How To Stop People From Leaving Bathroom Exhaust Fans And Lights On!
In this video I address the issue of a bathroom exhaust fan being left on by installing a timer switch. This can also be used with lights and ceiling fans as well. However, for lights I really recommend using a motion light switch so the lights only turn off when someone is not in the room. If interested, I will have a link for that video at the end of this one.
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Do you have this issue in your home? I hope I am not alone 😂
Another way replace fan switch with a 3 way switch On side with single screw power it from load of light switch Other side top screw to fan Bottom screw to nothing 3 way only gets power if light on If want fan and light both up If want just light light up fan down No way to turn on fan without turn on light. 3 way switch are great for other items too Could use on an open / closed sign Top screw to open letters bottom to closed letters
I grew up in a townhouse mansion in Park Slope, Brooklyn. 21 rooms. 5 floors. My dad paid me a nickel per light to run up and down and turn off the lights family members had left on. Sometimes I would earn a dollar in one run. I learned my lesson and banked some serious cash (for an 8 year old!).
I have the opposite issue, I need it to automatically turn on when my mother in law uses the bathroom 😂
😂
This is solved by a motion sensing switch. Like the ones they use in hospitals and commercial settings. This is what I use at home. Just walk into the ba to bathroom and the light and/or fan turns on without you doing anything and when you walk out, you don't have to turn the light off if you don't want to, it'll turn off itself after the preset time you set it to with no motion.
@@smarmosaur Best idea!
Occupancy sensor switch
I added motion sensor lighting for our laundry room, as we generally enter that space with full arms, so it's quite nice.
I was told by a firefighter that many attic fires in older homes are started by the fart-fan being left on. This is a great idea.
I definitely believe that. They are not designed to run all the time and use a good amount of power. Thanks a lot for the feedback!
Dated a girl that did this. I called her out on it. She said "argh you sound like my dad! OK dad!" I replied "You mean to tell me your dad has been telling you this your whole entire life and you still can't figure it out?" Cool videos though. I'm getting to the DIY era of my life.
I have a similar story. I just married a woman with two young kids and moved into a house with a bathroom on the first floor with a shower. We never used the shower but her 7-year-old son would turn on the heat lamp for the shower and NEVER shut it off. After 6 weeks of dealing with the lamp being left on, I came to a solution to just unscrew the lamp just enough that it wouldn't turn on. No more aggravation, no hassling her kid about the light. Three weeks later, she tells me that the lamp needed to be replaced because it was out. So I decided that I needed to tell her how I solved the light problem. She thought that I was cruel to do that to her son... That day I was taught a valuable lesson on who's not allowed to win.
I had never heard of Wago until I found your channel. Now they are the only thing I use! Thanks!
BEST video ever to explain how these 4 wires work. Now I’m more confident I can swap these switches out.
Thank you so much for the info on a timer that doesn't need a neutral wire!
I saw the title of your video and I jumped up to go turn off my exhaust fan from my shower an hour ago. I then came back to watch the video! haha Thanks for this one!
😂 you’re welcome! Glad I could serve as your reminder haha. Appreciate the feedback!
Thumbs up for making sure screws all line up same direction when done!
These and motion detector switches are great. I'm in the middle of rewiring my entire 1914 house and putting these devices in where it makes sense. An issue one might run into is the depth of these devices, the size of the box, and how many wires (and wire nuts) may be in the common boxes used for switches.
Always wonderful to learn something! Had a hallway with a 3 way switch wired COMPLETELY wrong and your video's helped me figure it out!
Great lesson! Learned a lot! You are a good teacher!
Great video. Another alternative, which I did about 20 years ago when the teenagers refused to turn on the fan, was to install a humidity sensing fan (a sensing switch is also available for existing fans). Now it just comes on when the steam fills the room, and shuts off when the humidity drops.
Yeah I have seen those. Which are great for the exhaust above the shower but not real helpful for the one over the toilet. Very cool devices. Thanks!
I've moved to nixos and while it's a bit of a learning curve to create your configuration the ability to recreate my machine with one command is wonderful.
Gracias 🙏 that’s a great idea since we moved to our house we have that issue with my two kids always leaving the exhaust fan and the light on and I can’t be always on guard to turn it off and with that switch with the timer I can just set the timer and then I don’t have to worry anymore…thanks for sharing and explaining the two options…Saludos!!!!👋😃👋
Excellent vid ... Like me , you line up your screws in the same direction ... Nice touch ... Thx
I added the timer to the main bathroom. I loved it so much I replaced all 3 fan switched with timers. Then I moved on to my daughter’s house and did 3 for her. I love the EATON PT18M-W-K Accell Core Timer the best.
Great solution for your situation. My problem is a little different. I just wanted to thank you for not suggesting to use the ground as the neutral.
Yeah, that is a big no no haha. Thanks a lot for the feedback Mike!
The ground wire had paint on it. This could affect the contact. Should have hit it with some sandpaper. Also, I see you continue to use Wago when Ideal's similar solution was found to have a superior design as the levers don't pop up when shoving it back in the box.
I did this to my bathroom fan 2 months ago because I was living the fan on all the time. Still hav2 do it for my wife's bathroom.
I had a huge problem with my kids leaving the exhaust fan on. I installed a mechanical timer and it works fine but I wish I knew about that timer you used.
The problem is getting the fan to come on when someone walks in. I replaced the fan with one that has both a motion detector with timer and an adjustable humidity detector. Then, removed the wall switch and jumpered the line and fan leads together in the box. Now, the fan comes on when someone enters the bathroom and stays on as long as there is high humidity and at least 15 min after there is no motion. The fan itself is almost silent, but will ramp up the speed if needs to.
