Moving house with your ceiling fan: taking it down, transporting it and refitting it elsewhere

Refitting is decided at the first installation. Four things to keep: the original box with its padding, which protects blades and LED module better than any improvised packaging; the manual, attached to the order confirmation, to store in the box; the original screws, in a small bag; and the home's old ceiling light, if you rent, to put back when leaving.

A tip that saves an hour of searching: stick a label on the box with the room the unit was in and the date. In a move, the fan's box goes with fragile items, upright, never under other boxes. The Boréal 107 weighs about 5 kg and fits in a compact box, blades folded: it is one of the simplest units to transport.

Removal follows installation in reverse. Cut the lighting circuit breaker and check for absence of voltage with a tester. Fold the blades from the remote before cutting, if you think of it, which makes the unit more compact to handle. Remove the cover, unhook the motor body from the bracket holding it with both hands, disconnect live, neutral and earth from the terminal block. Unscrew the bracket from the ceiling box.

It remains to refit the old ceiling light, or a temporary lamp holder, so the home is handed back with a working light point. Ten minutes in all for someone who did the installation. The motor body goes in its box, bracket and screws in the bag, the remote with its battery removed so it does not drain in storage.

Two checks, to make during the viewing or on inventory day. Ceiling height: 2.40 m minimum so the Boréal 107 blades stay 2.10 m from the floor. In an older home at 2.80 m, fitting is ideal; in an attic at 2.20 m, the unit will go in another room. The light point: a ceiling box in the centre of the room, or at least two wires and a hook; if there is nothing on the ceiling, an electrician will create the point, or the fan will go in the room that has one.

A third point, rarer: distance to walls, 1.5 m between blade tip and nearest wall. A 3 m wide bedroom with an off-centre light point may not suit; then choose the room where the point is central. The compact Boréal 107 suits more rooms than a large diameter, which counts when you do not choose the ceilings.

Refitting is a normal installation: thirty minutes on a ceiling box, an hour without one. The manual found in the box avoids searching for the order of steps. The remote re-pairs with the receiver after power is restored, a procedure described in the manual; it is the one point that surprises those who forgot it since the first installation.

The 2-year warranty follows the unit, not the home: it runs from the purchase date, and a move does not interrupt it. The only case where a move changes something: a larger home. A fan that covered a 12 m² bedroom still covers an 18 m² bedroom, but not a long 30 m² living room; that is the moment to add a second one rather than replace the first, the 2+1 pack being designed for that.