GerryB
Senior Member
- Location
- woodbridge, ct. USA
I am not to impressed with Panasonic fans. There was a post not long ago about if the mounting flange should be below or even with the sheet rock or to the joist. Here is the answer.
I had two fan installs/swaps this week. The panasonic was on a bath remodel where they were not gutting the ceiling, although there was patching to be done so I had some leeway. After the new work instructions there is one instruction that says "for finished ceiling cut a 10 1/4 inch opening". That's it, now you are on your own. If you know the panasonic there is a large wiring compartment and the vent end is also large. (larger than say a Nutone) I called tech support to ask if this fan is designed to go into an existing ceiling without damage to the ceiling. According to Irwin (the tech guy) you cut the hole, then you are supposed to be able to remove the j box and the vent pipe from a screw inside the fan(which I saw one screw that might have released the j box), then somehow wire the j-box, put the hose on, push the fan up and reconnect these things from inside the fan. I knew there was no way I was even going to attempt that so I moved on to the flange question. (If any one has taken this fan apart to install I would be very interested in how it went!).
I asked Irwin if the flange could go below the rock or if it was a new install could you screw to the bottom of the joist, he said you could do either. My experience is you are better off below or even with the rock as there is not much room to plug the grill in (very little slack on the wire in the fan unless you unscrew the clip holding it) and not much room to squeeze the spring clips and get them in.
For my install I cut the hole the full size of the outside edge of the flange with one edge right at the joist. With the help of the contractor after I wired it and we put on the hose, I was able to push it up in the ceiling with the one flange end under the rock at the joist and screw through the rock and into the joist. On this job I had access to the attic. I don't know how you could secure the other side if there was no access. I went up there and held a piece of wood across the other flange while the contractor screwed it from the bottom. You could probably finagle the mounting bars that came with the fan but the wood was easy.
In contrast the other fan was a nutone QT 110nl, that I was able to get the old fan out, make the hole a little larger for the new fan, drill a couple of holes inside the fan and screw it to the joist. No support on the other side but this fan is not that heavy and worked fine. So in my humble opinion, the Nutone fan was 110 cfm, it was quiet 1.5 sones, it had a night light. The panasonic has a night light, is quiet, I don't know what the sones are but the panasonic is probably quieter. Another thing Panasonic should catch up on. Two cfl pin type lamps, nice and bright! BUT, you have to remove the grill, take it completely down, unscrew the back with a phillips screwdriver to change the lamps??? HO will love that, especially when they realize they have to go buy some lamps that fit. Bottom line Panasonic $270.00 Nutone $120.00 (The HO got it online for $65.00)
I had two fan installs/swaps this week. The panasonic was on a bath remodel where they were not gutting the ceiling, although there was patching to be done so I had some leeway. After the new work instructions there is one instruction that says "for finished ceiling cut a 10 1/4 inch opening". That's it, now you are on your own. If you know the panasonic there is a large wiring compartment and the vent end is also large. (larger than say a Nutone) I called tech support to ask if this fan is designed to go into an existing ceiling without damage to the ceiling. According to Irwin (the tech guy) you cut the hole, then you are supposed to be able to remove the j box and the vent pipe from a screw inside the fan(which I saw one screw that might have released the j box), then somehow wire the j-box, put the hose on, push the fan up and reconnect these things from inside the fan. I knew there was no way I was even going to attempt that so I moved on to the flange question. (If any one has taken this fan apart to install I would be very interested in how it went!).
I asked Irwin if the flange could go below the rock or if it was a new install could you screw to the bottom of the joist, he said you could do either. My experience is you are better off below or even with the rock as there is not much room to plug the grill in (very little slack on the wire in the fan unless you unscrew the clip holding it) and not much room to squeeze the spring clips and get them in.
For my install I cut the hole the full size of the outside edge of the flange with one edge right at the joist. With the help of the contractor after I wired it and we put on the hose, I was able to push it up in the ceiling with the one flange end under the rock at the joist and screw through the rock and into the joist. On this job I had access to the attic. I don't know how you could secure the other side if there was no access. I went up there and held a piece of wood across the other flange while the contractor screwed it from the bottom. You could probably finagle the mounting bars that came with the fan but the wood was easy.
In contrast the other fan was a nutone QT 110nl, that I was able to get the old fan out, make the hole a little larger for the new fan, drill a couple of holes inside the fan and screw it to the joist. No support on the other side but this fan is not that heavy and worked fine. So in my humble opinion, the Nutone fan was 110 cfm, it was quiet 1.5 sones, it had a night light. The panasonic has a night light, is quiet, I don't know what the sones are but the panasonic is probably quieter. Another thing Panasonic should catch up on. Two cfl pin type lamps, nice and bright! BUT, you have to remove the grill, take it completely down, unscrew the back with a phillips screwdriver to change the lamps??? HO will love that, especially when they realize they have to go buy some lamps that fit. Bottom line Panasonic $270.00 Nutone $120.00 (The HO got it online for $65.00)
Last edited by a moderator: