Heater Fan Lights – Stop Post Shower Shivers
By Brad Logsdon
Stepping out of a nice, warm shower into a cold, goose-bump inducing bathroom is shocking, to say the least. Sure, the furnace can be turned, but that can be costly since most homes don’t have zoned heating. Heating the whole home just to heat the bathroom is definitely not efficient.So, how can a bathroom be heated without turning up the furnace? A Broan-NuTone heater fan light can heat the bathroom and provide ventilation to remove the humidity a shower creates, as well as removing other not so pleasant smells from the bathroom. Not only do heater fan lights provide a comfortable and convenient secondary heat source, making your bathroom warm and cozy when you want it to be, they also provide superior bathroom ventilation, a key ingredient to enhanced indoor air quality, and a flexible overhead light source, featuring “select your bulb” functionality.
When choosing a heater fan light, pay attention to the size of your bathroom and select a fan that has enough power to heat the room and move enough air out.
- 80 CFM solutions feature a 1,300W heating element, ideal for 75 square foot environments
- 110 CFM solutions feature a 1,500W heating element, ideal for 105 square foot environments
Why does room size matter? A fan needs to be powerful enough to remove humidity and bad smells quickly. So, unless you enjoy that foggy mirror in which you can’t see yourself, you need enough power to reduce the humidity level. Older fans were designed to work well, but not always quietly. If your current heater fan light, or current bath fan, is loud, a new fan will like be much quieter. Both Broan-NuTone’s 80 and 110 CFM solutions operate at just 2.0 sones. Sones is a unit for measuring the loudness of sound. One sone is about the equivalent of a running refrigerator.
So what about the light? Lightbulb selection: ugh! Will it fit? Will it be bright enough? Will it be too bright? Will I end up with extra bulbs that will not work anywhere else, thus wasting money? As you go up and down the light bulb aisle at your favorite local retailer or while searching for bulbs online, there are dozens of choices. From color temperature, bulb type, and wattage, the options seem endless. For many fixtures, only a select few will actually work. This can be very frustrating. Our heater fan lights feature a *“select your bulb” design, allowing you the freedom to choose the perfect lighting option to match your bathroom and preference. The most common bulb base and shape on the market is E26, A19. This bulb type will work in all of our new heater fan light models. You may already have these bulbs in your cabinet, ready to be installed!
Speaking of light, what if all you need is the light by which you can brush your teeth? All of our new heater fan lights have the ability to be wired on one, two or three circuits (up to three different wall switches**,) allowing you the ability to control the heater, exhaust fan, and light independently or in tandem. It’s your choice.* 80 CFM solutions require an LED bulb. 100 CFM solutions allow for any E26 base/A19 shape bulb up to 100 watts.
** Dedicated 15 or 20-amp circuits required. See installation guides on www.broan-nutone.com for details.