A ceiling fan including a lamp ballast in which the drive current frequency is controlled by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) that is capable of precise output frequency control. The VCO frequency is controlled by a microcontroller. The microcontroller may control the VCO frequency in response to various input signals including a triac signal, a manual dimmer control signal, a remote control receiver signal, a light monitor signal, a motion detector signal, or a communication interface signal.