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Electrical Wiring

Adding broan bathroom vent/light fan

8 years ago

I am remodeling my bathroom and it is down to the studs. I am adding the bathroom exhaust fan , the bathroom has never had one and became quite moldy. The only lights are 2 vanity lights. One light has 2 different wire sheathings goinginto it and the otherlight has 1 wire sheathing going into it. Both are controlled by 1 light switch. Is it possible to run one of the wires to the fan and put a recessed light in another location and hook them up to a double light switch. Like one of those switched with 2:1?

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Comments (6)

Vith
8 years ago
You dont need to move those lines. Add a double or triple gang box where the light switch is currently, and run one or two new lines to the bath fan/light. I would make separate control of light and fan and would do a triple gang box with 3 switches (vanity light/recessed, bath fan, bath light) and two lines going to the bath fan/light.

For the recessed light, run a line from one of the vanity lights to the recessed light.
ryan89
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
let me rephrase this. If i wanted to keep the vanity lights and just add a ceilings exhaust withlight how would idothat? I havearaised ranch. The bathroom switch is outside of thebathroom. It has 2 switches. One bathroom andone for the hallway light outside of thebathroom. I have a outlet in the bathroom that needs to be moved. Can i use that to wire a plug to the fan
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mike -- Don't know that we will need a timer. It's just DH and I -- retired -- can remember to turn it off, I think. BTW, how long should it run after a bath or shower? energy rater -- The specs say the backdraft damper is within the 8" duct connection portion of the fan, not whether it faces in or out. I need to ask that they face it away from the fan itself, right? Or are you saying the damper should be not at the fan, but at the soffit? The bath is on the NW corner of the house. Air and moisture will go UP through the bathroom ceiling into the fan, ACROSS about ten feet of attic floor, then out a West soffit. Is it at the soffit that you want metal-flex flaps? Does moisture acclumlate there? Drip outside the exterior wall? (Yeah, where DOES the water go?) I see round aluminum-looking flex-ducting in the attic. Is that what I should expect to see on this install -- not hard metal ducting like a forced air furnace? Is this capacity appropriate? I want to eliminate excess moisture, but don't want to be taking baths or showers in a wind tunnel! (It is meant to run *while* one bathes and a short while afterwards, right?) Is a sone rating of 1.7 good? Is Broan a good brand? This installer is also going to correct three other, smaller bathroom exhaust fan ducts that now empty INTO the attic instead of outdoors. Price is $900 all in for Broan unit and all work. He says it will take about four hours. We are north of Chicago in a high-*address tax*-suburb, as my DH terms it. Thanks so much for your time and trouble. Much appreciated. I'm probably overly concerned, but we keep finding faults (like these fan exhausts) in a house that passed city inspection when it was built only 10 years ago. I'm sure it was not code to vent into an attic!
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It's possible to get replacement bare motors sometimes. Broan are good about having replacement bases -fan/motor, that fit into the existing box. They have a plug/socket, so you don't have to do any wiring. That being said, I just replaced one, and it turned into quite a big job because the replacement base was more than a whole new unit. I put in a new one, which meant a bit of carpentry etc because the boxes were different sizes. I had to cut the nails/screws holding the old one in, and insert the new box from below, which required a bigger hole, and careful saw cuts in addition to allow for the nailing tabs. The fan cover covers the repairs from it, in the ceiling. The insulation around the duct had no vapour/air barrier so I used a mylar bubblewrap product and foil tape for it. Since the house was old enough to not have had an vapour bag around it, I built one with the mylar stuff and sprayfoamed it in. Lastly I decided the fan should have its own switch, so I could use one of those timer/humidity sensing ones. It turned out well and I'm glad I did it, it works better and is much quieter. But in most cases, just replace the fan motor and base.
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+1 on leave the toilet room exhaust. That is historically what exhaust was only required for. Now, code has updated wording to include "bathrooms," but doesn't talk about humidity (yet). HVI has more in-depth recommendations for bathroom exhaust and ventilation. You can only combine ducts if you are pulling the exhaust from 1 attic/roof sourced fan. When you are pushing the exhaust from ceiling sourced fans, you need to keep 2 separate ducts with each their own discharge. You have options for the shower. Based on the finishes I see in the pic and thus the level of bathroom, a combo recessed light/vent inside the shower footprint might fit well. Or a light inside, with exhaust/heater outside the footprint. With a combo light/exhaust/heater, it will all be moved just outside the shower footprint, so make sure you're fine aesthetically with that next to the old ceiling fan light outlet - I'd guess you will be putting a chandelier there. And don't have the shower light switched to any of the same switches as the chandelier, toilet, or vanity lights.
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greg_2015
8 years ago
ryan,
Vith already answered your question:
Add a double or triple gang box where the light switch is currently, and run one or two new lines to the bath fan/light.

No offense, but it seems like you have no idea how to do electrical work. I highly suggest leaving this to the pros or spending some time reading books on how circuits work.
ryan89
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I dont have any idea thats why i am asking for help
greg_2015
8 years ago
I've heard that this is a great book for beginners.
Wiring Simplified
ionized_gw
8 years ago
To answer your question, we'd need to know where the individual cables that connect to the existing lights run. Do you know that? There are more than one possibility for wiring of this circuit. I'd recommend buying a book, a trip to the library as well or some internet surfing as well.

Do you have space in your service panel or a sub panel for a new circuit? Since you are down to the studs, this is a good time to do it. You should have a dedicated circuit for the convenience outlet(s). I believe that the lights are on a separate circuit from that, but I am not sure.

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