I am redoing a 36″ x 36″ shower which originally had an 8’6″ ceiling with a light fixture overhead. At some point, the ceiling was lowered to approx. 6’8″ and a bath fan was installed. The fan was vented horizontally, directly outside through the brick veneer.
Now my question. If I want to raise the ceiling back up a bit to make the inside of the shower feel less claustrophobic, but don’t want to move the location of the vent pipe (due to the hole in the brick), is it proper to have the exterior vent below the level of the fan? My recollection was that this isn’t a good idea..
Here’s a picture of what I’m talking about (pay no attention to the romex coming out of the box in the cieling- it was placed that way in order to get it out of the way during demo. The circuit is dead anyway.) Even if I could get another 8-12″ of height in there I think it would make a difference.
Thanks
-Andy
Replies
I wouldn't vent it downward, you will kill the natural flow and efficiency, I have seen fans mounted on walls in stead of the ceiling, I don't know if they work as well but could that be an option?
use a higher CFM fan... the only problem you will have is getting a smooth route from the ceiling fan to the wall outlet..
or... mebbe i don't understand what you're doing
Mike,
Even with a higher CFM fan wont the steam naturally want to rise, causing large amounts of condensation on the "top" side of the duct?
And from the way it looked to me he would have a 90 degree elbow going downward to the exit point, wouldnt the fan have to have a very large CFM rate to push the hot air and steam downward?
View Image
Edited 2/11/2003 12:06:50 AM ET by CAG
who knows.... anyways, the condensate will run out.. i can't figure what route he'll take from the unit to the exit..
those wall units are super ugly though
and with 4" smoothwall alum duct... the higher CFM should push it.. we never use 3"Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
those wall units are super ugly though
I saw one that looked ok, Very flat and the grill wasnt to bad either, probably only stuck off the wall by about 1/4 inch. But the walls were white so it blended right in.View Image
I'm with Mike...U kids are way over thinking things.
The slopes just gonna be steeper....either gonna run out faster..or drip back into the shower, right?
If you want nice tight air flow....use PVC.
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
the only problem you will have is getting a smooth route from the ceiling fan to the wall outlet..
I still have to figure this out. Since it's such a short distance, and I can basically set the height of the new ceiling wherever I want, I guess it's just a matter of seeing how it all will fit together.
Thanks
We did something sort of like this on my Brother's house.
Built a wooden box to hide the exhaust fan. Cut a hole in the bottom of the box to allow for the grille. (The wood was stained to make it look nice) Then just ran the vent sideways out through the wall.
If you want to run the duct downwards, I don't really see a problem with that. The pressure of the fan will out-do the tendency of the warmer air to rise. Just make sure you slope the exit pipe to the outside so any condensation drains.
If at first you don't succeed...blame someone else and seek counseling.
Thanks for the info... my biggest concern was condensation but what you're saying makes sense. Plus it's a pretty short run to the outside, less than 30" I think. Is flexible tubing no good, even the more "rigid" variety? It would make it a little easier, but I could use an elbow otherwise.
Thanks
-Andy
If you make sure that the fan always runs long enough to clear all the wet air out, it should be fine. Maybe a timer of some kind would help. These fans use very little power, so if it runs for an hour and a half each time, no big deal. Perhaps run this in PVC to reduce the amount of condensation you get, and it's also a material that condensation won't hurt. Slope it to drain, of course, if only to prevent getting stuff growing in there.
-- J.S.
As I look at the vent comming out of the wall-what you want to do is move it up to the top of the original ceiling in order to raise the shower cieling hight. Or is it high enough to use it as it is placed, allowing enough to raise the finish of the new shower height enough? The problem to go higher is the 4" off set up in a 3.5" wall, IE two 4" ells up? is that correct? If you go that way you could jump up with a round to flat duct to flat to round so you won't intrude on the shower wall space yet get almost all the ceiling height you want.
Clay
The exterior wall is 2x6, and I will probably be able to buy another inch or two in framing the new shower, since the old mortar walls were almost 3" thick over the studs. So I probably won't have to go to the flat-to-round connection, but what I was thinking was to raise the ceiling another 12" or so, and then use two ells to drop down to the vent that goes outside. I guess the more I think about it, the easier it seems.
Thanks for the info.