oh by exhaust fan, I mean, I just got a normal fan that draws the air outa tha case, just so I have air constantly comin through, I found it works better for me than having the intake fan, but I do plan to put another small fan in there to go on my plants. you don't need them pointing at the bulb, or rather I don't, it'll be different for ur set up, but heat shouldnt be that big of a problem. When I do new set ups, or change my fan/light set up, I usually run it for an hour or so w/out the plants in it so I can check how hot it will get w/out messn the plants up.