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Electrical Wiring

bath fan switch

14 years ago

since I'll begrudgingly be swapping out my bathh fan I figure I might as well change the switch too. I'd like something that o only turns on and off (like the switch there now)but perhaps also has a timer...to say set for 15 minutes after a shower. Are these things safe? Reliable? A good idea? Is there anything that is a combo switch and timer that fits a double outlet box...NOT 1/2 the box will have the switch for my vanity light. I hope to buy a fan olny model---no light in the fan.

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Comments (6)

Ron Natalie
14 years ago
Intermatic sells a straight replacement for a single switch that does 15-30-45-60 minutes (or hold). I've got a number of these in various places (one controls a receptacle for my wife's hair iron, I've got them in my wine cellar to kill the lights).

A caveat is that it requires a neutral in the switch box. If you don't have one the alternative is the old intermatic timer (Turn past 2 tick. tick,) one with the knob.

Both of these have hard switches to control the load so you will have no problem with controlling the fan.
andrelaplume2
Original Author
14 years ago
yea, well I was hoping for some sort of combo switch, maybe an on/off at the top and knob/timer at the bottom. Otherwise that knob will take a lot of abuse. With the knob, if you go into the batroom and set it for 15 minutes but then want to shut it off...can you do that or will that wear out the knob?
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Note that I truly appreciate the responses and while my comments below might sound terse, please do not take them as defensive or confrontational. I'm just trying to give you the background perspective that has brought us to where we are now. Do you really need the light in the fan plus the wall sconces in a room that small? The wall sconces are a recent design decision. We purchased the light/fan kit a long time ago (over a year), so we're going to use it. Additionally, most of the time the ceiling light would be the most appropriate lights source for the room. In "public" powder rooms, I try to keep things simple. I prefer to have the fan and light on the same switch. A guest turns on the light the fan turns on too. In our house, it is considered sacrilege to have the fan and light on a common switch. With the devices on separate switches, our fans, at most, spend less than 5% the time on that the lights do. I think I'd put the nightlight on a photo sensor instead of a switch. Even though the nightlight is only 4W, it will only be used a few minutes a week. It seems like a waste to have it on for (on average) 84 hours a week, just for 5 minutes of actual use.
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The mechanical (knob that says turn past 2 Intermatic) are direct replacements for a switch. You turn off the electricity, and move the wires from the switch to the timer. I have some intermatic electronic timers (give you time in 15 minute increments and can also be held on). These are also straight-forward but require that a NEUTRAL be present in the box. If there is one there, then there's no problem. If you're on a switch loop, then you might have difficulty.
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I'll let others get into the technical details but most homes are wired where lighting circuits are shared with general use receptacles. The lighting would have to be separated from the receptacles otherwise you might be turning things off like alarm clocks and computers. While that could certainly be done it turns the wiring into more of "custom" job which will add to the expense. My gut reaction is that you would be many years away from a return on your investment. A 60 watt "equivalent" LED bulb uses about 9 watts of power. If you child leaves the bulb on for 2 straight days, it would cost you somewhere around a dime. Without getting into parenting styles, I'd think it would be far more cost effective to teach your children to turn off lights when their done using them and gives them important life lessons. Having to walk back up stairs to turn things off is often an effective teaching method.
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Tee Hee. My brother went on a mission to curb energy use one winter (in a 4500 sq ft house with two teens on board) and installed several motion sensored switches including the guest powder room. Only the timing is so brief, it's lighted maybe all of 90 seconds. Am I sharing too much when I tell you I've found myself seated in the dark in a windowless room, blindly fumbling for the paper holder and waving my arms overhead to no result, I'm neither in line with the sensor or able to reach the switch manually on the other side of sink.
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andrelaplume2
Original Author
14 years ago
is this the one...looks like it would suit the bill....I have two switches in my box now...one for a light and separate one for a fan....how do I know if I have a nuetral switch...

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100564494&N=10000003+500025+90068#reviews
andrelaplume2
Original Author
14 years ago
ok, I see a great switch at Lowes / HD, likely the one reccomended. It has an on/off as well as 3 default timer settings. I see thought it has 4 wires: White, Black, Red and Green. I expected 3 but 4?

Also my bath has a double switchplate with a switch for a bath vanity light and separate one for the fan in the same box. On the other side of the wall is another light switch for the bedroom.

When I removed the bath switch plate I see:

1) 3 conduits coming in--or maybe going out or both!
2) It looks like all the whites are twisted together.
3) The are 2 black wires going into the current fan switch.

Do I have any chance of getting the NEW switch with its 4 wires to work?
Ron Natalie
14 years ago
You'll need to read the instructions. The white goes to your other white. One black from the existing switch goes to the black, the other goes to the red. You'll have to figure out which is which, perhaps the easiest way is to try it both ways. You won't damage anything if you get it backwards, it just won't work (the red lights on the timer won't even come on). The green obviously goes to the ground (a bare or green wire, or since this appears to be a metal box with conduit, there should be a screw on the box to make this connection).
stu2900
14 years ago
We have this and love it!

Here is a link that might be useful: Fan delay timer switch

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