Our new house design is going to have two of the bathrooms and the laundry room in the interior with no windows. My architect is saying that the best way to ventilate these rooms is with an exhaust fan AND a make-up air duct to the outside. I’m assuming this make-up duct would simply be a duct from the cieling on the opposite side of the fan with a vent grill and terminates outside like a dryer vent.
I don’t like the idea of cutting the bottom of the doors too much, especially on the bathrooms. Has anyone tried the make-up air duct and noticed a substantial difference over not having one, or just opening the threshold gap?
Thanks everyone!
Replies
Something to think about is this:
-Hardly anybody uses make-up ducts in normal size bathrooms with normal size fans.
-The function of the fans will vary seasonally, that is, when windows are open the fans will starve less than when all the windows and doors are closed.
-The whole house needs to be dealt with as an entirety, meaning, is there a furnace, water heater, dryer and range hood plus exhaust fans all drawing on the free air of the house. My guess is no, since your arch. is worried about air for the baths, but ...
-Also, if you do use open vents, they'll be admitting outdoor temp. air unless there's provision for heat exchange.
Just some thoughts
Look into an HRV (heat recovery ventilaor). One centrally located fan that exhaust the moist air form laundry and baths while rcoverying the heat, and bringing in outside makeup air. A little more cost in equipment and duct runs, but will do the job for you. Have the HVAC contractor design the system with the HRV as an integral component, not just stick it in because you suggested it.
Dave