Ceiling fan WTF


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    Last night we had a power outage for a few hours and it reminded me of a ceiling fan WTF. A few years ago I put a Hunter ceiling fan in our bedroom. The WTFiness is that anytime the power goes out and comes back on, the lights always come on. I understand the reasoning behind it, if you ever want to turn the lights on and only have one switch controlling the fan, you can just turn the switch off and back on again. But when you keep a ceiling fan on 24/7, the lights occasionally come on by themselves, like at 3am while you are sleeping.

    If I still had the parts, I would just take the light kit off. We never use it.



  • You could just take the light bulb out.

    Also how is your ceiling fan not hooked up to a light switch? Sounds like that's the real WTF right there.

    Ours is hooked up to the light switch, and we use the light all the time, but don't actually use the fan.

    Now the light bulb burned out, and it's a T4 E11 Lightbulb, and there's no way I'm letting a 75-100Watt light bulb in there. I got a E11-E12 converter and put a 40W equivalent LED in there, but it's nowhere bright enough. Unfortunatelly, they don't make 100W equivalent in E11 or E12, and and E12 to E26 adapters are a pain in the ass to get and I don't know if it will fit or i fit will be safe.


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    This is super confusing, but I THINK the setup is something like: a fan hooked up to a switch, which is on, but with dangling chains to turn the lightbulbs off while the fan runs. The power goes out then comes back, which is like toggling the switch off and on again from the fan's perspective, so it resets the lights to being on to avoid confusion with the state of the dangling chain differing from the light switch.


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    @russ0519 said:

    You could just take the light bulb out.

    I thought about it, and thought it would be kind of silly. But yes, it is a possibility.

    @russ0519 said:

    Also how is your ceiling fan not hooked up to a light switch? Sounds like that's the real WTF right there.

    It is hooked to a light switch, a single switch that controls both fan and light, but is perpetually in the on position.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @russ0519 said:

    Ours is hooked up to the light switch, and we use the light all the time, but don't actually use the fan.

    The monkeys who put in the ceiling fans in my apartment put the kind that have two pull-chains, one for the fan, and one for the lights. Then they attached the whole assembly to a wall switch, instead of just the lights.

    Pull chains are (mostly) a horrible thing and whoever invented them should probably be beaten.



  • @FrostCat said:

    Pull chains are (mostly) a horrible thing and whoever invented them should probably be beaten

    to death with a pull chain?



  • My bedroom fan is hooked up to a single switch, which is always on. There are no chains, it uses a remote to control the fan/light separately.

    Having the light come on when the power does isn't the worst thing in the world. It's an odd behavior, but not exactly a WTF.



  • @FrostCat said:

    The monkeys who put in the ceiling fans in my apartment put the kind that have two pull-chains, one for the fan, and one for the lights. Then they attached the whole assembly to a wall switch, instead of just the lights.

    Pull chains are (mostly) a horrible thing and whoever invented them should probably be beaten.

    That's pretty common. Once there was just a light there, and then some dumbass came along and thought it would be good to put a fan in place. Someone did that in my kitchen (previous owner) where there was a 3-way switch. This was a huge pain and I never used the fan as a result (fan chain = off, light chain = on).

    Just this summer I finally found a manufacturer that makes one of those wireless controls that looks/acts like an in-wall switch, but is designed for a 3-way wire setup. Bought one on Amazon, and that has been the best thing since sliced bread! Now I can use the fan, light, and dim/slow either independently... from either wall switch location. Now the fan makes sense.



  • @chubertdev said:

    Having the light come on when the power does isn't the worst thing in the world. It's an odd behavior, but not exactly a WTF.

    If you have to remove the lightbulb from a light because it comes on while you're sleeping, I'd say that is a wtf.



  • @EvanED said:

    If you have to remove the lightbulb from a light because it comes on while you're sleeping, I'd say that is a wtf.

    Yes, but there is a way to restore it to the state it was before the power went out without removing the lightbulb, so that is not the case.



  • @chubertdev said:

    Yes, but there is a way to restore it to the state it was before the power went out without removing the lightbulb, so that is not the case.

    The point is you have to remove it always as a preventative measure.

    Unless you think your fixtures waking you up for no reason is appropriate.



  • @EvanED said:

    The point is you have to remove it always as a preventative measure.

    Unless you think your fixtures waking you up for no reason is appropriate.

    Power coming back on isn't a reason? When I was younger, my family had a ton of fish tanks. When the power came back on, we'd have to make sure all of the filters were running.

    And even if you don't have fish, it's not exactly "no reason."



