My bathroom fan won't switch off since I changed to ECO light bulb!

Frances63

Can it be just a coincidence?

The fan in my downstairs loo just wont switch itself off since I changed the loo's light bulb to an ECO mini-bulb(energy saving). Its on a timer and before it would time out after about 10 minutes. Unfortunately I can't unscrew the fan to get inside as the crosshead screw is mangled! (could do with any tips as to how to overcome that too!:o ).

The only way I can stop the fan is to flick the relevant circuit breaker, but as soon as I switch it back on the fan gets going again. The cicuit breaker turns the bathroom light off as well so it means peeing in the dark!

How can this energy saving light bulb have had this effect??

rustyjemma

if you have one - try a normal light bulb & see if it goes off. If it does you have a temporary solution.

I only know of one way to remove a mangled srew & thats to drill it out. Do not do that with the electric on though.

HugoSP

You may find that there is some capacitance in the energy saving lightbulb that causes the fan to run on. If this is the case then essentially the bulb being turned off would behave like a battery for the fan to run down each time you switch the light off.

I doubt that the fan would run on permenantly, you pay find that it just runs on for a while. It's probably worth seeing exactly how long it does run on for

Frances63

Thanks Hugo,

The fan went on all night after I changed the bulb to the eco one yesterday evening. I heard a whirring in the morning and wondered if I had left the fridge door open or the heating on as I couldn't figure out what it was initially. The light was switched off (with the switch in the off position). I think it must be the 'capacitance' then (whatever that is! ).

I haven't got any more normal bulbs, can't seem to find them in the shops these days!

I'm going to do some swapping around now. I'll let you know what happens.

Hang on .....!

Frances63

Hmmm... well I've changed the bulbs around so back to a normal bulb now.
BUT... the vent-fan is still whirring away 15 minutes after I turned the light off.

What is going on?!

Frances63

IT'S GONE OFF!!!! YES! YES! :j :T




Well, it was definately the Eco-bulb then.

So, you can't use them with dimmer switches, and you can't use them if there's a vent-fan on the circuit.

The boffins are going to have to work harder......:rolleyes:

macladd

It may be coincidence, but does your fan have a built in humidistat (ie does it automatically switch on when it detects humidity to help avoid dampness?) If so, it may have been that and not the lightbulb, worth checking out? I find it hard to believe that there would be enough power left in the bulb to run a fan all night?...