Installing the Broan-NuTone BEL6 Roomside Exhaust Fan is frustratingly overcomplicated for a new installation due to poor engineering and a total lack of real-world field testing. Having to completely disassemble the unit just to install the vent assembly makes no sense at all. Removing and reinstalling multiple small screws to mount the junction box, fan assembly, and cover to the housing adds unnecessary labor to what should be a straightforward job. Worse yet, tight clearances and metal tabs force you to manually tweak and bend parts on the housing just to get it to slide into place without binding. To make matters worse, it is strictly designed for 1/2-inch ceiling material, causing severe fitment issues on 5/8-inch drywall ceilings. It is clearly a design that looked fine on paper but falls completely flat in actual field installation.

The holes to mount it to the stud is only on one side. If you’re doing a retro fit to replace an existing unit, and the stud is on the other side, you better be creative. You also can’t install the electrical without going in the attic. If you don’t have an attic, you’re screwed. I can’t test the brightness or efficiency because I can’t get it installed. Can’t hear to see how noisy it is either but I was making a lot of noise in my attempt to get it installed.

Either the vent box enclosure did not come with enough mounting hardware and we used the wrong screws or this box is simply not stable enough to mount it in the way it is shown. Retrofitting proving to be struggling with no help from the instructions.

This is very quiet, but I can't use the light because the grill trim screws were not included. The instructions do not give the screw or thread size.

Fan is quiet. Light is bright. The problem is the plastic tabs holding the light on are weak and break over only a few weeks. The cover has fallen down twice because of broken tab assemblies.