  • @chubertdev said:

    Power coming back on isn't a reason? When I was younger, my family had a ton of fish tanks. When the power came back on, we'd have to make sure all of the filters were running.
    I'm not saying there aren't a few people who care, but I suspect it's not many; and I think a standard light fixture doing it is a WTF. I strongly suspect it'll annoy far more people than it'll help. If I knew a fixture did that beforehand there's no way I'd buy it. If I found out after but in the return period and it was a table or floor lamp instead of mounted to the ceiling, I'd return it. If I found out after that, I'd take the light bulb out and leave a bad review. Personally, I think that counts as a WTF.

    @chubertdev said:

    And even if you don't have fish, it's not exactly "no reason."
    Fine, I should have said "good reason". Your light going into strobe mode because it's the second Tuesday following a full moon would be a reason, but still a WTF.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @EvanED said:

    Your light going into strobe mode because it's the second Tuesday following a full moon would be a reason, but still a WTF.

    If you're losing power enough for this to be a real problem, TRWTF definitely isn't the light.


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    I wouldn't disagree with you on that one. During the rainy season, we lose power at least briefly nearly every time it rains, and that is probably TRWTF.

    When we first moved to our current city, we bought a house in the historic district and the power situation was much better. We probably only lost power 1-2 times in 3+ years. When we did lose power, it was back on within the hour. I believe the reason for that is that we had the mayor 2 doors down one direction and the governor 4 doors down the other. I think the local utility companies realized that if the politicians do not see a problem, then they will not have a problem.

    Now that we live in a slightly newer area and my neighbors are not locally influential people, the local utility could care fuckall if my power goes out once a month.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @Intercourse said:

    I wouldn't disagree with you on that one. During the rainy season, we lose power at least briefly nearly every time it rains, and that is probably TRWTF.

    There are areas around here like that. I'm fortunate to have moved to a place where the local lines are buried. I can recall losing power a couple of times in the last 7 years. One was a really big storm (so millions were without power) and another was a transformer or something, and it was very minimal.

    Either way, since the utility prioritizes work to restore the most power quickly, when my power is out it's something that affects a lot of people, so we generally don't have to wait too long.


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    Yeah, and there you have hit on the root of the problem. My neighborhood has overhead lines and heavily wooded lots. When I lived in the historical district, it was required that all utilities be buried, etc. You have to keep up appearances, even if it costs you thousands of dollars a month to heat your home (that is another story and another WTF. If you have a libertarian mindset at all, do NOT move in to any area that is considered historical, no matter how pretty the house is).

    With the heavily wooded lots, the utility companies will not spend the money to bury the lines because they would have to do clearing to get it done. Also, there are people in the neighborhood who do not want it done, because they will lose a few trees. I say screw them, use the right-of-way for what it was used for.

    I think I need to move to a Unibomber shack in the woods. Myself and neighbors are like oil and water. 😄


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @Intercourse said:

    If you have a libertarian mindset at all, do NOT move in to any area that is considered historical, no matter how pretty the house is

    I think that's even good advice for the fascists among us, because Who? Whom?

    @Intercourse said:

    With the heavily wooded lots, the utility companies will not spend the money to bury the lines because they would have to do clearing to get it done.

    Burying utilities after the fact is hard to justify because it's damn expensive. A lot easier to just trim the trees, though a lot of people get silly about funny looking trees.


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    @boomzilla said:

    Burying utilities after the fact is hard to justify because it's damn expensive.

    No, I get it. I am just lamenting the fact that my old neighborhood used to have overhead lines but they buried those because that area was full of influential cocks who wanted everything "period correct". This includes single-pane fucking windows and slate roofs.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @Intercourse said:

    If you have a libertarian mindset at all, do NOT move in to any area that is considered historical

    I thought historical preservation usually applied to the outside primarily; are you saying you can't rip out interior walls and put insulation in? That's insane.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @boomzilla said:

    A lot easier to just trim the trees, though a lot of people get silly about funny looking trees.

    Have you seen some of the abominations the utilities will perform if they get the chance? Down here in Dallas a few years ago there was a lot of outrage because the utility was taking these gargantuan U-slices through some really old trees. Google is failing to deliver any representative pictures, but they did some really nasty trimming. Oh, found one, third pic on this page: http://gadsden.ifas.ufl.edu/newsletters/2013/07/29/why-did-they-cut-my-trees/ How'd you like that outside your front door for the next couple decades?


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @FrostCat said:

    Have you seen some of the abominations the utilities will perform if they get the chance?

    Yes, I've seen that stuff a lot.

    @FrostCat said:

    How'd you like that outside your front door for the next couple decades?

    Better than something that threatened to take out my power. If it's that big of a problem, just keep trimming all the way to the ground. Stop inconveniencing the rest of the world with your vanity.


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    @FrostCat said:

    I thought historical preservation usually applied to the outside primarily; are you saying you can't rip out interior walls and put insulation in? That's insane.

    In my instance, in the area that I lived in, you could insulate the walls but you could not change out the windows. I even tried to source windows that looked mostly correct but they would not allow them. They were the proper color, they had glass that made everything a little wavy, etc. No go. The frame, mullions and muntins were just a little bit too wide (necessary to fit Low-E glass). I have never met a group of people with sticks that far up their asses.

