Let me apologize in advance for the long setup!
I'm installing a ceiling fan in a bedroom where there has been no existing ceiling fixture. I want it to be controlled by a wall switch that currently switches a wall outlet, and I would like that outlet to be unswitched. I had planned to put the fan and light on the single switch rather than run 3-wire cable because I didn't want to bother switching out the switch box for a 2-gang. Above the ceiling is an unfinished attic accessible by a scuttle. Up there, at the location of the switch, is a hole in the top plate with two cables going into it (12-2, aluminum by the way). I wrongly assumed one was heading off to the outlet.
When I opened up the switch, I found the two cables entering the top and a third entering the bottom of the box, carrying power away to the outlet. This switch box, apparently, is also being used as a junction for a cable heading off to parts unknown. It's also pretty jam-packed, and by my calculations does not have room for another cable. It already has 6 12 gauge wires; 2 more plus ground plus switch by my math =24.75 cu in required; I don't think 1-gang boxes even come that big. Plus, on the practical side, I'll be using those purple rectangular mini-bus bars for connecting copper to aluminum, and those take up even a bit more space than wirenuts.
I think the only solution I can see is to go ahead and put in a 2-gang box, 3-wire cable, and switches for both fan speed and light. By my math that would add up to 31.5 cu in, and I can get a 34 cu in old work box. Before I go ahead with that plan, is there any other solution I'm overlooking? I had briefly toyed with the idea of putting a junction box in the attic for the two wires that go into the wall, and running a jumper section down from them to the switch... but the cables have no slack and are stapled to the studs in the wall (as far as I can tell by tugging a bit). I really would prefer not to get into anything that involves replacing drywall and painting.
By the way, my wife is a bit antsy (and so am I, honestly) about the idea of old-work boxes supported by drywall alone. Is there really no box that you can attach to the stud, like by screwing through the wall of the box? I guess nobody wants an ungrounded metallic screwhead inside the box. Still... gee.
Cable fill and ceiling fan wiring
I'm installing a ceiling fan in a bedroom where there has been no existing ceiling fixture. I want it to be controlled by a wall switch that currently switches a wall outlet, and I would like that outlet to be unswitched. I had planned to put the fan and light on the single switch rather than run 3-wire cable because I didn't want to bother switching out the switch box for a 2-gang. Above the ceiling is an unfinished attic accessible by a scuttle. Up there, at the location of the switch, is a hole in the top plate with two cables going into it (12-2, aluminum by the way). I wrongly assumed one was heading off to the outlet.
When I opened up the switch, I found the two cables entering the top and a third entering the bottom of the box, carrying power away to the outlet. This switch box, apparently, is also being used as a junction for a cable heading off to parts unknown. It's also pretty jam-packed, and by my calculations does not have room for another cable. It already has 6 12 gauge wires; 2 more plus ground plus switch by my math =24.75 cu in required; I don't think 1-gang boxes even come that big. Plus, on the practical side, I'll be using those purple rectangular mini-bus bars for connecting copper to aluminum, and those take up even a bit more space than wirenuts.
I think the only solution I can see is to go ahead and put in a 2-gang box, 3-wire cable, and switches for both fan speed and light. By my math that would add up to 31.5 cu in, and I can get a 34 cu in old work box. Before I go ahead with that plan, is there any other solution I'm overlooking? I had briefly toyed with the idea of putting a junction box in the attic for the two wires that go into the wall, and running a jumper section down from them to the switch... but the cables have no slack and are stapled to the studs in the wall (as far as I can tell by tugging a bit). I really would prefer not to get into anything that involves replacing drywall and painting.
By the way, my wife is a bit antsy (and so am I, honestly) about the idea of old-work boxes supported by drywall alone. Is there really no box that you can attach to the stud, like by screwing through the wall of the box? I guess nobody wants an ungrounded metallic screwhead inside the box. Still... gee.
