill C. said:


> I have a ceiling fan that turns on (to high speed) every time there is a power failure. The ceiling fan can only be operated by remote control. Annoying, especially if you go somewhere for 2 weeks and return home to a ceiling fan that's been running on high speed 24/7 for days! The electrician who installed it should have installed an additional wall switch to control the fan's power. When a wall switch is off, the fan cannot turn on by itself regardless of its dumb factory settings. Installing a wall switch now will be difficult (I have concrete walls in my house). So, I'm considering using 1 inch white pvc plastic conduitt pipe to run a wire to to a new wall switch. It will look like sh*t but at least it will solve the problem. The other thing I do it turn off half my house (with circuit breakers) when I'm on vacation. Very clunky. It pays to hire union IBEW electricians.


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