Panasonic FV-05VFL2 WhisperFit-Lite 50 CFM Low Profile Ceiling Mounted Fan with Light, White

This fan is very well made compared to other bath fans I have used before. The housing is heavy gauge steel and quite substantial. I have read some of the complaints regarding the installation. I do not agree. It's pretty self-explanatory in and of itself even without instructions. Mine took around 90 minutes total, and that was in a bathroom that did not previously have an exhaust fan. I like the fact that the majority of the work is done from the room, not the attic. I'd prefer not to spend any more time in the attic than I absolutely have to.An added benefit that I haven't seen mentioned is the current draw, or lack thereof. After installation I checked the bath circuit and the draw is virtually nothing. There was -0- voltage drop on start-up, and my highest amperage reading was .21 (I omitted the night light). This may not be that important to some, but in my case the fan was replacing a simple two bulb fixture which happens to be on a circuit already near 80% capacity. To my surprise the current draw is less than 1/4 that of the previous light fixture with two 60W incandescent bulbs. The only fault that I can find is the supplied main bulb. The technical specs show that it's a 3500k bulb, but it looks more like 5000k to me. It's extremely white. I found several 4 Pin G24q-2 Base bulbs in 2700k, so I think I'll try one out.Other than the bulb, it's virtually perfect as far as I'm concerned. It's quiet, powerful, efficient, and easy to install.

I bought this fan to replace an existing ceiling fan in our master bedroom on the upper floor of our house. Now that I have finished installing it I am very happy with it. It runs extremely quiet (my wife thought it wasn't working the first day after I installed it because she couldn't hear it) and it does a great job venting our rather large master bath during long showers. Not a drop of steam on our mirror! The lights are bright and diffuse nicely, but I do wish it used more common bulbs (they are boxy fluorescent lights with a plug-in base). If you are putting this fan in new construction you will be happy with it.Here are my comments for existing construction replacement (and why I give 4 not 5 stars): In order to operate the nightlight, fan, and lights independently you will need a three-way switch. My old fan only required two switches (light/fan) so I simply left the nightlight disconnected. I didn't really care about that feature, so no loss for me. However, I also found that with joists spaced at 24" the install is not ideal. The bracing for the fan is simply too flimsy at that length to be sturdy. There are other alternative installation plans if you are doing new construction, but for replacing an existing fan options are limited. It worked, but not as solid as I would like. Also, since this fan is rather large I had to cut out additional space in my ceiling. It is definitely NOT an easy install if you have a tight attic with blown in insulation like we do! Be forewarned! You have to install it in pieces, some from above, some from below. It is nice that it comes with an adapter for different exhaust duct sizes, though we did not need to use it.

I am changing my rating on this item. I originally gave it a 3 star rating, because it worked well until the ballast failed. The 2 lights were too bright for our bathroom, so we were running it with one removed. The fan is extremely quiet. We have it installed in a bathroom without bath or shower so can't speak to how well it clears moisture from the air. This is a bathroom without windows, so it is really a pain not having a suitable light in the room. We are using the night light that comes with the unit that is like 5 watts. Panasonic said said they would be sending out a new ballast and new flourescent bulbs (when the ballast failed it blew out the bulb)but items were on back order for at least 3 weeks. It has now been 5 weeks and was told today that items might be available in another 3 weeks. It is clear from the phone interaction that the representative has no idea when the items will be in and is only guessing at this point, as he started off saying it would be another week and then ended with maybe another 3 weeks. I had seen other reviews that indicated that the ballast had failed on these units. I had hoped to be one of the lucky ones and have one with a good, long working ballast. If you buy one and it fails, you may be in for a long frustrating waiting time. All this and I still have to hope that I will be able to replace the ballast myself to avoid having to put out additional money to have it repaired.

This fan worked great while it worked, it broke after less than a year though. It was quiet and efficent but not great quality

I had some thoughts on when I took it out of the box if this would fit in the opening in my ceiling but after some cutting here and there it fit nicely and secured. The joist brackets that came with the unit were a little difficult in the beginning to install between the ceiling joists but once I got everything removed and cleared I had no problems. The only problem I have and still have is the light fixture it doesn't work at all except for the night light. I went out and purchase new bulbs and it still didn't work so there is something wrong with the light fixture. I have power going into the fixture but the main lights do not work. I called Panasonic and had a rough time with one technician who wanted to talk to my electrician who install it for me and kept telling me I needed a three way switch for it to work and of course that does not say that in the instruction manual. So, I got a case number and waited about 10 minutes and called again and spoke to another technician who was more user friendly in gathering my information. He agreed to review the case and since then I received the shipping label from Amazon and the only thing left is waiting on the new light fixture or a new unit.I love the quietness of the unit and the suction of the air it takes out of the room with any hope the light fixture or unit will arrive and everything will start working. In the end of course I would purchase another one but this time directly from Amazon and not a second party or third party.