By Gene and Katie Hamilton

It may seem like a contradiction, but sometimes a room with an exhaust fan also needs a heater. This is often the case in a drafty bathroom where you want proper ventilation to keep the indoor air fresh and eliminate moisture. In the winter one solution is to add a separate heating unit, another is to install a WhisperWarm unit that combines an exhaust fan with a heater. It has a built-in damper to prevent backdraft, which helps to prevent outside air from coming through the fan.

To replace an existing bathroom vent with a new unit that combines venting and heating, an electrician will charge $367, which includes the unit and its installation. If you have electrical skills and tools, you can make the replacement for $185, the cost of the unit, and pocket a 49 percent saving. If there's not an existing vent and a new electrical line is needed, it will cost considerably more and should be left to a licensed electrician.

Here's a link to an installation video of the unit by Panasonic.

Wrapping up, given the average cost to install an exhaust fan with heater you can compare the price of a contractor’s bid with doing it yourself. For a local cost input your ZIP Code.

Improvement and Repair Cost Updated 2018

The cost and time data is generated by averaging labor and material data from annually updated cost books used by contractors and refined by the authors' experience remodeling 13 houses. They are authors of 20 home improvement books and Do It Yourself or Not, a weekly column syndicated by Tribune Content Agency. The national cost can be adjusted by ZIP Code.