Installing Bathroom Fans

Here are some tips about installing a bathroom fan and some advices that will help you in the process. There are many little details that you should know about installing bathroom fans in order to do it properly, and we will try to help you with some basic instructions that will help you on your way.

First thing, you should definitely vent the air from your bathroom to the outside. But, besides simply vent the air to exterior, you need to take care of one thing - moist air. Bath fan will push the air outside, but that hot air is moist and could create long term problems. Especially if its cold outside, the condensation is even worst then and can ruin your home.

You have to be careful not to put the exterior vent under the soffit. Some of the vapors can end up in your attic. This will create problems, such as rotting, excess mildew and bad smell. Make sure you use bathroom fans to vent the air away from the soffit, attic, walls or anywhere where it will cause troubles due to condensation.

When it comes to position for your bath fan, it is a good idea to place it as higher as possible. Also, its best to put a bathroom fan opposite to the bathroom door. This helps with ventilation and you can get the hot air outside quickly, through the wall and outside.

If you do not have a external wall, or for some reason you can't position the fan where you would like, then you can run a duct from your bathroom fan to another venting point. This requires a bit more work, but it is doable. If you can find the right spot for venting, without any obstructions, plan the way for your ducting and the problem is solved.

When you set your external vent, you should put a vent with hinged slits. When air comes from your bathroom, pushed by a powerful vent fan, it will come out with ease. But if an air from outside wants to come in, the slits will be closed. This helps in maintaining the desired temperature in your room, but also prevents the insects from coming inside.

One other thing that needs to be addressed here is the pipe insulation. If you, or your installer, haven't insulated the pipe, it's possible that there will be a problem inside the structure. To be more precise, wherever your ducting goes through. The hot air inside the duct will condensate outside the pipe if it is cold outside. The difference in temperature can be a problem here, if it is big, there will be condensation, moist and mildew.

You can solve this by covering the pipe with at least 1.5 inches of dried cured foam. Apply this to the entire duct. All visible metal from the bathroom fan to the exhaust must be covered.

These are some of the things you need to take care of when it comes to installing bathroom fans properly. We wish you luck and a good work.