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2 circuits for 1 ceiling fan/light combo

 
 
eskimo1
 
Reply Wed 19 Aug, 2015 07:13 am
I would like to use an existing 12/2 wire circuit to operate the light portion of an outdoor-rated fan/light combo. This circuit is connected to 4 can lights under the same roof, and is operated via a dimmer switch. The idea is to have the single dimmer switch dim the 4 can lights and dim the light portion of the fan/light combo.

The fan/light combo has the typical ground, white, black, and blue wires, with the black/blue supplying power to the fan/light respectively. The white is a common neutral.

Unfortunately, I am unable to pull an additional wire or re-wire with a 12/3 wire through the same wall. I do have the option of pulling wire through other walls. The switch on this wall must be used, however, so I can't simply move everything to a different wall.

I am able to run a wire from under the house from either the same circuit to the fan portion, through a switch on a different wall. I am also able to run a separate circuit (from a different breaker) to a switch on a different wall.

I would like to run a separate hot lead to the fan portion, but the fan only has one internal neutral wire. I am not sure if I *have* to use the same breaker, or if I can safely pull a wire from a different breaker circuit to send power to the fan. My guess is that a multi-breaker setup would be dangerous due to creating the possibility of a looped circuit, not to mention having to know to turn off both breakers prior to servicing the fan.

Again, the stock fan/light has a single neutral wire. I have considered re-wiring, and isolating the neutral of the light and the neutral of the fan. However, they would share a common ground. I'm not sure if this is an issue or not if I ran two different breaker circuits to this fan.

I would like some thoughts and advice. Again, I'm unable to run a 12/3 wire, but must use the switch that I already have wired into the other lights so that all dim at the same time/rate. But, I would like to run a power supply to the fan portion, which will have a separate switch on a different wall. Known options are to splice off a power wire to the fan or pull off of a different breaker circuit that is close by for power (which would use a common neutral and a common ground in the fan, or a common ground and a separate neutral if I can re-wire the fan/light combo to isolate the two).

Thank you for your time on this.

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eskimo1
 
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Reply Wed 19 Aug, 2015 07:19 am
@eskimo1,
After additional thought, I realize that running two breaker circuits is dumb. I'm sure such is not up to code, and if so, I don't want to deal with having to turn off two breakers to service this fan/light combo.

Sometimes, typing something out is all you need to realize a potential mistake.

Therefore, I plan to splice the same circuit below the wall switch (in an basement crawl space), pulling the hot (black) wire to a switch on a different wall, then to the fan portion. I will thus simulate a 12/3 wire, just one that starts before the switch. I'll wire one hot into the fan, one into the light. Both will use the same neutral and ground wires from the same circuit.

Does anyone see an issue with this? Again, my solution is to splice off a hot wire and simulate a 12/3 wire setup, using the same breaker circuit.

Thank you for your time.
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