Possible to wire a bathroom exhaust fan to a ceiling light?
 

Need some advice from all you handy Planeteers. Let me start off by saying Im not very handy at all when it comes to shit like this but I'm going to try it anyway.

What I'm wanting to do is install a bathroom exhaust fan in a big walk-in closet. I'd like to install it right next to the ceiling light, would it be possible to wire it to the light so when I turn my light on the exhaust fan turns on too? If so any tips/recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Taking shits in your walk-in closet?

First off, the exhaust fan needs to be vented properly so the exhaust is sent outside.

Secondly, your best bet is to purchase an exhaust fan with a light. Wiring a light fixture in series to a light sounds like a recipe for a fire.

Hmmm I wonder what goes on in that closet...
Drugs are bad.... Mkay?

Absolutely, and no need to turn the breaker off while tying it in.

Yes, it's not only possible, but pretty easy.

Turn the breaker off.

For the fan to come on when you turn on the light, just grab a piece of romex (that's the standard home wiring, with a black, white and green wire inside a white sheath), open up the light fixture and match the wires color for color. Take the other end of the romex and tie it into your fan, matching the wires color for color.

Turn the breaker back on.

Done.

If you have some monster attic fan or something, you need to check amperage. If it's just a bathroom fart fan, go wild.

And of course you have to cut the fan into the ceiling.

LMAO

Romex doesn't have a green wire.

Yeah that would be my question as well.

Yeah, You're right. It's just bare copper for the ground, not insulated in residential romex. Should have just said ground wire, not green wire.

:bong:

215

220, 221, whatever it takes

Thanks. Everything is ready to go, just have to cut the hole, mount the fan, and wire.

Put some dryer sheets in the exit duct. That way it won't smell like marijuana...

replace the current light with a light/fart fan combo. Then just make sure to vent it correctly.

Your parents will be wondering what the humming noise is. Do you have a sister next to you that you could blame that on?

Sounds simple to me.

That'll be an awfully small meth lab.

What is going on in that closet ?

I'd think the first order of business would be to write down a link to this thread and leave it in a conspicuous place for the authorities to read so that they don't rule it a suicide.

Its for someone to smoke in this winter so she doesn't have to go outside and freeze her ass off. I dont want her smoking in the bathrooms and nobody else goes in her closet. Since its just cigarette smoke I assumed it wasn't necessary to vent it outside.

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lol, this thread has all sorts of upside. Who puts a ventilation fan in their closet? Please, I'm just have to know the reason for this insightful handyman job.

LMAO

Suuuuure it is....

Im not against weed, I think it should be legal but I dont smoke it because it makes me paranoid as hell. Dont really care whether anyone believes me or not, just wanting to know how difficult of a task this would be.

you do have to vent the smoke to somewhere so um, where you gonna vent the smoke too? Or are you gonna have the rest of the house now smelling of marlboro cigs because you are venting that crap into the middle of no where?

I was going to vent it to the attic. Will that make the whole house smell?

Buy a combo vent/light & Vent it outside. If you don't think you can handle it, call someone who can

Not sure. Why doesn't she just open a window? Is this a shared closet? You know everything in that closet is gonna smell like an ash tray.

Coming soon to an MLS listing...this house has 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and TWO shit-in closets!

OK, this time I'm serious. I don't have expertise in this area, but that sounds like a bad idea. Probably should get it outside in any way possible.

You would have to vent it through a roof cap. This will achieve nothing. I am skeptical it would effectively deal with the smell even if you did vent it outside. Cigarettes stink like shit.

If your attic is properly vented and insulated, this should work fine, since you aren't venting moisture.

This too. Even when people smoke outside, they still stink of smoke when they come in.

There are most likely louvers at both ends of the house in the attic where air can escape. Typically, when people are worried about venting a bathroom fan into an attic, they are worried about moisture and possible mildew. But it isn't really a huge deal.

As far as wether or not you will be able to smell smoke elsewhere in the house...I have no idea.

If it's cigarettes then tell her to use an e-cig during the winter months. I don't believe they stink or really put off the smoke, plus it's likely significantly better for her. Probably cheaper than trying to install your own fan and definitely cheaper than an electro-shock induced hospital trip.

If it's not cigs...then have her light a match when she's done....

tell her to quit smoking. Then hand her some skoal. Problem fixed.

