These Nutone exhaust fans are in high demand — two MIB on ebay currently, one at a BIN price way less than what they normally sell for. Be sure to re-wire.
Vintage Nutone mint-in-box
Posted by: • January 17, 2010
Mid Mod Madness
Vintage Nutone exhaust fan & more mint-in-box madness 
Vintage Nutone exhaust fan – mint in box – today’s ebay pick 
Retro kitchen exhaust fan – mint in box, from Nutone: today’s ebay pick 
Become a fanI need speed and up-time — so I use WP Engine
I love nutone! We have a nutone hood/fan (not hooked up yet, but yes all rewired and safe) that was my grandparents, right now it’s not centered under the cupboards because the stove we are using right now that came with the house is about 10 or so yrs old and much smaller than the space for a stove because our house was built in 1950 it has about a 41 inch space for the old big stoves. (I think the cupboards are either original or not much newer than that) But Hubby is refurbishing and making safe an 1950s tappan deluxe stove which will fit into that huge space perfectly and we can center the hood/fan when it goes in.
Wow. I have two in my house, both original. One in the bathroom and one in the kitchen. They still work perfectly.
Those are super sweet. I’m in the process of renovating our 50′s Ranch and I found some older style Nutone fan covers that a local distributor was sitting on for years. They actually laughed at me when I told them what I was looking for. I was able to fit (with a minor modification) the old covers on a brand new fan. Best of both worlds! If anyone needs one let me know. I have some pics of the ones I installed too. They look super cool!
What a Crime! these used to be ALL OVER my High school and one summer they upgraded and threw them in the “pit” which was out pool that they later covered up with dirt… what a shame…
I have 3! Who knew my house was such a treasure trove ?(or rather, that’s what happens when you buy an old house that hasn’t been touched much.) And they were re-wired along w/all the rest.
Way to go with the re-wiring, Alison. You get a gold star.
My wife and I bought our 1909 Gambrell roughly about 9 years ago and the owners who lived here before us havent updated any of the rooms since about 1950. I have one of these fans and I was going to tear it out. After seeing this, it looks like it is going to be staying in the bathroom for a long long time
I have two (since 1974) Nutone exhaust fan/heater combo and I take apart every year or so and clean….lube, clean heating element, wheel fan,. Years ago, from both units.. I connected a 5 inch flex exhaust hose (electric dryer vent hose, used a Y-PVC pipe )to connect both hoses, taped all vent hose connections using AC ALUMMIUM TAPE,,and made an exhaust port (from an electric dryer exhaust fan ,,used fiberglass screen to keep bugs out) under the eve of my home to keep the mositure out of the attic…I noticed when I went up in the attic. the wood and insulation had mositure near both exhaust fans coming from the use of the showers..
these motors have power and are very durable, I tried to upgrade them some time back, but everything I saw was made cheap and expensive….
I’ll just keep them…I stripped the paint off the covers, prinmed, sprayed with auto base and then I clear coated..they look like new..
my advice if you have one and it works,, keep it..I doubt you’ll find anything out there that will last almost 40 years
Hi Gido, thanks for your comment. Normally I do not approve comments with DIY instructions because this is not a DIY site. But your comment seems to be mostly about how durable these fans are, and also about taking care to note how exhausting bathroom fans into your attic may lead to moisture accumulation problems there… so I approved it. Readers: Take care and consult with pro’s regarding any adaptations you might make to vintage equipment and exhaust systems like this.
We have a Nutone in our bathroom that must be at least 35 years old (our ranch was built in 1954 and added onto in the ’70s) and it still works like a champ. Not real quiet, but effective. No maintenance in recent memory. They really made them well back in the day.