You can get a switch just for the fan, or a fan/light combo. I usually install a fan/light combo. Turn the switch on, the fan and light turn on, Turn the switch off, the light turns off, the fan runs for a user-set time.

There are a few to chose from:

EFI fan/light combo

Lutron timer switch

There are others out there as well with differing capabilities. Depends on the look (Decora versus "standard") and box fill you have available to you.

THANK YOU! You saved me some googling, etc., which I usually like doing and researching, but all the decisions seem to be coming due at once and I'm in overwhelm, overload.

Thanks again.

Be careful on this - I changed all ours out for timers, and they all started working at half power. Turns out that you need to find timers that can support the power the fan needs...I had no idea.

But the timer thing is really handy, it's kind of a must-have IMO. Otherwise we either never use it or leave it running half the day.

Thanks for the added info, youngdeb. Guess I'd better find out how much power my fan needs. Did you switch yours for the proper one? If so, what brand is it, etc.?

I initially put in the Leviton 6215M Wall Switch Timer, which didn't work. Then an electrician came in and put in one that works with the correct wattage for the fan, but of course I can't find it on the net and it doesn't say the brand.

But it says clearly on the box for the switches how much they can handle...of course I took none of that into consideration when i took it upon myself to do this....

youngdeb, the fan wasn't wired for 240v was it? If something needs 240v and it's being supplied with 120v, it'll operate at half speed.

A lot of times you'll see fans listed as 120/240, most of the time out of the box they're wired for 120v.

It's not a problem with the switch, but at the fan motor. And it can be easily rectified by swapping a couple of wires around.

So many options though as to why.

Can you find these like at Lowes or Home Depot?

Thanks

Look for "Requires neutral" somewhere on the labeling if you are going to control a fan with the timer. Also obviously make sure you have a neutral available on that circuit at the recpt. box.

My builder just came back with a price of $250 to put a wall timer switch on a fan in our bathroom. This one is for a Solatube exhaust fan but I think that is TOTALLY ridiculous. I found the attached timer that will do exactly what I want for $35.00. I'm beginning to think this guy is gouging me. What have others paid for fan delay switches for their bathroom exhaust fans?

Here is a link that might be useful: Reasonable fan delay switch

Susan, I'm wondering if most of the $250 charge is for the labor of re-wiring between your wall and the ceiling? Or do you have an existing exhaust fan that's on an on/off switch now, and he wants $250 to change the switch to a timer switch? If the latter, I agree with you, that seems way high.

Here's the switch I used in our guest bath, and I think I'm about to order again for our master bath.
{{gwi:1445483}}
It's a Lutron (part #MA-L3T251) two-in-one: the top part is a dimmer for the light; the bottom part is a timer for the fan. You can simply turn the fan on or off by tapping it, or set it to count down from an hour of less to shut off. I like having the fan and fan light wired separately. Depending on your bathroom, you might sometimes want to run the fan without the light. It's a $50 switch at Dimmer Warehouse, but you might find it for a little less if you shop around. It comes in all the regular Lutron colors (even though the page I linked just shows a few).

-- Eric

Check out this link. The humidstat might be the way to go.

http://www.aplussupply.com/airking/control.htm

jacobse, thanks for your time on this issue. I already have a Nutone in this location that has exactly the same setup: heat, vent, light and nightlight. Plus a quad double rocker set of switches. Initially, I was going to have a Solatube installed with just an integrated fan and he wanted $250 for the timer which he said actually controlled the fan by the time of day. Who needs that? He was clear that this was just for the timer. I just want it to run 20-30 minutes longer after a shower.

My husband and I decided last night to forgo the Solatube in this small room (shower and toilet only) and switch the horribe Nutone quad unit to a Panasonic Whisper Warm but upgrade the switch to the fan to one with a timer. That is where the madness has begun. I just got off the phone with Lutron tech support. Because Panasonic only puts flourescent 18w tubes in this unit, that exact unit you mentioned will most likely fail with the flourescent. Lutron does not have a double dimmer/timer for a flourescent fixture.

Also, the heat draws 1425w and matching Maestro units do not support that many amps. He said that would require a standard on-off switch. So for the night-light and heat I would have to stick with the double rocker style.

I was disappointed that Lutron didn't make a combo unit that was a simple on off for the light and a timer for the fan. He said they are aware of the issue but nothing yet.

Hopefully, all these details will help someone trying to install a Whisper Warm with a countdown timer.

Susan, I'm glad you checked with Panasonic, and brought up the fluorescent light, which won't work with a regular dimmer switch; I had forgotten that Panasonic used fluorescent. Now I remember that one of the reasons I switched from my original plan for a Panasonic Whisper fan to the FanTech fan was that I found the fluorescent light in the Panasonic to be very bright. Of course, I was seeing it in showrooms and trying to imagine what it would look like in our bathroom, but it just seemed like it would be very bright to me for first thing in the morning! ;) I liked the FanTech, which allowed my to have a smaller, dimmable light. I also like the small, almost zero-profile grill of the FanTech versus the bulbous Panasonic unit. But FanTech doesn't offer a heater, which Panasonic does -- so you can't have everything! For us, heat wasn't much of a desire, so I'm happy with the FanTech. For you, it seems like you can't do a timer for the Panasonic without expanding to a new box on your wall, which is too bad; at least you got the right info before buying something which wouldn't work.

-- Eric

Eric,

With Michigan winters and often getting up in the middle of the night, the heater was a godsend for the past 15 years. This is the only place my husband and I would use the heat (master bath). I don't think the other bath that has the same options has used the heat more than a handful of times in 15 years so that bathroom will not be an issue.

My BFF as Fantech and loves them. I cannot believe how quiet they are! When I told her that I would need one with heat, she looked at me like I was crazy!

Stupid fluorescent.....

Eric:

In my bathroom remodel, I am planning to replace my Panasonic Whisper fan with a Fantech to go in the shower ceiling.

I want to get the model with the Halogen light, as I do not like the Panasonic's Flourescent light.

What Fantech model, timer, dimmer switch, etc. do you recommend? Does Fantech offer these? If not, what is the best place to order on-line for the fan, switches, etc.?

Thanks.

Jani18, the Fantech ones I bought (one installed in our guest bath, one in the box awaiting installation in our master bath in about two weeks) are the ones with the halogen light. Fantech makes one with a compact fluorescent light which isn't big like the Panasonic, but I actually prefer the warmer (yellower) color of a regular light to the cooler (bluer) color of a fluorescent for the shower. And I like being able to dim the halogen light, which you can't do with the fluorescent, even though most times we'll probably just leave in on high. (I have rope light above and below our vanity and cabinets to use as a "night light", but if you don't otherwise have a built-in nightlight, then turning on the Fantech halogen light at a low setting on a dimmer would work well.) I'm quite happy with the model with the halogen light.

Which model of Fantech fan? That depends on how large your bathroom is. Their smallest fan, the one I have, moves 110 cubic feet or air per minute (CFM) and is good for bathrooms up to roughly 100 square feet. Our guest bath is 7'x7', so the small fan is sufficient. The master bath we're redoing now is larger, but it's divided into two separate rooms for the shower & toilet and the sink & dressing table; we decided we only needed ventilation for the shower/toilet room, so the small fan is again the proper size for us. I therefore got the Fantech PB110H, which includes the fan, grille housing, and grille with halogen light. If your bathroom is bigger, Fantch offers a larger 190 CFM model, and 270 CFM model with two grilles, and even a 370 CFM model. The Fantech web page shows the options and model numbers, and explains how to calculate how big a fan you need.

Fantech sells a timer switch, but I couldn't find out much information about it; it may be custom made for them. I decided to use Lutron, because it did exactly what I wanted and I could match it to the other light switches in the rooms. I'm using the one mentioned higher up in this thread, the Lutron MA-L3T251, which contains a light dimmer in the top half and a fan timer in the bottom half of a single size switch. I'm a big fan of Lutron's Maestro dimmers, which we have in a bunch of places in our house. They turn lights on and off with a gentle fade on and fade off over about a second, and once you set the lighting level you prefer, the light comes on to that level whenever you tap it. For the fan, you can preset it for just on/off, or 60, 45, 30 or 15 minute countdown. We have it on 60 minutes. Enter the bathroom, tap the button, take your shower and do your bathroom business, and it shuts off the fan an hour after you started. The fan is so quiet that unless you listen closely for it, you don't know its on; without a timer, I'm sure we'd be accidentally leaving it on all day with some regularity!

