Electrical advice please!

[Cruiser 1970]

I’m looking for some advice about the installation of a bathroom heater. I want to replace the light/vent fan combo above my shower with a light/vent fan/heater combo. The installation manual says not to place the unit above a tub or shower enclosure. That’s exactly where I want to install it. I call the Neutone technical support and they said it was because of an “open element”. It was a UL thing and I could call Underwriters Laboratory in Chicago if I wanted more information. Well **** UL, I’ll just ask here and get an honest answer.
Could anyone tell me why I shouldn’t do this?

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

To keep steam /moisture from being sucked in there to easily.

 

[ant.foste]

The bathroom is generally considered a damp space, which that fixture is likely designed, built, and certified for. The shower stall however is considered to be a wet space, which leads to the need for a much tighter electrical design, which your fixture does not seem to have.

Say you install this heater where you want to. You sell the house, the buyer installs a shower head on a hose thing, and his kid manages to shoot the water stream right into the fixture and electrocutes herself. That is why you should not install that fixture in the shower stall.

Now, with all of that said, I installed two LED lights into the cave of a shower in my last house. They were not rated for a wet location. I'm a sinner and will be going to hell for that.

 

[bobbyjean]

usually see them just outside tub....dunno...must be one rated for damp location out there somewhere

 

[75gmck25]

I don't think you are going to find an exhaust fan that is rated for installation inside the shower/bathtub area, since its considered a wet location and electrical devices have to be sealed. However, you can install the fan in the ceiling right outside the enclosure, since that is a damp location.

This suggestion won't fix your problem, but if you can return the Nutone unit, I think you would be happier overall with one of the Panasonic units. Nutone and Broan are sold everywhere, but their overall reliability is not that great.

I've had one of these Panasonic heat/vent units (https://www.homedepot.com/p/Panason...haust-Bath-Fan-with-Heater-FV-11VH2/203762029) installed for nearly five years, and another for about 2 years, and they have been trouble free. I special ordered them from Home Depot, which includes free shipping to my house.

I also purchased a timer wall switch for the heater, and it has buttons for 5-10-15-30 minutes. When I go in to take a shower I just hit the 15 minute button, and I'm sure I (or my wife) won't forget and leave the heater on too long.

Bruce

 

[yeldogt]

You don't want the element in a shower.

The wall units work very well ... A better solution is to address why you need it. Poor central heat ? Poor insulation ?

I'm not a fan of heat lamps -- but they work.

 

[PCustoms]

They make exhaust only units that can be mounted within the shower. You can also remotely mount an inline duct fan and run in to a register.

But you want/need the heat? Haven't seen one that can be wet location mounted. Maybe heat lamps?

 

[rburke65]

Well go ahead and install it in the shower if you don't want to take the manufactures advice, but I think you'll find that it's not a good idea.

 

[Cruiser 1970]

Thanks for all the great advice. I think my best option would an install like 75gmck25 suggested. I could place the unit between the shower enclosure and the bathtub. The big problem would be to repair two holes in the celling where the existing heater and exhaust fan now reside.
The main reason I want to do this is that even though the room is heated, on colder days like we are experiencing now a little more heat would be nice. So says my wife . Also I don’t like using a space heater on the floor.

 

[Falcon67]

Ah - just for fun: explain how "not in a shower" is different from in the same room but 36~48" from the shower door. Steam is steam and the HLV units - like the ones we have - pull air through one end, light in the middle and blow heat down across the open element on the other end. So technically by way they are constructed they do not "pull" moist air across the open element.

You'll need to pull 12-3 wire for that install BTW

 

[u3b3rg33k]

Ah - just for fun: explain how "not in a shower" is different from in the same room but 36~48" from the shower door. Steam is steam and the HLV units - like the ones we have - pull air through one end, light in the middle and blow heat down across the open element on the other end. So technically by way they are constructed they do not "pull" moist air across the open element.

You'll need to pull 12-3 wire for that install BTW

The risk of direct water spray in a shower is far higher than if outside the door/curtain. nothing like being covered in water while standing between grounded pipes and 120V (240V?).

 

[Skiff Builder]

Cruiser,
How about going with a Panasonic vent/ light and installing a seperate in wall heater with integral fan and thermostat? Keeps the heat down low where you want it, not up in the ceiling or getting sucked right out the exhaust. 240v on own circuit.