Dual bath fans for shower/commode area?

11 years ago

Hi all and thanks in advance for any thoughts:

I have read about dual fans that allow you to have a fan positioned in two parts of your bathroom, but the two fans vent out one opening in the roof (or wall). We wondered about this kind of set-up in our ensuite with one fan located near the shower, and the other in the toilet room. However the HVAC contractor discouraged us as he felt the makers of these dual fans offered much noisier fans than going with say separate Panasonic Whisper fans with one in each part of the bathroom. His solution would of course lead to two openings in the house. So here are some questions I have:

1)Can anyone recommend a quiet, effective dual fan bath fan that combines fans in two areas into one opening? Is the dual fan by Fantech any good (I see that other posters have recommended Fantech brand for their single fans)?

2)If you do recommend these dual fans, can I also effectively combine a dual fan for two adjacent baths in our down stairs (back to back baths).

3)What do you think of the Panasonic Whisper Value fan (model FV-08VS1)? These are the Panasonic fans that the HVAC contractor installs in new homes, but I wondered if I should be looking more closely at the higher end Panasonic fans, which the contractor can certainly order in for us. For what it is worth we will also have an HRV running to each bath, so the fans are simply to do a quick job of removing moisture in the bath, defogging the mirror. The fans are not the only method of ventilating the baths.

4)Also, what do you think is a reasonable cost to install each bath fan? We have been quoted $250 per fan (based on the basic value Panasonic fan). Some of the fans we need will vent out the roof, others out walls (a few with rather long runs to an outside wall).

Any thoughts on any of these questions would be very appreciated!

Carol

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Comments (9)

Olychick
11 years ago
I have a fantech with dual fans. Your hvac guy couldn't be more wrong! I put one inside my shower and one above the bathtub. Both have halogen lights. They are so quiet you barely can hear them and they are very powerful. I think you would love them!

I think I'm going to hit fantech up for a commission or something! But really, one of my biggest homeowner gripes for 40 years has been noisy inefficient fans and I am crazy happy to finally find one that works and is soooo quiet.
John Tebbs
11 years ago
We have one fantech fan in the attic with one outlet. It has two light/intake combos, one for the shower and one for the toilet, and they are both ducted to the single fan with a Y in the duct. It's so quiet we can't hear it run. The system does take up quite a bit of space in the attic, though.
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I have the Whisper Warm by Panasonic and love it. I don't know exactly how the electrician did it but the heater switch and the shower light are on the same switch right outside the shower door. The rest of the bathroom switches are next to the door and the exhaust fan part of the Whisper Warm is there on a 30 minute timer switch. 30 minutes is more than enough time for our space. By the way, our vanity light is on a dimmer switch and it's nice to be able to turn it down low for lots of reasons including not waking anyone up in the night. Our bathroom is pretty small and the Whisper Warm heats it up great but I read reviews where people with high ceilings or large bathrooms were not happy with it so I got one that was for a larger area and am thrilled. We pur our towels under it when entering the shower and when we get out they are so warm. We also put it right above where you step out of the shower and it's really nice! Oh and the switches are 1/2 the size that the used to be so 2 things fit in the space that one used to take. Good luck whatever you decide.
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Hi Carol, I just got mine installed. They are not hooked up yet. My electrician, who is a wonderful guy, has been MIA for a month. I guess the schools electric upgrades come before my modest remodel :) Anyway, now school is about to start and they will be more available so that "Nate" can get over here and wire my stuff. The fan is a 170cfm unit if I recall. The fan is actually made in Germany. The grills are about 8" diameter or so and have a halogen light. I don't think it's too weird that the neighboring bathroom will be vented when the one in use is vented, really. It is a new concept but I think it is ok. I was able to keep the roof vent and hook everything together just fine. I had my brother do the work and he did all ridged ducting because it is more efficient. The vents are about 5' apart. I will probably have 2 switches to the unit because I have 2 doors to enter the room. Fantech is a unit that I have seen referenced many times on GW, with great reviews. When I talked to the tech guy he was very helpful.
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ShellKing
11 years ago
In our recent master bath remodel we put dual fans in the shower and wc. They connect in the attic space and vent out the side of the attic. Our invoice says Broan inline fan. I'm not sure which model - http://www.broan.com/products/filter/remote-in-line-3eeb17cb-cc47-4425-a86b-192ed5fcb9d3

There is only one fan -- the ducts go up and meet in the attic. It's very quiet!

It's so quiet that it doesn't matter that they are either both on or both off. The were installed by an HVAC guy. The time was installed by the electrician.
ontariomom
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks guys for your reassurance that installing a dual fan (two fans that join and then exit out of one opening in the wall or roof) is a good idea. I see that others have tried this arrangement for two spots in a large bath (or the WC and shower area). Has anyone tried a dual fan for two back to back bathrooms? What would be a reasonable labour cost to install a bathroom fan?

Thanks for your help.

Carol
Olychick
11 years ago
I don't see why a dual fan wouldn't work in 2 rooms but don't think you can turn them on independently, so when the motor turns on it would turn on both fans. Might be a heat loss concern? If you get a fantech with lights, you can have the lights wired separately from the fan, tho. Be sure to put them on timers. The fantech is so quiet you'd probably never remember to turn it off.

Can't help with labor cost question.
John Tebbs
11 years ago
Carol, please don't misunderstand about the fantech. It is ONE fan, with a dual intake. The Y in the pipe is BEFORE the fan in the attic.
ShellKing
11 years ago
Ours too -- it's one fan unit. The Y in the pipe is before the fan unit.

But ours operates with a single control/timer/switch. Two bathrooms sharing a unit would need to each have a control because you wouldn't walk into the other bathroom to turn on the fan. It seems that is a question for the electrician.

Also, I wonder if sometimes a louder fan in a guest/powder room is a good idea? Our 1/2 bath is right next to our dining room and kitchen. I know if I were a guest I would turn on the fan if only to muffle the sounds of my pee! A quiet fan wouldn't help in that case.
MongoCT
11 years ago
"But ours operates with a single control/timer/switch. Two bathrooms sharing a unit would need to each have a control because you wouldn't walk into the other bathroom to turn on the fan. It seems that is a question for the electrician. "

A single fan that vents two bathrooms and is controlled by switches in the respective bathrooms is easy to wire, the switches should simply be wired in parallel.

I've seen electricians or homeowners sometimes using 3-way switches for dual-location control. But that defeats the purpose and it can have a user in one bathroom turning the fan off when ventilation is still needed for the other bathroom.
ontariomom
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you all for the clarification and suggestions. I understand now that there is one fan in the attic, but two intakes in different parts of the bathroom. I hope I can use a dual intake fan for both the back to back baths and the ensuite/wc combo. The back to back baths are only a total of 70 square feet combined (yes they are both very small). Hopefully I can find a lower cfm fan in the dual intake style for this combo.

It just seems to make sense to me that we would want to go with the dual intake fans to minimize vent holes in our roof or walls. I don't know why the HVAC company was suggestings four separate fans with four separate vent holes in the building envelope.

BTW, has anyone had any experience with the Panasonic Whisper value model number FV-08VS1(as we might consider this single outlet fan for our basement powder room). It is probably more of a builder special Panasonic fan which does make me leary.

Thanks for your helpful feedback!

Carol

Dual bath fans for shower/commode area?

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Olychick

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Dual bath fans for shower/commode area?

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