Fan Overheating

Is it possible for my ceiling fan to overheat? Yes, it is. There are a number of circumstances in which your ceiling fan can overheat. The first cause of an overheating fan is due to a lack of maintenance. Over time, dust and dirt can accumulate on the top of the fan blades. It can be difficult to see the dust buildup on top of the blades because normally, you don’t look up there. When you look up at your fan, you see the bottom – not the top. Many homeowners think, how is it possible for dust and dirt to get up there, when the fan is so close to the ceiling? Others may think this is not possible – but it is, and regular maintenance to clean the dust and dirt is important.

If you’re in the middle of home renovations, or having some level of work done where there is additional dust and debris floating about, make sure to pay special attention to your fan. Be sure to read our guide on cleaning your ceiling fan.

The next reason or cause for overheating is, the fan is not lubricated. If your hear a lot of squeaking, or even worse grinding from the fan – you need to consider adding some oil. Listen for the squeaking. If it’s coming from a fan blade, you can lubricate the fan blades with a few small shots of WD-40. Turn the fan back on, and listen for the squeak again.

If the squeaking sounds like it’s originating from the motor housing, you may have a larger problem. You may need to open the fan housing and clean inside. This article talks about identifying and resolving squeaking sounds that you may hear from the fan.

In a recent Reddit post as well, one homeowner had the same overheating problem with a ceiling fan even after returning it and exchanging it for another one. The homeowner had the fan blow out twice (stop working). When looking into the problem further, it turned out that some styrofoam packaging had been left on the fan, which caused overheating, and in turn caused the fan to stop working properly. I suppose we don’t need to tell you that it’s important to remove all packaging from a fan when installing. Any kind of obstruction in the fan’s path, or something that should not be there in terms of normal operation can cause immediate, and potentially lasting problems.