    The home had a slate roof that needed some repairs. I found a replacement roofing material that was made of synthetic material, but looked identical. Same color, same sheen, but it lasted essentially forever. Nope, we cannot have that. It has to be fucking slate.

    At the time I had a diesel truck. When it is 10F outside, not warming up your engine is about as good of an idea as pouring sand in the valve cover. One morning I had it outside idling and the cops showed up. It had been running for maybe 15 minutes. Noise complaint. You know what fuckers, if you had better windows you probably would not have even heard it.

    I could go on and on. I learned my lesson though. We decided to just move. When we were talking to realtors about what we wanted, I made one thing absolutely clear: "Under no circumstances, no fucking way, will I ever even consider a house that has an HOA or covenants attached to it. No. Don't even show them to me."


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    @FrostCat said:

    How'd you like that outside your front door for the next couple decades?

    @boomzilla said:

    Better than something that threatened to take out my power. If it's that big of a problem, just keep trimming all the way to the ground. Stop inconveniencing the rest of the world with your vanity.

    @boomzilla's response is precisely what mine is. I have half a maple tree in the backyard because of stuff like that, but it is better than a preventable power interruption. I have enough of those already. I just want them to bury the fucking lines and be done with it. Not long after we moved in to our house I had the power service upgraded to 200A and a second meter installed and when they did that I had them bury all of our utilities from the pole to the house at the same time.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @Intercourse said:

    a ceiling fan WTF

    Could be worse:


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    Yeah, but at least that would not turn on lights at 3am. ;)


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    You'd not want to sleep underneath it, though.


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    I would also be headed towards divorce if I did things like that. I am a "form follows function" sort of guy, but that is not enough form for the wife. ;)


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @boomzilla said:

    Better than something that threatened to take out my power.

    Well, I don't have a dog in this race. I tend to agree with you, but I can understand why people get upset.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @FrostCat said:

    Well, I don't have a dog in this race. I tend to agree with you, but I can understand why people get upset.

    I'd probably think it makes for a more interesting looking tree. Way better than a lot of what's called art these days.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @boomzilla said:

    I'd probably think it makes for a more interesting looking tree.

    I've seen a lot of them, particularly here, and they're generally NOT attractive. Worse, the trees look unbalanced--I'd be worried about them breaking. That may not be justified, but they DO look like they're ready to tip over or snap.

    Aside: when I'm double-quoting like this should I remove any of the quote= cruft after your name?

    @boomzilla said:

    Way better than a lot of what's called art these days.

    Ha!


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @FrostCat said:

    That may not be justified, but they DO look like they're ready to tip over or snap.

    I do worry about that sort of thing when I see it. Frankly, I'd be more likely to just cut the fucking things down to avoid problems in the future. I like trees, but not as much as living with functioning electricity.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @boomzilla said:

    Frankly, I'd be more likely to just cut the fucking things down to avoid problems in the future.

    True. What's funny is here in some of the neighborhoods that complained so loudly, there was probably room--if someone had thought ahead--to place both a tree and power lines where they wouldn't grow into each other...as long as nobody used a deciduous tree.

    A nice line of conifers set back from the power lines, which should probably have been placed closer to the road, would have made a lot more sense, but I bet the trees were there first, and I don't know why the power lines were placed where they ware.

    Plus, replacement trees are expensive, or so I hear.



  • But needles are a barrier to hugging!



  • In my experience sap is more of a barrier to hugging than pine needles.

    Source: I was a chronic tree climber as a kid. Except for those Honey Locusts.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @FrostCat said:

    Plus, replacement trees are expensive, or so I hear.

    They keep showing up in my (very small yard). I've had several maple saplings that I've successfully transplanted to more convenient locations. Two oaks appear to have survived the squirrels and I think I've got a baby cherry tree starting, too. Granted, it will be a while before any of these give significant shade. The oldest (a maple) is now about 12-15ft tall.



  • @loopback0 said:

    You'd not want to sleep underneath it, though.

    @Intercourse said:

    be headed

    I see what you (almost) did there...


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @FrostCat said:

    Plus, replacement trees are expensive, or so I hear.

    Trees are funny things. On the one hand, they're really keen to grow and you hardly need to do anything or actually spend anything. On the other hand, you cannot really hurry the process up (past the sapling stage anyway) — a mature oak takes a long time to grow.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @dkf said:

    Trees are funny things.

    Under some circumstances, you are required by local regulation to replace the same kind of tree, and sometimes even in the same place. This poses obvious problems sometimes; I don't know if local government is up to the challenge.



  • @boomzilla said:

    If you're losing power enough for this to be a real problem, TRWTF definitely isn't the light.

    Just because it's only occasionally bad doesn't mean it's not a bad idea.


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