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Bathroom exhaust fan

47WDXPW

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Feb 5, 2017
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77
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South Jersey
Do these need to be vented to the out side (stack vent tie in ) or is it OK to let it blow into the attic area ? This is a bathroom with a shower.
 
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kwschumm

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Feb 13, 2016
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Olympia, WA
The reason for not venting in the attic is that the last thing you want up there is mold, fungus and rot. Vent it to the outdoors.
 

2level

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Apr 10, 2008
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1,146
Location
Washington
I recommend that you do not do what the former owner of my house did: he tied the exhaust duct from one of the fart fans into a roof vent. Try to run the vent duct pipe/hose straight up, as bend-free as possible, with the proper vent hood.
 

trashmanssd

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Oct 31, 2016
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489
Location
Ma
You could do what the idiot who built my house did 14 years ago and vent into the attic but you will get mold. I have owned 2 houses so far in my life and both had the bath fan vented in to the attic and I had both fixed and vented properly. Sold first house shortly after we did bathroom oer and found where vent was routed and had to pay 3K for mold remediation because of said vent. My asthma and allergies started when I lived in that house, do your self a favor and vent it outside properly.
 

engineer2

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Dec 13, 2009
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Location
Chicago burbs
With a shower you might want something that is a least 100 cfm installed within 3ft of the shower stall or directly over it. Makeup air has to get into the room too (under the door or a heat/AC duct) or you will still have steamy mirrors. I've learned from experience.
Panasonic makes super quiet fans, but most other companies have them now too.
 

ford33

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Feb 26, 2011
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2,118
Location
Chicago, IL. USA
Vent to exterior always.

Depending upon the age of the home and how tightly sealed it is, consider that a bath fan forces conditioned (heated or cooled) air out of the interior of the home. You will need to make up that exhausted air by allowing air to enter the home. I am not an expert on this but you should research how exterior air will enter the home when the bath fan runs.

You don't want to draw air into the home from the furnace or hot water heater flue. That would introduce carbon monoxide. Another source of air incoming air is the attic. If it is not sealed tight to the home interior you may be drawing attic air into the interior of the home. In the summer that means very hot air entering the home.
 
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Todd.Brock

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Jul 15, 2008
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4,250
Location
Cincinnati
I am remodeling my bathroom now. All the 30 year old vents from 2 bathrooms vented into the soffit. There was batts of insulation to block off the air coming back in the attic - I guess that was effective. I have run into the soffit until some other siding/soffit renovations are completed and then I will then through the soffit with a Spring loaded vent. I used the Panasonic fans. They are really big but super quiet. You can still hear them, but it’s a low tone that you don’t hear with the shower running.
 

PCustoms

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Jul 23, 2011
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Location
VT
A good, and cheap, option for a quiet fan is to remote mount. I have a 10x10 duct in the bathroom, 10' of 4" dia duct and a 200 cfm fan mounted in the attic. The only noise it makes is a rush of air flowing
 

Falcon67

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Jun 11, 2009
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18,371
Location
Merkel, TX
I vent into the attic near one of the roof vents. I get real tired of making holes in the roof. The builder left the exhaust outlets under the insulation, so just running some pipe was an improvement. We're dry here, not a mold issue.
 

jeff_gates

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Joined
Feb 11, 2014
Messages
149
Location
Olalla, WA
because of our setup we went through the walls. I got this from Amazon:
Panasonic FV-11VQC5 WhisperSense 110 CFM Ceiling Mounted Ventilation Fan with Dual Sensor Motion and Humidity Technology
Hooded Wall Vent with Spring Loaded Damper, Gasket and Screen - Galvanized 4 inch
Dundas Jafine BPC425R6 Insulated Flexible Duct with Black Jacket, 4-Inches by 25-Feet
 

engineer2

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Dec 13, 2009
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11,814
Location
Chicago burbs
Anybody found any plastic wall vents that don't turn black and rot away after 5 years? They use really cheap plastic and weather really beats them up. Maybe I'll just switch to metal.
 
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47WDXPW

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Feb 5, 2017
Messages
77
Location
South Jersey
Wow I knew this was wrong (attic venting ) I didn't know how many things it affected thanks for the replies. So Im going to install one of the Panasonic models listed above so install the fan and run the duct to a new hole in the roof ? I have seen roofs with a 90* elbo on top of a vent line is this the right way to do it ?
 

2level

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Apr 10, 2008
Messages
1,146
Location
Washington
Wow I knew this was wrong (attic venting ) I didn't know how many things it affected thanks for the replies. So Im going to install one of the Panasonic models listed above so install the fan and run the duct to a new hole in the roof ? I have seen roofs with a 90* elbo on top of a vent line is this the right way to do it ?

Are you talking about the 90* turn built into a typical roof vent cap? If so, yes that's one way to go. Sometimes you go out the wall. What's access like; attic space, is there a 2nd story?
 

CitadelBlue

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Joined
Aug 1, 2009
Messages
710
Location
Northern VA
The reason for not venting in the attic is that the last thing you want up there is mold, fungus and rot. Vent it to the outdoors.

For some reason the builder of of house(we are the second owners) vented the bathroom vents into the attic about 6 inches from the ridge roof vent. Guess he figured the ridge roof would take care of the exhaust from the bathroom .....

Well... we are in northern VA near DC. It was Thanksgiving weekend and we had my daughter, her new husband and his parents cycle through the bathroom and shower . My daugher was th elast one to go through and noticed water dripping from the vent. I went into the attic and noticed the frost on the underside of the roof/plywood and condensation all over the metal exhaust vent.

My vent now runs between the attic joists in an insulated PVC 4 inch pipe and exits at the soffits via a vent opening. No more moisture/frost in the attic.
 
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