Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Happy with this, but installation has some pains, February 15, 2009
I've bought and installed two of these in the past year. Panasonic has, as far as I'm concerned, no real competition for this product. It has a vent (110cfm, big enough for our bathrooms), is VERY quiet (.7 sonnes), a heater, and a light (plus a nightlight). It is hard to find a unit with all of these features that looks good. Most of the larger bath fans look garish to me in appearance, especially the ones at Home Depot and Lowe's. Ugh.
The look of this is a simple, sleek curve. I wish the white plastic cover somehow did not LOOK like plastic. But at least it's a textured plastic. A frosted glass light cover instead of the translucent light cover would really help out the look of this--the supplied light cover give the biggest impression of "cheap plastic".
I bought the first one from a dealer in California, and the second one off eBay--each were around $215 (which includes shipping).
This sucker is heavy, much more than a typical fan/light/vent. It has separate fans for the heater and vent, which is part of the reason for this. The vent fan is much bigger than most fans.
Before installing, I suggest you remove the light from the main unit first, not so much to cut down on the weight you have to lift but to make it easier to get a grip on this thing. I built a frame box (of 2"x4"'s pieces) around mine rather than relying on the included spanners. I removed all the spanner attachments and could then insert it into a 16-3/8 x 11-1/8 hole in the drywall (I had to get up in the attic to build the frame box and attach the venting).
The most annoying thing to me about this unit is the ridiculously tight space they give for all the electrical connections. The area is a triangular slot which is a tight fit to insert my open hand. Plan on doing the connections below that enclosure and then stuffing them up into the enclosure (this is tedious and you may find yourself swearing about it). You have separate connections for the heater, vent, light, and night light (4 wire nuts), plus neutral and ground wires, all of which are to be stuffed up in that enclosure. This is really the worse thing about this fan--I'd been happier if they had supplied a separate electrical box for which I had the choice to attach to the top or the end of the main unit (I'd be willing to run the leads through one of two knockouts to make this work).
Something you definitely do NOT want to try is to use cable clamps that are held in place by a nut; to use these you have to stick your hand up in darned triangular enclosure and thread the nuts. I managed to do this on the first unit, but didn't even attempt it on the 2nd unit. Instead, Home Depot sells cable clamps that you can insert from outside the box that snap into place with two clicks. $.78 for two, BIG time saver (and less swearing)!
It would be nice if the nightlight could be controlled with an external switch (your only choice now) -OR- if it could be controlled by a photosensor to turn itself on when it's dark. This might save you a switch, but you'd still have to run a line for the nightlight in either case.
The included bulbs are fluorescent and are a "bright white", not a soft white. This coloring will stand out if you're used to "soft white" lighting in your home. You can buy replacement bulbs of different colors of white, though (and it's nice that the bulbs are included).
I installed these by myself, but an attentive helper would be a big plus in holding the box while you screw it into place
In summary, I'd buy a 3rd one if I were in the market.
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