One of our bathroom exhaust fans died and I’ve been waiting for some cold weather before venturing into the attic to fix it. That day finally came and we now have a new whisper-quiet, high-capacity exhaust fan. Yay!
Problem is, our son the USPS letter carrier mentioned in another thread (primary user of that particular bathroom and NOT named Luke) totally forgot how to use the fan switch while the thing was out of order.
My wife, who has simple, low-tech, straightforward answers to everything suggested a sticky note on the vanity mirror. While that, technically, would probably work, I thought my idea was more fun and gave me a chance to use the Glowforge.
Sign is made of red oak and about 6" on a side. We’ll find out tonight whether it works. Might do some A/B testing with a sticky note but only if my wife is willing to wager on it.
It worked! Son reports 100% shower/fan utilization tonight!
Wife refused to take the bet so you and I are both out a prize.
My problem with those is they don’t allow for different times for different needs. I know it’s possible to combine both the sensor and the timer but the incentive is to then ignore the switch altogether.
As do I. It’s just that they are the type the user has to manually turn on. On the other hand, they have 5 different settings ranging from 5 minutes to an hour which allows some customization according to…the requirements in the moment. Fan etiquette around here is set it at “a toot for a poot or an hour for a shower.” Determining the length of time which constitutes a “toot” is an exercise left to the user.
Especially at first when I felt I had to amortize the cost over several projects in order to justify it to my wife. Then it got to be habit.
Of course, there are some things better suited for the 3D printer than the GF. In this case I needed a duct hose reducer. I took measurements of the old and new duct ports and printed one up. It was faster than I could have ordered one and cheaper than if I’d run down to the big box and bought their version.
But between the GF and the 3D printer I have nearly all my bases covered.
That don’t mean you don’t have maintenance to do. Wind breaks even more than fans from what I hear. In fact, I hear it all the time.
Mine runs for 10 minutes unless I press the button to increase it. It doesn’t bother me that it runs for 10 minutes if I just went in to brush my teeth, and it doesn’t take me 10 minutes to shower either, so I rarely touch it.
That said, it just seems that if always running the ran is important, a motion sensor is a simple solution even if it runs a little beyond when needed.
I’m glad that works for you! Thing is, that’s not the problem I was trying to solve. The system we use works for us and we’ve been doing it since the kids were in grade school. When my son moved back home he fell right back into the routine we’ve followed for decades. Then a period of not using the fan broke the habit.
The problem the sign solves is that of restoring his habit of turning on the fan. If he remembers that, then the decision of how long to run it is already second nature for him.
And besides - if I’d installed a motion sensor I’d have no need to make the sign and, of the two of those things, the sign wins on its own merits. Hell, I’d probably remove a motion sensor just to give me an excuse to make the sign.
I’m just lazy to the point where I like it coming on automatically whether I need it or not. Or telling Alexa to turn on the Glowforge fan as I walk over to the side of the house where the machine is.
All my lights are automated as well. They come on and turn off whether I’m here or not.
BTW- I must say I have enjoyed “stalking” you through your blog posts. They have been a delightful read and I look forward to more of them. Reminds me of the wit of one Patrick McManus of “A Fine and Pleasant Misery” fame.
Thanks for the kind words! I showed your comment to my wife. She doesn’t have an account here so she asked me to relay a message: “Please don’t encourage him.” Not sure what she’s on about. It isn’t encouragement that usually inspires me the most, rather it’s people telling me something can’t be done.
Also, I hadn’t heard of Patrick McManus before but when I looked him up he got added to my reading list. Sounds like fun so thanks for that!
