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Question:

Wiring a bathroom fan help?

Replaced the old fan in my bathroom (about 10 years old) with a new fan. Trouble is this. The fan and light each work on a seperate bathroom switch. I have two spots to install the wire on the new bathroom fan/light. One for the fan and one for the ligth. However, the wiring has one white, one black, one red and the ground. Anyone know what the red is? Can I just cap it off? According the bathroom fan wiring it says something about connecting red to blue. I am slighty confused. I think it was originally only wired between the white and black. I am not sure if I have to get some extra wire and connect the black and red to the light and the white to the fan? Extra wire is confusing.

Answer:

the black is one switch leg and the red is the other switch leg connect black to fan and red to light and ground the green or bare wire it will work just fine and connect white to white neutral
Red and black are both hot, white is neutral. Use black for fan and red for light or vice versa, depending on which switch you want to operate each one. Added - Have to hook up the white neutral wire to both the fan and the light, this creates the electrical circuit needed. You can attach all the white wires together with a wire nut.
The wiring for the original installation had the white wire for a common neutral, and one of the red or black wires for the fan and the other for the light. If your new fixture does not have both a fan and a light, simply use either the red or black, and put a wirenut on the unused wire; you will then have one wall switch that does nothing. If it DOES have both, then one non-white wire goes to the fan, the other to the light, and the white wire goes to both.

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