Nutone S97016565 Heating Element

In 2006, we installed a Nutone fan and heater in our small (4' x 8') bathroom. It provides wonderful heat ... when it works. We went years before needing to replace the heating element. However, we've learned that the replacement heating elements are cheaply made, and do not last any time at all, with the most recent one not lasting more than 6 months. We even received an element that was defective, right out of the box. They are also difficult to install, requiring specialized tools. The downside to this whole thing is that there's no other place (that we know of) where we can buy replacement heating elements. Consequently, we're looking into replacing the entire fan and heater unit.

I have owned this Nutone bathroom heater for 15 years and this is the second replacement of the heater element. The original lasted about 10 years and the last one only 5 years. Installation of the heater element was easy but this time, due to some negative reviews on durability of the heating element, I opted to do further disassembly and inspected and cleaned the blower wheel. It had a substantial amount of caked on grime/dirt on it and it seems like there was some improvement of the air flow. Hopefully I can get at least another 5 or more years this time.

I bought 3 Broan bathroom fan, light, heater fixtures a year ago and 2 out of 3 heaters burned out in the last month. This was very surprising because I have one in my master bath that has worked great for 10 years. With all the dust in the grill of the unit, I'm wondering if that has something to do with the heater going out. Maybe it gets too hot from low air flow.I compared the heating element I replaced with the new one and noticed the resistor was burnt. An ohm meter showed the an open line on the old one and a reading on the new one. So that resistor was the point of failure. Also the resistor was riveted in place so it wasn't even repairable for those that are handy at that kind of work.It was made in China but packaged in the US. I'm sure the unit was tested but where? In the US or China. Broan's QA sucks bad and they need to be called out on it.On the bright side, this is about a 10 minute repair job if you have a 10 mm wrench, a work light, and an electric phillips screw driver with you before you start. There are YouTube videos show you how to replace this part.

The problem is of a poor design. The fan will not compress air it just moves it. The gap between the fan cage and the side of the box doesn't allow enough air to support the needs suction requirements of the fan. The fan cavitates and does not move air. Without air movement, the the heater over heats.

This design is a joke. I’ve went thru 3 in the last year and it just went out yesterday again. They aren’t that expensive but to be continuously changing them out is a pain and it really starts to add up $$$ wise after a few of them.

Seems poorly made as my last one didn’t last much over a year and obviously in central Illinois it’s not used during summer months. Seems like it could be improved from my experience

The best part it s that I could find this heating element to replace the old one with out buying a whole new system

My Broad Nutone bathroom vent/heater stopped heating. The fan for the heater worked, but just blew cool air. Researched and determined that it needed a heating element. Found on Amazon by searching for Part and Model numbers. The new heat element actually produces hotter air than the old one. Great!