Bathroom Lighting and Extractor Fan

Duncan L · Oct 20, 2015

Hi there,I want to have an extractor fan installed in my bathroom ceiling to supplement the ventilation from the openable window. The plumber who is fitting my new bathroom has told me it's easy for him to fit a fan in series in the lighting ring. As there is no other power supply up there it isn't an option to have the fan connected to an "always live" circuit.I have now given up on my initial plan to have dimmable LED's as it doesn't seem possible to have this and a fan.What I would like is the option to disable the fan using one fitted with a pull cord, so I can have the lights on with no fan.I am assuming that a fan with a pull cord wired in series with the lights will not work. I assume the switch in the fan will break the circuit and switch off the lights. If I'm right about this (and I hope I'm not) then I was wondering if it's possible to wire the fan in parallel so the lights stay on when the fan is disabled. Would this be possible, and if so would it be safe?Thanks in advance.D

Paul.M · Oct 20, 2015

Duncan welcome to the forum. You will need a local isolation switch for the fan to start with, from there you can switch the fan on/off from it or install a pull cord. Other options are to have th lights and fan come on at the same time with the light switch OR keep them both separate and have dimable lights, up to you and what you want. May be best to get an electrician in for such wiring.

Darkwood · Oct 20, 2015

Welcome to the forum Duncan L

You're fan can be wired in various ways, any competent Electrician will give you the options available and I suggest you get one in to give you a professional opinion, I would ask if your plumber has Electrical qualifications and is a member of any Electrical scheme/body - if not I would take his advice with a pinch of salt and definately not let him near any electrical work.

I have not yet come across a job where I couldn't install a standard fan/lighting set-up as the customer wishes, its just sometimes a task to run new wiring in where as other cases its a simple solution.

PS you are mixing your parallel and series circuits terms up... we do not wire lights, fans etc in series, the loads are in parallel.

HandySparks · Oct 20, 2015

With the exception of Christmas tree lights, almost all lighting and other loads are wired in parallel.

Best get an electrician in who will be able to look at the existing wiring and advise you what's possible. Let the plumber get on with plumbing!

Depending on the layout of the wiring, you may be able to access a live feed for independent control of the fan.

Edi: Clearly much too slow this morning.