The Lutron switch comes in a bunch of colors, with matching Claro wallplates; you won't find most of the colors in a box store or even most lighting stores, but lighting stores or online retailers can order any of the colors Lutron offers. We went to a lighting store which had sample chips of all the Lutron colors, so we could see which looked best with our tile.

Hope that helps!

-- Eric

Hi, Eric:

I appreciate your informative message....very helpful to me. I plan on ordering the Fantech Hallogen and the Lutron switch you recommend.

Two more questions:

Did you install your Fantech outside your shower or in the ceiling above the shower?

Did you order your Fantechs on-line? If so, who did you use?

Thanks so much.

Jani

Jani,

In our 7'x7' guest bathroom, the Fantech grille with light is over the combo tub/shower. We've been using this bathroom exclusively while our master bathroom is being worked on, and I've been happy with the placement and amount of light in the shower (after many years of a too-dark shower!). In our master bath, there are two rooms, and the Fantech is being used in the room with the shower and toilet. Here, the Fantech grille is going to be the light over the toilet, which is only two feet away from the shower. It's not a steam shower, so there is room above the glass for air to be pulled to the fan. I'm still not sure whether we're better off this way or with the fan inside the shower, but my contractor didn't think it would make much difference one way or the other. (Our placement over the toilet came about because there are going to be two small lights in the shower, and this way, they can both be the same size, instead of one for the Fantech and one of a different type.)

Question 2: yes, I ordered online. Just about the best price for the Fantech units I found was with a company called H-Mac Systems (shophmac.com). The first time, I needed to call them with a question, and they were knowledgeable and helpful. The second time, I just placed the order on their web site. Both times, I got the unit within a week. I'd definitely recommend them. Below is a link to the 110CFM unit, if that's the one you need. $181 with free shipping currently. I only aw one other place which had it a few dollars cheaper, but there was something that put me off about dealing with them, so I went with H-Mac and had a good experience (twice!).

-- Eric

Here is a link that might be useful: Fantech PB110H fan from H-Mac

Thanks so much, Eric. Yes, this is exactly what I want to order.

Appreciate it.

Jani

Well, I ended up buying the Air King electronic fan/light timer, but it's not working right. It'll only do the timer part for about 1 minute no matter what I set on the timer. And, unfortunately, I can't find the receipt that came with it (online purchase). It was bought back in the summer, and we didn't get moved into the house until Sept.

Any ideas on what might be its problem?

Thanks.

Tracy, have you tried calling Air King tech support. I don't know that brand, but Lutron (which I used) has good tech support for issues like this. (Lutron's free phone support is, to my amazement, offered 24x7.) Alternatively, if you had an electrician wire your switch and fan, I'd think you'd want to have the electrician out to see why his installation isn't working. It could be a bad switch, or it could be wired incorrectly.

-- Eric

Thanks, Eric. The electrician has to come back out for a few other things, and I'll definitely have him check on this. I'm assuming it's wired correctly because the timer feature does work, even if it is for just one minute. That's what makes me think it's in the timer dial. I'll have him look first then try to call the mfgr.

I found the instructions for the timer, and there's a 5-yr warranty, BUT you have to have the receipt. I was sure I'd saved mine, but it's not in my thick "new house" folder where I put everything like that.

Tracy, I know how challenging it is to keep all the paperwork straight. I've got two high stacks on my side desk which I still need to sift through to organize for permanent filing... one of these days.

But I'd still call Air King's tech support. If you describe the problem, they may be able to tell you what's likely wrong even before your electrician comes out. They may tell you something to have your electrician try that he might not know to try. Or maybe not -- but you've got nothing to lose by making the call.

As for the receipt, they may not even require it if the switch is defective. (For instance, perhaps this model hasn't been on the market for five years yet, meaning whether or not you have the receipt, you've had it less than five years.)

Good luck sorting it out.

-- Eric

Tracy, With an online purchase Air King should have a record of date, model & price paid. Last week I had a company look up a purchase from 3yrs ago.

B.H.

tracey & deb -

the Leviton 6215M should work fine for all but the largest fans! It's rated for 1000W and a 1 H.P. motor load. That is a SERIOUSLY large bath fan.

I'm wondering if you got its cousin which is not rated for induction motors. It's the one stocked at home depot.

It's also quite possible that you got a DIMMER that looks almost exactly like the timer sans numbers. Coulda gotten switched very easily at the depot and would explain the half speed fan !!!