Deviation Betwixt Ceiling Fan Box As Well As Light Box
Ceiling fan boxes are designed to support heavier fixtures. They are designed inwards a fashion that allows them to be secured to a joist. Light boxes are solely meant to back up lighter fixtures, like calorie-free fittings. They tin can be screwed direct into drywall ceiling boards.
Difference Between Ceiling Fan too Light Boxes: Overview
Both ceiling fan boxes together with low-cal boxes perform the same office, albeit for dissimilar devices. They household electrical wires and back up the weight of a fan or lite.
The major divergence between fan-rated boxes in addition to light boxes is their weight-bearing capacity. Ceiling fan boxes are designed to back up the weight as well as drive of a fan. Regular calorie-free boxes are designed for lighter as well as static fixtures.
What is a Ceiling Fan Box?
Ceiling fan junction boxes are electrical boxes that are rated for ceiling fan installation. They are used to home electric wires are good as back up the weight of the fan. They serve every bit the mounting surface to which the fan’s hanging bracket is attached.
Ceiling fan-rated boxes are commonly circular or octagonal. They come up inward unlike depth sizes, typically between 1/2 together with ii three/4 inches deep.
They are ordinarily made of sturdy metal or durable plastic.
Weight It Can Handle
Ceiling fan boxes are designed to support more than weight than regular junction boxes. Ceiling fan boxes are designed to back up a minimum of l lbs.
Most ceiling fan electric boxes tin support fans that weigh upward to 70 lbs, which is more than than the average weight of a ceiling fan, which typically ranges betwixt 15 to l lbs. The extra weight-bearing capacity accounts for the centripetal force of rotation.
How Should It Be Supported?
Ceiling fan boxes take to live attached to a secure surface that can back up the fan’s weight in addition to campaign. This is why fan boxes are attached to ceiling joists.
If the box is improperly installed to a joist or if it isn’t attached to 1 at all, the fan is at take a chance of wobbling or worse, collapsing.
How the box is installed would depend on the application together with the installation place. The box tin can either be screwed direct to the joist or it can be connected to a brace that is attached to next ceiling joists.
In situations where a couplet is non available in addition to in that location is attic access, a wooden block can live installed between the joists in addition to the box screwed straight to the block.
Fans are secured alongside either 8-32 or x-32 screws.
Required Ratings
The National Electric Code (NEC) demands that all ceiling fans that weigh 35 lbs together with in a higher place be installed on an electric box that is listed for ceiling fan installation.
In accordance with the NEC, ceiling fan-rated boxes should live UL-listed for mounting ceiling fans. For a box to live listed for ceiling fan utilization, it must come across the UL requirements, 1 of which is that it must have a minimum weight capacity of l lbs.
Details on whether a box is “approved for fan back up” is ordinarily provided on the packaging together with on the box itself.
What is a Light Box?
Light junction boxes are electrical boxes that are approved for mounting light fixtures. They house wiring connections also every bit support the weight of the lighting fixture.
There are dissimilar options to pick out from when it comes to lighting electric boxes. Here are the well-nigh mutual low-cal boxes:
- Octagon junction boxes (amazon link)
- Round junction boxes (amazon link)
- Round pan electrical boxes (amazon link)
- Ceiling fan-rated boxes (amazon link)
Light boxes are unremarkably made of metallic or plastic too they come inward unlike sizes ranging from ane/2 to 3 inches deep.
Weight It Can Handle
Light fixtures come inward dissimilar forms together with varying weights. The type of junction box used to mount a low-cal fixture is usually dependent on the weight of the lite.
Standard light boxes, like octagon boxes or circular electrical boxes, can back up upward to 50 lbs.
How Should It Be Supported?
How the junction box is mounted would be subject on the box type. Some calorie-free boxes can be screwed to the drywall ceiling patch others are secured to a joist.
Light fixtures are by and large secured with viii-32 screws.
Required Ratings
Light boxes do not involve any formal listing similar what is applicable in fan-rated electric boxes.
Lighting fixtures accept a broad weight range. The requirement for lite boxes is that they are suitable for the weight of whatever low-cal fixture is to live installed on them.
Certain lite fixtures like fluorescent subway system-mode lights, recessed lights, too or so runway lights come amongst exceptional electrical boxes in addition to do not accept to be mounted on a regular light box.
Table of Differences Between Ceiling Fan together with Light Boxes
| Fan-rated boxes | Light boxes |
| Can be used for ceiling fans and light fixtures | Regular light boxes cannot support ceiling fans that weigh more than than 35 pounds |
| Most fan boxes tin back up fans upwards to seventy lbs as well as low-cal fixtures up to ninety lbs | Can back up up to l lbs for low-cal fixtures |
| Must be connected to joist | Can live screwed to drywall |
| Must be UL listed for ceiling fan installation | Doesn’t necessitate UL listing |
| Sometimes come amongst a distich | Does non come alongside a duad |
| Ideal for heavier fixtures | Cannot support heavy fixtures |
| More expensive | Cheaper |
Is One Better Than The Other?
Light boxes are a brilliant pick every bit long as the static fixture is below 50 lbs in addition to the ceiling fan is less than 35 lbs. Fixtures higher up l lbs accept to live supported by a fan-rated box because they are amend equipped to back up heavier loads.
Additionally, although they power live able to support fans that weigh less than 35 lbs, near building codes take that ceiling fans be mounted on fan-rated boxes,
Fan-rated boxes, on the other manus, are ideal for both ceiling fans too heavier lite fixtures. Most fan-rated boxes come up alongside weight ratings for ceiling fans as well as calorie-free fixtures.
For example, this Bell (amazon link) ceiling fan box is rated to back up ceiling fans that weigh upward to seventy lbs in addition to lite fixtures weighing up to 150 lbs.
When you lot compare the features of fan-rated boxes together with lite boxes, it’sec safety to enjoin that ceiling fan boxes are the superior option.
Sources
https://www.thespruce.com/electric-switch-too-junction-boxes-1824666
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/order-existing-outlet-box-support-ceiling-fan-65443.html
https://www.hunker.com/13414278/how-to-install-a-low-cal-fixture-if-there-is-no-electric-box
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