Bathroom Extractor Fans Not Connected To Anything

[Macallan]

Upgrading my house room by room and im now on my bathroom and was replacing the broken extractor fan in the ceiling

just worked out maybe why the motor packed in

Its merely pumping its damp air under the loft insulation

Surely this cant be right?......

Both extractor fans upstairs have no vents or ducts attached to them and just had a hole cut in ceiling for them, power connected and then thats it. The loft insulation was obviously then laid over the backside outlets of the fans.

i seem to have two options to me right now which is to either just cap them off and rely on open windows to ventilate - or to fix a piece of rigid duct to take the damp air past the insulation and into the loft space.

Which would be the best option?

 

[Trazor]

i seem to have two options to me right now which is to either just cap them off and rely on open windows to ventilate - or to fix a piece of rigid duct to take the damp air past the insulation and into the loft space.

Which would be the best option?

Neither............... vent to outside.

 

[Richard C]

You can’t just vent into the loft space, apart from contravening Building Regulations, condensation will reek havoc up there. The easiest method is usually to install a duct & vent externally through the soffit board but duct length on many standard fans is restricted to 3m; you should check the fan spec.

How old is the property? fixed extract fan are now a Building Regulation requirement on new bathrooms, kitchens & utility rooms!

 

[Burnerman]

Very much as above - flexible ducting means that you can vent through the soffit quite easily.
John

 

[Macallan]

Cheers for the replies. im glad to hear this is governed by new regulations now as maybe this would stop this kind of cowboy behaviour from supposedly big house building contractors.

House is about 10 years old now

Been venting under the insulation in the loft all that time!

Ill have a look at going through to outside then - i thought you would have to go through the wall which i dont have the capability to do

Pretty peeved the builders did this in the first place tbh

I remember when we moved in my immediate neighbour warned me her house smelled badly during and after cooking - and when she got someone in to investigate they found her cooker extraction unit was emptying into the cavity wall and wasnt connected externally at all.

I checked mine the next day and saw that mine was ok

Wish now that i had the sense to check the outputs of the other extraction fans in the house now of course.......

 

[foxhole]

Are they ceiling fans, if you have wall fans installed in ceiling and just add ducting the condensation will run back and blow the fans.

 

[Macallan]

It says wall or ceiling on the pakaging

 

[foxhole]

It says wall or ceiling on the pakaging

You still have packaging from units installed 10 years ago?