Bathroom light/fan/heater combo recommendations sought

BillSWPA

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Hope this isn't too far off topic. At least one of the three functions of the device is lighting, and my question is primarily lighting related.

I am about to replace a fixed, enclosed light fixture in my bathroom with a light/fan/heater combination. Ideally, I would like the light portion of the device to accept LED bulbs and to properly dissipate/vent the heat, or possibly include a dedicated LED light.

So far, I have only looked online, but most of the devices presently available seem to be designed primarily with incandescent bulbs in mind and appear to be enclosed, which leads to my concern about heat dissipation.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
 

Superdave

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I converted mine to LED.. lol

I just used a few pieces of cool white 12V LED strips stuck to the white sheet metal that was behind the bulb. Then used an industrial type 12V power supply plugged in to the socket inside where the bulb assembly would normally plug into.

Works great, obviously not as bright as a bulb but we use it as more of a nightlight so the kids can find their way in at night.


I did remove the heater section since we never used it, but the regular fan is still there. It's been on solid for a few months, no issues at all.
 

wws944

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When we rebuilt our house a few years ago, we put a Panasonic FV-11VHL1 in our master bath. (Current model is FV-11VHL2.) Panasonics are popular around here because the fans are quiet compared to most others.

Lighting-wise, it has two 18-watt G24Q-2 based CFL bulbs with a remote ballast. It also has a separately wired 4w incandescent night light. It came with 3500K CFL bulbs. The Philips replacements that Home Depot carries are 2700K. As the it, and its fan/light bretheren in our other bathrooms, are fairly highly used, it would be nice if they used LEDs.

Interestingly, we used them to meet California Title 24 requirements as the energy efficient lights. But now that I have replaced all the other bulbs in the bathrooms with LEDs, these are now the energy hogs. The night light bulbs have a candelabra base, so are trivial to convert to LED. Converting the main lights would be a bit more of a project.
 
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Ajax517

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I might be missing something but why not just use a regular Phillips A19 60w equivalent LED bulb?

Also, why would you worry about heat dissipation in something that was designed for the heat from an Incan bulb?
 

BillSWPA

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I might be missing something but why not just use a regular Phillips A19 60w equivalent LED bulb?

Also, why would you worry about heat dissipation in something that was designed for the heat from an Incan bulb?

Replacing the bulb with an LED equivalent is my preference, and my hope is that the solution is that simple.

My concern is that LED bulbs do not do well in enclosed fixtures that do not dissipate heat well. Incandescents certainly generate more heat, but from what I understand, the heat is much less of a problem for an incandescent than for an LED. We have other threads here dealing with LED bulbs in enclosed, weatherproof fixtures designed for incandescent bulbs, and the consensus in those threads appears to be that the LED bulbs are likely to experience significantly shorter lifespans in these fixtures.
 
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