Do they make something for a a unit with separate switches for the light, exhaust and heater? The heater is the one I leave on mostly and it's the switch in the middle
our complex has so old outdated bath fans, most of the motors dont play nicely with anything but a manual switch. the ancient bakelight boxes dont help, most modern timer/motion sensor etc switches dont fit. the mud rings make it even more of a PITA. We've just gone with fans with lights with built in motion sensors in the units with attic access
I have been installing the leviton version of this countdown timer for 30 years. The higher tech versions of these timers that do not require a neutral may not work with super efficient fans because they will require a minimum load to function.
I got tired of telling my wife to turn the garage lights off and installed a motion switch. Now she wants one for every room including for the exhaust fan 😂
That's too funny! I installed a timer on my garage lights. Motion sensor is in laundry room!
@@joshualord8042 - I’m literally about to do the laundry room right now also. Funny how this video popped up.
I need to check if my bathroom light switches have a neutral wire to see which light/timer switch to buy. I need a bathroom exhaust fan installed since humidity doesn't decrease fast enough when opening the window.
When i lived in a fourplex i had neighbors who would leave there lights on. Every light in the house. Their power bill was over $400. I would often tell them to turn off those lights.
Does it work on a two-way switch
Always test, do not assume because the light is off there is no power. My parents old house had hot to the light and return to the switch
It is mind lowing to see paints inside those outlets... Come one! Cover them before painting!
Yeah, seems pretty shoddy to me. Wasn’t up to me. Was done when the house was being built.
@@HowToHomeDIY oh I am sure it was not you. The same thing happened at my place. It bothered me so much that I had to strip the paint out so I can actually see the color of the wires if and as needed.
@GooogleGoglee yeah that’s bad! It wouldn’t be that difficult to cover or stuff the boxes so that wouldn’t happen.
Option C: Install a quality exhaust fan and not care. Panasonic makes some DC fans which are nearly dead-silent and use
My hubby refuses to turn on the exhaust fan until AFTER he is done showering and dressed. Drives me nuts. Therefore, it takes longer to vent the bathroom because the moisture is so built up.
Another problem is if your fan moves 88cfm and it's winter you are sending a lot of heated warm air out of the house. Same in the summer your sending cool air outside so its a compound problem.
Just wire the fan into the light switch. When the lights are on the fan operates also.
If you're going to go through all the trouble of reswitching, you shoulda gone up a step and used a motion sensor switch. This way you dont even have to touch the switch to turn the light on or off.
I use one of those in our laundry room and it is a great addition. Actually linked that video at the end of this one. For me personally, motion sensor lights in the bathroom are annoying for a couple of reasons. Number one, if you get up during the night to use the bathroom, I personally don't like full lights turning on or fans. Number 2, I have been in bathrooms before that use motion sensors and if you sit there too long, the light turns off and then you have to wave your hand to get it on again. I much prefer this push button timer for for the fan's purposes but everyone's situation and preference will be a little different.
motion sensor switches get annoying. our dumbass residents constantly hitting the manual override button, than complain light/fan doesnt turn off at all
I went w/ a 30 minute timer in my bathrooms since there are few instances (unless I'm having a really bad day) where I'd need more than 30 minutes worth of exhaust fan. I'd want the fan to run at least 5 minutes after I leave to clear the air. Min 10, max 60 would be too much.
I put up a sign to turn off before you exit .
I'm fairly minimalist and try to save on energy, but I live in an area with high humidity and a lot of mold. When I lived by myself I left the bathroom fan and a window fan in the bathroom on 24/7 and my electric bill was usually under $30/month. Now I live with roommates who shut the fan off instantly and run the heat all the time so my electric bill is a couple hundred and the bathroom constantly needs to be cleaned of mold. I miss leaving the fan on all the time, saved me a ton of money on cleaning products and a ton of time for almost no money.
easiest solution: make the person leaving stuff on pay the electric bill a few times. they'll wise up real quick.
My bathroom was wired like that so I wired ceiling fan in with light , so turn light on fan comes on then in open spot I wired in a GFI for extra plug problem solved.
I highly suggest adding at least 10 to 15 minutes to your shower time. Take a 10 minute shower? Set the fan to at least 20 minutes. !0 minutes when you are in the shower, and 10 minutes after you're out. This is so it'll draw the humid air out when you are done as well.
I followed you damn video and got shocked
Then you didn’t follow it.
I would have to yell out to my young kids to turn switches off but now they have kids 😊
you could have used a occupancy switch and that will switch off the load when it detects no motion for 30mins
Many reasons I did not want to install one of those in a bathroom.
The one on the left operated the fan’s light
That's right.
@@HowToHomeDIY it operated the light and fan on the ceiling while the one on the right was operating the wall light
@James-hb2jz the one on the left only operates the fan. The one on the right operates the light in the fan and an additional light on the ceiling.
I feel like this device will encourage more lights to be left on in other rooms, since the user will get used to not having to turn the light off.
I think most rooms it isn't an issue since they are frequented more. The bathroom especially can go hours before someone goes back in it.
My house burned down because the vent fan motor stalled and overheated.
Oh wow! I am sorry to hear that. That is awful. I hope everything worked out after for you!
If you cut out all the ground wires your electricity is free
That’s not how it works lol
Uh, just no. Turn that damn fan on high please.
😂 There are no speeds, just on and off.
@@HowToHomeDIY I know. Just sayin' 💨
@6StringPassion. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Or you could run your house off of solar and not worry about someone leaving a fan on.
@fauxque5057 Cool story nerd!