Consider an overhead bathroom fan with a heater, to keep the room toasty.
Bathroom exhaust fans are meant to draw moisture out of the room and into the outside to help combat possible moisture damage such as mold. This is a nice feature, but taking the warm moist air out of the room doesn't help keep you warm after a shower. Consider replacing the fan with a fan and heater combination so that you can remove the moisture and keep the room warm.
Instructions
1. Turn the power off to the bathroom, by flipping the breaker switch that is associated with it.
2. Pop the fan cover off of the unit. It typically is just snapped on and can be pried off with your fingers. If it is held on by screws, you will need to use a screwdriver.
3. Remove the motor of the old unit to get to the wiring. Use a screwdriver to detach it. Once it is loose, you will need to unplug the wiring harness that is attached to it. Simply pull it out. Using a non-contact voltage tester, verify there is no power present by inserting the tester into the motor plug with the wall switch on.
4. Unscrew the plate that holds the bundle of wires using the same screwdriver.
5. Untwist the wires from the motor plug.
6. Slide the fan housing to the side so that you can get to the bracket screws that hold it to the ceiling joists. If you have access to the ceiling area above the bathroom, then this can be done more easily from above. Unscrew the brackets and pull the fan housing out.
7. Slip the new fan and heater housing into the hole. Make sure to slip the house wiring through the hole in the housing as you are sliding it into the ceiling. If you need to make the hole bigger, use a jigsaw to widen the hole.
8. Slide the housing to one side between the ceiling joists and extend the bracket until it touches the joist. Drill screws through the bracket holes and into the joists. Slide the housing to the other side to do the same on the other joist. The brackets slide in and out to extend and shorten, which allows you to do this. Again, if you can get to the ceiling area above the bathroom, this step can be performed from there with greater ease.
9. Seal around the fan housing with caulk if it is smaller than the original hole.
10. Unscrew the motor to get to the wiring so that you can connect it to the house wiring. Unplug the wiring harness.
11. Unscrew the wiring plate to get to the wires that you inserted into the top of the housing. Pull the wires out and attach them to the wiring harness that is to be plugged into the motor. Twist the white neutral wire to the white wire on the wiring harness and the green or copper ground wire to the same on the wiring harness. Finally, attach the black live wire to the black and blue wires. Wrap electrical tape around the wires where they are connected and twist on the wire nuts.
12. Slip the excess wires behind the plate and screw it back in place.
13. Plug the wires into the motor and attach the motor to the housing with a screwdriver.
14. Snap the cover on the fan/heater and turn the power back on.
Tags: wiring harness, into motor, Slide housing, above bathroom, area above