I have a panasonic whisperfit lite in by 2nd floor bathroom. The top is just barely below the level of the two ceiling joists (are these called rafter ties?) on either side. What’s the proper way to seal/insulate this?
I thought about building a little XPS box around it and sealing it up with foam, with the two joists being two sides of the box but I’m not sure if its okay to enclose the junction box and fan in this way or if that’s a fire hazard. Should I use XPS or fiberglass duct board, which I’d really rather not have around a fan?
Or something else entirely.
The fan contains a nightlight and 2 compact flourescent regular light bulbs.
Replies
Whoa, I was just up in the attic this weekend thinking the same thing, I installed a Panasonic fan too, by the way, in the bathroom this summer. I noticed some light coming up through some cracks. I was thinking it might be just as worthwhile to pull the cover off from the bathroom side and use some foil tape, maybe some foam.
PJ
I noticed some light through mine as well. Its not a perfect seal and I got some of the holes with foil tape. I thought about foaming it but that makes any repairs hard. I'm not sure if these need air around them or if they can be boxed up in rigid foam.How do you like yours? I haven't gotten the duct installed yet, so I haven't tried the fan for more than a second. Seems quite. The light is really awful - I don't like flourescents in a bathroom.
Edited 11/8/2005 4:37 pm ET by BobS
Fan is very quiet as advertised (picked it up online for a great price to boot) actually a friend had his bath remodeled recently, and they installed the same fan, again very quiet. I have a 8' x 8' bath, and it does a good job of clearing the steam out. I have the fan on a timer, and the light on a wall switch. I previously used a dimmed light for those early mornings, but I haven't noticed the fluorescent being as harsh as a full lit incandescent, but I haven't researched the possibility of a dimmer, I know fluorescent dimmers aren't that common. I don't have any ideal wall space for a sconce, so the light/fan combo made sense at the time.
Good call on the foam being a possible issue later on. Since my attic floor is only 'true' 2x4's the box does stick out of the floor a bunch, so I might build a small box around it to prevent damage since the attic is storage area, and I will be insulating the floor hopefully soon.
PJ