Install Exhaust Fan and Light Combo in the Bathroom

LESLIE: Now we’ve got John from North Carolina who’s working on a bathroom. What’s going on at your house?

JOHN: I’m a big fan and I just started listening to The Money Pit.

LESLIE: Alright.

TOM: Thank you.

JOHN: I’ve got limited lighting in my bathrooms and I’ve got a small, lighted fan in the ceiling and I was wondering if anybody would make like a track lighting with a fan that I could install. Because I’ve gone to Home Depot and Lowe’s and they – the ones that they’ve got are just big and personally I think they’re ugly looking.

LESLIE: Now, are you using a ceiling fan in the bathroom for ventilation purposes or are you using it to keep cool?

JOHN: You know, I’ve got an exhaust fan in there and I’ve just got just a plain square one in there now and I was wondering if they made any type of …

LESLIE: There’s actually a really beautiful, very simple venting fan for the bath. It looks just like a high-hat; you know, those ceiling cans; those recessed lightings? It looks exactly like that; very simple. You would have no idea that there is a fan mechanism attached to it. All of that is in the space above. What is the name of the company? It’s with a “b,” Tom. Broan.

TOM: Broan. Yes.

LESLIE: Broan makes it.

JOHN: Broan.

LESLIE: And it’s beautiful. And so you can put …

JOHN: B-r-o-a-m?

TOM: B-r-o-a-n. Yes, correct.

JOHN: OK.

TOM: And once you get the fan dealt with so you have the ventilation solved, then you could look into a number of different lighting options.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm, or even at other high-hats.

TOM: Yeah, exactly, and we could all look the same.

JOHN: OK.

TOM: You know, when they make the combined unit that has the light and the fan together, the lights are never very bright. They’re usually about 60 watts and you know what? That just doesn’t do it in the bathroom. Yeah, it just doesn’t do it in the bathroom.

LESLIE: No, this is perfect. Believe me. We’ve put one in our house and it is great for shaving, putting on makeup, you can put a dimmer on it and relax in the tub. It’s a great light.

TOM: John, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

JOHN: Thank you.