Well not IN the shower- but with all the questions/concern with water soaking thru grout, and mold accumulation, why has there never been a small- 8 inch say– wall fan mounted near a shower to blow air in for 15 minutes- seems like that might cure a lot of woes??
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Blow air in from where, outside?
Untempered air directly from the outside into a bathroom could be very uncomfortable.
Most bathrooms in houses that have a central air heat system have a vent in the bathroom.
Most codes require an exhaust fan on any bathroom that does not have an openable window.
I don't do a lot of single family dwellings, but the ones I have done recently the exhaust fan was tied into a timer for periodic air exchanges.
You're referring to air movement aren't you? I have 52" ceiling fan in the middle of my bathroom. After showering and while the vent fan is on I run the ceiling fan with the shower door open to dry it out. Works fine.
You can put one of these Fantech units right up in the shower ceiling. Very cool.
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Fantech shows them in such wet locations right at their website. Guy I know that has a kitchen, bath, and tile biz put one in his own new shower.
Be sure to do your wiring right. Think GFCI.
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"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
Gene, I think he wants to blow air onto the shower walls (to dry them), not suck the air OUT of the room.
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
yes to blow air onto the walls. My bath has BOTH an exhaust fan and also a hvac duct, but the water stiill beads up after a shower- squeegee takes it off
Solution to this might be to have a stronger exhaust fan (if it came with the house, it's #### -- "contractor" quality) or to tell the teen that thirty minute showers aren't allowed in your house. Panasonic makes some very effective fans that are virtually silent, and they're easy to install. I would opt for at least the next most powerful fan recommended for your square footage.
My sister in law moved in with us for a while. The 30 minute shower is now a normal morning routine. *sigh*Might have to get a barn fan installed to vent the bathroom.
She maybe has never paid a utility bill???
Maybe it's time for the coin-operated shower valve?Or a 10 minute hot water timer and electric valve (think zone valve for hydronic heat)?At the minimum, throttle down the hot water shut-off to that bathroom after 10 minutes. The shower valve balancer should keep water flowing but it will get cold."Gee, I guess you used up all the hot water".
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
I said this wrong. Not the next most higher but the next higher. In other words, over kill doesn't hurt. Why did my singular reference to a dice game get censored?
but the water stiill beads up after a shower-squeegee takes it off
Perhaps the water is beading up because the walls are very cold (lacking enough insulation) and your EXHAUST fan is not doing a good job removing moisture from the air???
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
One thing to consider is that using a squeegee takes the water off the surface.
Drying the water on the surface leaves build up.
If you have a nice tiled shower it will look much beter if you squeegee it.
It doesn't take long.
But maybe you like cleaning showers?
"There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."Will Rogers
Actually I bought a plastic squeegee from lowes which was a mistake as you can hear it scrape 50 miles away.
I will try to get a rubber one from an auto parts store.
I don't have nice tile in my showers. But my brother does and he has a nice rubber squeegee. I think the handle is brass.
He has a nice house. "There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."Will Rogers
Gene Davis has a good suggestion. I have put a couple of those in and they work great.
Also BARMIL is right. I would get a really good exhaust fan, (Panisonic), and put it on a timer so that it runs for 15-20 minutes after you shower to exhaust most of the moisture in the air.
Thanks- but its not the moisture in the air (tho it is in a way) but the beads of water left on the shower wall after you shower. I just wonder why no one puts in wall mounted spot fans to fix that.
Edited 10/25/2009 11:19 am ET by edwardh1
We have all talked around what you are suggesting without addressing it. I think it is a very good idea. The fan would dry the shower area and the regular bathroom exhaust would then remove the resultant moist air, or if your house is very dry in the winter, allow it to disperse into the other rooms.
Something on a different note, does anyone put heat mat under wall tile in the shower? Seems like a good idea to me.
I have a very good fan in my bathroom that does a good job. But having three teenage daughters I got one thing that finally worked. A timer. I have this one:
http://www.skymall.com/shopping/detail.htm?
pid=102704216&pnr=M53&cm_mmc=Shopping-_-Google-_-M53-_-102704216
I would have installed the timer on the hot water. They'd learn from that.