We just don't want to see a vid like this later.....

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Just be an alpha and make the bitch go outside if she wants to smoke, or in your garage. It's really a stupid thing to do.

I will say this though, women make you do crazy shit.

I got married pretty young, wife didn't work. I come home from work and she is bitching about it being hot and none ventilated.

I was just like f you, I'll be back in 15 minutes. Went and bought a cheap fan at Wally World, stopped to get some beer on the way back. Go home cut the right sized hole after taking the old light out.

Put the damn thing in and said are you happy now?

My landlord came over one day and wasn't real happy because it was antique light I took out. I just told her it's in the basement take it to your house.

Yeah Ive been up there and you can see light coming in. I really dont want to cut a hole in my roof to vent it out, if its going to require that much work she can freeze her ass off.

This is your best option

yah, whatever happened with smoking in the garage???

"Its too cold"

This is bizarre.

Just tell her that you will get estimates on having a quality exhaust fan installed. If she pays for it, you will have it done. If not, take that shit outside

I'm hoping this is a walk-in closet and not some small coat closet.

If it's an attached garage I gotta call BS on this. I'd tell her to put on a coat and go into the garage. If she still complains about how cold it is then put a space heater out there for her.

Anyhow, I'm sorry I have to lecture you on this but here goes: by putting a freaking ventilation fan into her closet, you are enabling her self destructive behavior.

grow up man. wear the friggen pants.

if she has to suffer a little because she's well, stupid, so be it.

Dude, what if she's a smokin hot supermodel. You'd be fixing up her closet real nice too !

Say 'Your nipples disagree'? :shrug:

an exhaust fan will pull the warm air out of your home into the attic if not vented properly. That warm air will then condense on the underside of the roof, causing water to rot out the sheathing and potential for other damage to insulation, etc.

I'd have a heated garage my friend.

I ran the electrical department in chain like The Home-Depot for 7 years. About once a month, someone would come in asking for a mercury vapor light set-up that would fit in a small area. :shake:

As for your situation: can you get into the attic above where the light is? If so, the proper way to do it is this:

get 5' of Romex 14/2 wire, 6 yellow wirenuts, two hammer-in Romex staples, two Romex-to-box connectors for a 1/2" knockout, and enough 3" or 4" flexible exhaust hose to reach the exit point (the attic louver vent - presumably on an exterior wall)

TURN OFF THE BREAKER TO THE CLOSET CEILING LIGHT AND MAKE SURE THE LIGHT SWITCH IS OFF, JUST TO BE EXTRA SAFE.

Bring a plug-in lamp into the closet so you have plenty of light to work with in there.

Remove the closet light fixture from the ceiling (usually two screws that hold it to the ceiling box. Twist the cone-shaped wire-nuts counter-clockwise to remove. Make note of the colors of wire that come out of the ceiling - black should go to black and white to white. There also might be a bare or green wire attached to a green wire or screw on the fixture.

IN THE ATTIC Mount the fan in the ceiling 1 foot away from the ceiling fixture, per the instructions that came with the fan. (you should have already cut the correct-sized hole from below using a 5/8 paddle drill bit and keyhole saw - making sure you are between studs)

insert the Romex connector in the 1/2" Knockout in the metal wiring box on the fan housing, push the Romex 8" into the box and tighten the clamp (you will perform the wiring connection from inside the closet)

staple the Romex to a ceiling joist within 12" of where it exits the fan.

Attach the flexible exhaust hose to the fan and run it to the exit vent. If you can attach it to the louvers with a sheet metal screw or wire or plumber's tape, even better (the REAL best way to do this is with a roof cap but you already said you don't want to do that, so I won't go into it)

knock out a 1/2" plug on the junction box the closet light is mounted in (if it is a plastic box you can just pull the Romex through one of the tabbed holes in the box)

push the Romex 8" into the closet light box.

Staple the Romex to a stud within 12" of where it enters the closet light box.

You are now done above the ceiling. GTFO of the attic. Those places are uncomfortable as hell.

In the closet, at the exhaust fan, strip the outside sheath off the Romex for 7" (be careful not to slice the insulation on the wires within. I usually make a 1/2" cut lengthwise from the tip, then use a fingertips or a pliers to peel it back like a banana, then cut off the dangling sheath with scissors.) Strip the ends of the wires and use the orange or yellow wire nuts to connect the Romex wires to the exhaust fan wires per the instructions. Place the vent grill on the fan.

