Retrofitting older units is a pain, though—sometimes the wiring alone makes me question if it’s worth it.
I hear you on the retrofits. Honestly, I’ve started leaning toward just sticking with a good old timer switch in some of my older places. The humidity sensors are great in theory, but between the wiring headaches and those random “why won’t it shut off?” calls, sometimes simple is better. Haven’t had any major moisture issues since I started just reminding tenants to run the fan after showers. Not perfect, but way less hassle for me.
I get where you’re coming from, but I’ve seen too many bathrooms with mold creeping in because someone “forgot” to run the fan. I’ve had better luck with those basic humidity sensors, even if they’re a pain to wire. Sometimes I just bite the bullet and deal with the hassle upfront—beats chasing moisture problems down the road. But yeah, timer switches are definitely less headache when you’re dealing with old wiring that looks like it was installed by a raccoon.
Sometimes I just bite the bullet and deal with the hassle upfront—beats chasing moisture problems down the road.
Honestly, I wish more folks thought like this. I get the appeal of a timer switch, but it only works if everyone remembers to use it (which, yeah... good luck with that in my house). Humidity sensors might be annoying to install, but they actually solve the problem at the source. I've had to rip out drywall before because someone kept "forgetting" the fan—never again. For me, a bit of pain now is worth less headache later.
Yeah, humidity sensors are a game changer. I’ve seen too many bathrooms where folks tried to cut corners—just a basic fan on a switch, maybe a timer if you’re lucky. Fast forward a year or two and you’re looking at peeling paint, mold in the grout, sometimes even mushy drywall. Had a job last winter where the homeowner swore everyone would use the timer... didn’t happen. Ended up replacing half the ceiling. It’s a pain to wire in the sensor, but honestly? Saves you way more headache (and money) down the line.
Totally agree about the humidity sensors—wish I’d known about them before my last reno. I tried to save a few bucks and just put in a regular fan with a switch, thinking “how hard can it be to remember?” Turns out, pretty hard when you’ve got teenagers who treat the bathroom like a sauna. Ended up with some funky spots on the ceiling that took way more time (and money) to fix than just doing it right the first time. Wiring’s a pain, but honestly, not as bad as scraping off moldy paint later.