Device attached to ducting?

[Cocat2517]

Hi
Can anyone tell me what this is, it's attached to some ducting in the loft that's to the bathroom extractor fan.

Looks like a mouse found it tasty at some point?

Thanks

 

[Echo the husky]

That's the fan!

 

[Cocat2517]

Oh ok, I figured the fan was mounted in the ceiling. Must be just a downlight then, I thought it was a fan with a downlight in it??

Ok thanks.

One more thing, whoever installed it, they have the ducting venting out through the eaves, in-between two rafters. Is this normal?

 

[Echo the husky]

Yes, as long as the duct vents properly to the outside. The duct should also be insulated to stop condensation on the inside, this often then runs down the motor wires and damages the timer circuit board for the fan. These are cheap fan kits, often with poor performance. The bit in the ceiling is just a vent grille with a lampholder in it. The sagging parts of the duct can also collect moisture.

 

[Cocat2517]

Ok, thanks husky. I'll be removing this one anyway, it's directly above where a shower cubicle will be going.

 

[Echo the husky]

Isn't that where it should be?

 

[Cocat2517]

Possibly, the light is directly above where the shower head will be, wasn't sure if it was ok or if the steam would be excessive. I'm not a fan of downlights anyway, so want to get rid regardless.

 

[SFK]

Pete
You could keep fan and pioes, and simply get rid of dowlight+grill bit and change to a grill only above shower (best location if you ask me).
Sfk

 

[Cocat2517]

Pete
You could keep fan and pioes, and simply get rid of dowlight+grill bit and change to a grill only above shower (best location if you ask me).
Sfk

Thanks, will consider that, however I suspect the fan is a good 10-15 years old... would it not be better to just get a newer, more efficient one?

 

[Echo the husky]

Yes you can, there are plenty of high quality fans available. 4 years ago I fitted a 4" Vortice Lineo in-line fan in my bathroom, installed and ducted it properly. It is very quiet and the mirror and window no longer steam up when the shower is in use, I fitted the ceiling grille directly above the shower and in the right light you can see the vapour being drawn into the grille. Works far better than the £10 ceiling fan that came with the house, that was originally mounted above the opening window.

 

[Cocat2517]

I'll check those fans out.

While on the subject, the house does have quite bad condensation issues... I'm looking at improving ventilation, but anyone have experience with these? They seem to have rave reviews and claim to be good at sorting condensation, while being cheap to run?

Drimaster Eco Heat

 

[Echo the husky]

We have fitted a few and yes they work. Try improving the existing ventilation first though, as it man not be needed. Opening any window trickle vents, better bathroom fans with a sensible timer overrun, not drying clothes indoors etc. The original owners of my house kept everything sealed shut and didn't use the fans. This had trapped a lot of damp. Drying it out with a good dehumidifier for a month then keeping the house ventilated has resolved the issue, no mould, or condensation on the windows.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Assuming this is for the holiday let, be aware that renters of those tend not to care too much about good ventilation/humidity management practices. Have as little (preferably no) occupant-controlled ventilation as possible.

If you are in walking country try very hard to provide facilities for wet clothing to be hung and dried that are so easy and obvious to use that nobody would ever not bother to use them.

 

[Cocat2517]

Assuming this is for the holiday let, be aware that renters of those tend not to care too much about good ventilation/humidity management practices. Have as little (preferably no) occupant-controlled ventilation as possible.

If you are in walking country try very hard to provide facilities for wet clothing to be hung and dried that are so easy and obvious to use that nobody would ever not bother to use them.

That's a really good point, thank you! Yes, it's in a part of the country popular with walkers... it also rain regularly, so damp/wet jackets will be fairly common, I'll need to plan for that. Planning to have a couple of humidistat fans in kitchen/utility room.