How do I wire this light?

Question

Okay, I posted a question last night on how to hook up a fan/light combo, but some new info has been brought to my attention. I am replacing the fan/light combo in my home. The old setup had a switch for the light and a switch for the fan. I want to hook up the new one up the same way. The house wiring has a black wire, reddish orange wire, a white wire and a bare copper. The new fan has a black wire,red wire, Two white wires, and a green ground s***w. I thought the white wires were grounds and should be all joined together, but that was before I realized there was a copper gound wire in my house wiring. So.....what do I do? Do I still treat both of the white wires on the new fan as grounds, tie them into the white wire of my house wiring, and hook the copper wire to the s***w? Any info is appreciated....Thanks

Answer 1

The white wires are neutrals just join those together (just the whites). The bare copper wire is the ground and goes to the s***w (ground s***w) on the unit and depending on what switch you want the red or black wire will go to the fan or light.

Answer 2

The white (neutral) wires all connect together, the bare and green (ground) wires connect together, but not to the whites. The black to black, red to red,  The neutrals are not ground wires, they are a grounded conductor. The difference is critical in the system, the definitions can be confusing at first.  Hope this helps.  

Answer 3

If it is a new fan with a remote, you cannot wire it the same as the old fan. New fans with remote take 1 circuit and that's it, the remote controls both light and fan

Answer 4

1.Neutrals are NOT grounds. Your new fixture should be connected

to the house ground via that green s***w. You might need an extra bit of wire.

2. If you look at the switches, you can figure out which wire is for the fan and which is for the light.

3.If the white passes through, (is spliced to another white in),

the switch box it's probably the neutral.

The two whites on your new fixture are neutrals. connect them to

the white neutral, not the ground.

Careful, sometimes a three wire run to such a switch carrys power and

two returns, and the white is not a neutral.

Examine the existing switch to see what you've got there before powering up..