At the closet light:

Strip the outside sheath off the Romex for 7" Strip the ends of the wires and lay the ends parallel with the matching colors of the closet light and ceiling wires. Should be three whites in one wire nut, three blacks in the other, and the bare wire from the Romex goes to the bare wire coming out of the ceiling or the green screw on the light fixture.

Mount the light fixture to the ceiling.

Turn the power back on.

Turn on the light and the fan should go on too.



ALTERNATIVE OPTION:


Go to Burlington Coat Factory. Buy her a big coat.

--TinyE

by the way, the average home exhaust fan barely draws any volume, your house, especially the closet, will still smell badly of cigarettes.

She can smoke for a poke & stroke

This....there are far better ways to satisfy an oral need.

"(singing) Burrrrrlington Coat Facotreeeeeeeeee..."

LMAO yes and so will your ol lady's clothes if she is smoking in her closet. My wife went outside for 20 years to smoke now she and her pals or on the vapor cig. Hasn't had a goon in year as of last week. The vapor stuff smells good too so she cansmoke indoors.

How many of us have already told him it is a stupid idea and a waste of money? I'm losing count.

If I could get my old lady to get in the closet for a smoke. I'd throw a padlock on the door and move the **** away leaving a for sale by owner sign in the window .

I have seen plenty of exhaust fans that are simply vented into the attic. Not sayin' it's the right or wrong thing to do, just sayin' that a lot of builders seem do it that way.

And I too, like others, have doubts that this would be an effective solution. So here are my thoughts on the matter:

1. If it's a girlfriend/wife, just let her smoke in the house. Lord know she's putting up with your shit so you may as well put up with hers.

2. If it's a roommate, tell them to GTFO and go find someplace of her own where she can smoke indoors all she wants. Smokers and non-smokers will never comfortably co-exist.

If she was IN the attic when she smoked, you wouldn't need exhaust fans! Problem solved!

I have kids at home, dont want them breathing that shit. Based on the replies I'm doubting this will be very effective though. Kind of glad, this is starting to sound like more trouble than its worth.

Dude, installing an exhaust fan in the closet and making your mom stand in there and smoke is just goddamn dumb.

@MTG#10 Mercury Vapor lamp is a type of bright blue-ish light used to be common in outdoor dusk-to-dawn security lights. They provided a light on the bluer end of the spectrum and had a higher UV output, so indoor growers would seek them out, but they were much more expensive and gave off much more heat than fluorescent grow lamps.

BTW: I am not a grower nor cannabis advocate. I was a lighting salesman.

LMAO

Sure, just make sure to ground the black wire

ROFL

An exhaust fan in a closet is not going to make a difference. The smoke will still spill out from the closet, unless it's a ****ing negative pressure vacuum exhaust or some shit.

your clothes will all smell like death from the cigarette smoke

Total white trash idea.

Build her a shed with a heater.

A vent is fairly easy to put in! Here is what I would do!

Buy a high powered 4" fan can and a separate fan speed control switch. Prob easiest to plug the control switch into the wall. Buy a roof jack and some volcom. Also some 4" flex duct. Heck you could even send the flex duct to an opening you can see so it blows it outside and there's no need for a roof vent. 25ft of 4" flex duct is 30$. With variable speed you can clear that room of smoke in seconds!

I also recommend looking at some YouTube how to videos. Homedepot has some videos. With a little research you'll find this is a very simple task. Many options so make a plan and execute.

Well, if she was thinking about quitting, winter would be the time to do it. Just another thing (besides minor reasons like lung cancer and premature death) that can push her toward a healthier lifestyle.

Just cut a hole to the outside and put a box fan in that ****er.

Done.
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Seal it with sum duck tape
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Maybe MTG doesn't want to come out of the closet.


Ever.

That little 83CFM fart fan won't do shit. Waste of money, time and energy. You need a inline fan. Preferably something with over 400CFM. This is exactly what you want...

http://www.amazon.com/Tjernlund-M-6-...160555&sr=1-33

No wiring. Just plug the damn thing in an outlet.

This is by far the least bizarre thread this guy has ever started here.

so you want all the clothes to smell like cigs?
tell her to suffer for her addiction

gawd knows I do in PHX in the summer