3 ways and a Broan dehumidistat??
My customer has a pair of 3 way switches in her tiny apartment to turn on the bathroom (vent) fan from either the kitchen, or the bathroom.
She wants me to install a Broan DH100W dehumidistat so she can cook in the kitchen and the fan will go on from the bathroom wiring – in other words, the power to the humidistat will come from the kitchen switch. We are eliminating the bathroom switch, because she was told the dehumidistat cannot go close to the stove because of the heat generated.
“I want to be able to turn on the fan when I am cooking. Does that mean that the humidistat switch will also go on or just the fan or will it be one and the same. “
She is under the impression the dehumidistat can work off a three-way.
My electrician says it cannot be done that way. What’s the best way to give my customer what she wants?
Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR Construction
Vancouver, Canada
Replies
First of all, I know little about electrical code, so you've been warned. This shouldn't be hard- the switches need to be wired in parallel- either line can turn the fan on, but both need to be off for the fan to be off. If the power goes through the kitchen switch, a hot wire from there (before the switch) needs to go to the humidistat and then back to the switch box, and connect to the hot wire after the switch. just a jumper controlled by humidistat really.
zak
Yeah, just leave the existing switches in place and add the humidistat in parallel with the 3-way pair, so if either the 3-way pair or the humidistat is turning on the fan, it's on.
If you can't have all three switches, just put a regular switch in the kitchen (or use two wires off the 3-way to fake a regular switch) and wire that in parallel with the humidistat.
Basically, the humidistat should be set to override the 3-ways and turn the fan on unconditionally.
happy?
We use a central exhaust fan that pulls air from a number of locations. The only method we'll use is a timer switch at each location. It's simple, reliable, eliminates confusion, makes sense to most people, automatically takes care of itself.
The 3-way is a trip. Good thing the fan is easy to hear?