dan897857

I just redid my bathroom. The exhaust fan is new and a good model but doesn't seem to be moving steam. When I'm done showering the walls are wet and my shower rod and decorative fixture are rusting. I have the fan venting through a gutter soffit outside. I am not sure what to do besides taking the duct off the fan and letting it vent into the attic for now to see if it vents more steam. Any suggestions?

BridgeMan

If you actually have steam in your bathroom, your water heater is set way too high. And aren't the burns on your skin painful?

The last thing you want in your attic is moist bathroom air. DO NOT VENT THE FAN INTO THE ATTIC. Insulation will become saturated, mold will thrive, and you'll spend some serious bucks to correct the mess.

Far better to just check the fan for proper operation, and make sure the sheet metal duct between it and the outside is not obstructed by anything (including a malfunctioning weather flap on the outside). If it's undersized for the room volume, replace the fan with a larger one.

nealtw

You can check for air flow with a kleenex. Check it with the door open and closed, sometimes the room is to tight and you would need a bigger gap under the door.

dan897857

Well, the water temp is hotter because of my gf who loves hot hot showers. Thank you, I will check if the fan is working properly first. I would hope there is nothing wrong with it as it is new and I can hear the motor working when turned on. Do you think the airflow would be better going straight up out the roof rather than straight over and down through my gutter soffit ? There is hardly any space between the floor and door so maybe keep the door cracked open while showering ?

nealtw

When you dump the moisture out thru the soffet it can be drawn back into the attic and cause other problems up there. The best is straight up with insulated pipe with a proper cap on top. If leaving the door open works, you will need to have the bottom of the door cut. You need about an inch clearence.

dan897857

Should I put insulation over the duct going out through my gutter soffit for the time being? The door def. doesn't have enough spacing but taking it off would be difficult because its a pocket door. Might cold air be blocking the hot air from going out the vent since heat naturally rises up and I have it being forced left to right ?

nealtw

Have done the kleenex test yet to see if the fan is moving air?

dan897857

I will try this when I get home from work. Visually it does not seem to be sucking any steam. Its mind boggling since its a new strong fan and I hear the motor running.

MikeP

I'm with nealtw, you shouldn't vent an exhaust out of the soffit if you have soffit vents. The vents are pulling air into your attic, therefore they will pull the moist warm air in and cause mold problems.

dan897857

The tissue did suck to the outside of fan cover but def isn't moving air as well even with the door cracked open with more air flow. I just read a review on the lowes website and one person claims that people who say the fan does not work well are not sealing around the box of the fan preventing air from hitting it up above. Is this something that must be done ?