Installing a bathroom fan is important in modern homes to reduce excessive moisture that can cause damage to paint and walls. The time to plan for a bathroom exhaust system is while the walls and ceilings are still open from new construction or remodeling.
Most bathroom fans have a metal box that needs to be installed between the ceiling rafters or floor joists. The fan will fit into this box as part of the finish work or final appliance installation.
The ceiling or attic is the best place to run the exhaust vent. A dryer vent hose makes the best vent because of its flexibility and low cost. One end of the flex hose attaches to the outlet in the metal box with a large hose clamp. The other end of the exhaust vent will lead to an opening in the roof or the soffit.
There are several types of exhaust fans available. If it's a simple fan, then you can use a regular light switch to turn it on and off. If there's a light and a heater with the fan, then you will need to use three switches to control each. There are some really nice triple switches that work well for these types of fixtures.
Be sure to turn off the breaker at the breaker box and make sure that other people in the house know what you're doing with electricity.
Let's say we're wiring a light and fan combination. We can use 12-3 NM sheathed cable which has three wires and a ground wire. From the switch we'll need to have the circuit wires to provide the power. We will run the 12-3 cable from the switch box to the fan. There will be a red wire, a black wire, and a white wire, along with a copper ground wire.
We'll use a double switch that fits into one switch box. The 12-3 cable that runs from the fan to the switch can be wired first. You will need to wire the red wire to one of the hot receptacle screws on the switch. The black wire can be connected to the other hot receptacle screw. These will usually be on the same side of the switch.
The switch will also have a screw that attaches to the house circuit power. The black wire that comes from the power circuit will connect to the switch giving it power. The white wire from the circuit power and the white wire from the fan can be joined together with a wire nut. You can also attach the copper ground wires together with a wire nut.
Tuck all of the wires into the switch box and secure the switch in place.
Next, you will wire the fan and light with the 12-3 cable. There will be four wires with this fixture. The red wire from the fan will connect to the red wire from the 12-3 cable. There will be black wire from the fan light. It will connect to the black wire from the cable. The white wire can be connected with the other white wire and the ground copper wire can be connected with the cable ground wire with a wire nut.
Secure the fan in place with the attachment screws. Turn on the breaker to make sure that each component works when you flip the switch.
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