There are special multispeed switches for fan motors. Check the fan
department at HD and you will find them there. Light dimmers are not
suitable for fan motors.

If the previous owner did this I would be concerned that the whole job
is a mess and that the fan is not adequately attached to the structure
of the house. In other words if he put a fan in a box made only for a
ceiling fixture it will probably fall down some day and make you very
unhappy. Since you are a novice you might want to have an electrician
check it out.



"CME" wrote in message
...
I dont know if this the place to post but I have a question.

I have a ceiling fan with lights built into as one unit in the home
dining
room, the fan/lights, each have there own pull string controls, for
the
light on/off. the fan has a forward/reverse pull string control and
variable speed pull string 3 speeds I think on a pull string. There
is also
one wall mounted switch controlled by a dimmer.

My question is it safe to use a dimmer switch or is it better to use
a
typical on /off switch? Something tells me that I should be using a
on/off
switch verses a dimmer as this would fry the fan if it was not on
full
power, or cause house fire at the switch box.
Being a novice can someone tell me the SAFE way to solve this
problem. As
the dimmer thats there is now burnt, I bought the house with a
dimmer there.

I never run the fan but did use the dimmer to control light
brigthness.

Any help appreciated.