Is a bathroom fan also needed if a whole house air exchanger is installed. If so can the bathroom fan be ducted into the outfall ducting of the air exchanger?
- posted
19 years ago
Air exchangers and bathroom venting
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- posted
19 years ago
This is a local issue, but I would think it should be.
I don't have the slightest idea. I would tend to do it divided, but I am not sure it would need to be. What you don't want is either one back-drafting into the other.
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- posted
19 years ago
UMC uniformed mechanical code says that bath fans get vented to the outside.
Reused bath room air now that sounds appealing.
If you have a window that can be opened the fan is not required.
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- posted
19 years ago
Whole house fans generally are not used in the winter months right?
I mean you'd suck out all the heated air that you paid for.
If you vented it only to a bathroom, that would be interesting. Nothing creating a vacume in a small room.. Try opening the door with it on.....
Do it correctly and buy yourself a nice fan. Panasonic make some really decent and quiet bathroom fans.
Tom
habbi wrote:
installed.
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- posted
19 years ago
habbi is asking about an air exchanger, ie a heat exchanger, not a whole house fan or something that recycles air. An air exchanger pumps air from the inside out, replacing it with incoming air. In the process the heat is exchanged, so that most of the energy is not lost.
As for the bathroom fan, I would certainly think you would want one without regard to having an air exchanger. Bath room fans take care of point sources, ie humidity from the shower, odors, etc. From a practical stanpoint, I don't think it's going to work trying to tie it in to an air exchanger. There are some big problems that aren't worth solving. First is logistics. An air exchanger is typically located by the heating/cooling system, not near a bathroom ceiling vent. Another is tieing it in, getting air to go the right way and not back into the heating system, etc.
Best solution is just a regular bath fan vented outside. You could put it on a wind up timer like used for bathroom heating lamps if you're worried about having it left on and taking out too much air.
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19 years ago
When I say plumb it into the air exchanger ducting I am talking about the duct that is on it's way out of the house, taking out the bad air. The ducting from the bath fan would have a "flapper" to prevent the bad air exchanger air from going to the bathroom. I do not want to run the bath fan ducting in the attic and I would like to keep the number of outside vents to a minimum.
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- posted
19 years ago
best to check with your building official.
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19 years ago
Not sure what your asking. Sounds like you want to use the air exchanger output duct to also vent the bathroom fan ie. one duct being fed by two separate fans.
I've got an air exchanger. It can move a lot of air when going full speed. I doubt a bathroom fan would be able to overcome the "back pressure" in the duct to do much good.
Can you use the air exchanger to vent the bathroom.
My exchanger vents two bathrooms, utility room, kitchen, living and dining areas. The system usually runs at the lowest speed all day. Each bathroom has a controller that kicks the system into high gear, acting like a bathroom exhaust fan.
Lorence