Exhaust Fan/Light for a small, vintage bathroom?

15 years ago

What would you get as an exhaust for a small, vintage bathroom in an 1860's bathroom? It's on an outside wall (if that makes any difference) and we have access to the attic above it.

Any suggestions? The ones at Lowes seemed to either be ugly/plastic-y looking or somewhat attractive but inneffective.

Thanks!

Sarah

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Comments (6)

arizonasue
15 years ago
I can recommend a great brand for a fan/vent, not sold in the big box stores: a Panasonic. I just had one installed in my small shower/toilet space that's closed off by a pocket door and it's extremely quiet and very effective taking steam out of the air. But the grill part is not 'vintage' looking. I don't know where you could find that.
kevin1727
15 years ago
What about using an in-line exhaust fan and then use an antique register grill in the bathroom? The light would have to be separate though.
I also saw some neat looking NuTone fans that might fit your decor.

Here is a link that might be useful: NuTone Decorative Fans
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A bathroom exhaust fan should produce 4 air exchanges per hour. Your bathroom is 7 x 7 which is 49sq.ft Assuming an 8' ceiling the total volume would be 49 x 8 = 392cu.ft We want four complete air exchanges per hour so that would be 392cu.ft x 4 = 1568cu.ft per hour. There are 60 minutes in an hour so we divide 1568 by 60min and it equals 26.13cfm. You currently have a 50cfm fan, which is twice the size you really require yet your having problems with the mirror fogging up. I suspect your problem is not the fan. Nature abhors a vacuum therefore a fan cannot push air out of a room unless there is provision for an equal amount of air to enter the room. You can test the theory by running the shower and leaving the bathroom door slightly ajar to allow more air to enter the room. Generally they make a slightly higer gap under the bottom of a bathroom door to allow more space for makeup air to enter the room but in some circumstances that does not provide enough makeup air. The solution then is to install a duct through the wall to an adjacent room and put a grille on either side. That will allow the additional air.
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The earlier poster is incorrect. You should never have the white from a switch connected to the light. One of the "bundles" will be your hot in; one will be a hot out (to the exhaust fan); the other will be the switch leg for the vanity light. Determine which is which. Connect the hot black, the hot out black, and the white of the switch leg together (add black tape to this white to signify it is hot). Connect the two remaining whites together along with a 6in piece of white wire. What you have left will be a switched black and a white. Connect these to the corresponding wires of the fixture. I have excluded the bare grounds here; they should all be connected together. And of course all of this should be done with the power off at the breaker.
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As for fan-lights in the shower, it seems ineffective to try to remove water vapor laden air from the shower since most of it will condense on the walls before that can happen anyway. My goal is to remove humid air from the vanity area and allow fresh air drawn from the door undercut to reduce fogging of the mirror and window glass. The entire bathroom will eventually dry out if you use a fan with a built in timer and/or constant low speed feature like Panosonic's WhisperGreen series. I have yet to find a fan-light combination that performs as well as separate units. Here are my criteria: no CFL or LED lamps (LED inappropriate in a bathroom; CFL inappropriate in a house) Max sound rating .8 sone max grille size 13x13 flush with ceiling variable speed fan with timer Panasonic makes a recessed spotlight-fan combination (FV08VRL1) but it uses a CFL. I suppose a halogen PAR lamp could be substituted because the CFL is probably only needed to get an EnergyStar rating but I am not comfortable recommending it. To reduce fan noise it is important to reduce back-pressure by using larger metal ducts.
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You can probably do a search at Build.com or here at Houzz to find them. Panasonic is well thought of. My whisper warm panasonic is so quite I can barely tell when it is on. I got one with humidity sensor and proximity sensing, so it turns on when anyone is in the bathroom. Just do a search and you should be able to use the advanced search options to find just what you want. Then buy it wherever you like once you have found the model you want.
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laurelhurst
15 years ago
We ran into the same problem 7 years ago while looking for a period appropriate exhaust fan for our 1923 home. Without any luck...my husband decided to design one that would not only be effective - but would be authentic to the age of the house and our decor.
7 years later, we decided to start selling them because people are still searching for an answer like we were!
Our company is Laurelhurst Fan Company and our website is www.laurelhurstfancompany.com
homepro01
15 years ago
Laurelhurst,
You are not allowed to advertise on these forums in threads.

If you want a decorative fan, please don't get the Nutone but consider the Fantech instead.
I have Panasonics and I love them but if it is style you are looking for, they will not be your first choice. The fantech has smaller outlets but may cost you a lot for just one toilet. Do a search on Fantech on the forum.

Good luck!
sarahandbray
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the advice!! I did look at the Fantech as well as the Panasonic WhisperWarm, but in the end, went with the Panasonic. We live in upstate NY and they heat would be great! Since we're not doing the heated tile (boohoo!), I figured this would at least get me a little toastier in the bathroom!

So Panasonic WhisperWarm 110cfm with Light/Nightlight for $219 from faucetdepot.com. Hopefully, that was a decent price and it comes relatively quickly ;)

(oh, and I read that some weren't thrilled with the light part of the fan, but the only other light we're going to have is above the mirror, so it's fine with me...plus a built in night-light for guests across the hall and the three kids? genius!)

Sarah from Albany, NY
slateberry
15 years ago
We are getting the whisperwarm for a vintage bathroom too. We plan to install it where you step out of the shower to take advantage of the directed heat. The antique chandelier will hang in the center of the room and hopefully catch the eye more than the whisperwarm will. So, perhaps, the best of both worlds.

We might even try painting it the same color as the ceiling to make it blend in more.

I love the antique regiser idea!

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Exhaust Fan/Light for a small, vintage bathroom?

Comments (6)

arizonasue

kevin1727

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laurelhurst

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Exhaust Fan/Light for a small, vintage bathroom?

Comments (6)

arizonasue

kevin1727

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laurelhurst

homepro01

sarahandbrayOriginal Author

slateberry

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sarahandbray
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