Moral of this story.
Take pictures of what you have before you disconnect it.
BTW taking a fan out of a bathroom that doesn't have a window is a
code violation.
| BTW taking a fan out of a bathroom that doesn't have a window is a
| code violation.
I expect that probably varies by state. Where I
live the code used to require one or the other.
It now requires both, so removing a fan where
there *is* a window would be a violation.
I never knew fans were required anywhere in homes. In fact I never had
a fan in any house I lived in, until I moved into this one. And I
already duct taped over the switch, cuz I kept flipping it on when I
turn on the light switch. And if you ask me, those fans waste a lot of
heat in winter.
I would have removed a wire from the switch, but during the summer I did
leave it run on real hot days to suck out the heat in the house. (No
AC). So when hot weather comes I only have to remove the tape.
Hi,
For bathroom, fan will help minimizing moisture build up. All 4
bathrooms in my house has fans with digital timer which I can set at
5,10,15,20 minutes. We don't want stuff bathroom.
On Thu, 26 Feb 2015 20:36:04 -0600, snipped-for-privacy@spamblocked.com wrote:
In 3 houses and 2 apartments, all my bathrooms had windows, until I got
to this townhouse. Even the powder room at the end of the group has
no window, though one could be put in. They all had fans.
I take mostly baths and some short showers. I don't need fans.
In the bathroom off the master bedroom, there was a separate switch for
the fan. In the bigger bathroom on the second floor, when I put a
light in above the mirror, I interrupted the cable to the fan and put a
switch in for the fan, in the light base. I also put a switch in for
the light itself. (There was a knockout for that.)
And in the powder room, where I never take a shower, I just unplugged
the fan.
Even in my mother's apartment, a rental, I drilled a hole in the plates
around the fans, put in a switch in each one, with a pull chain and a
string. When she died, I didn't change it back and they didn't
complain. I'm sure the noise had generated complaints by tenants of
other apartments. It would drive me crazy.
My AC is broken and for 8 to 14 days a year, it's not really worth
fixing. I'll have to check out the bathroom fan. (I have a small
table fan above my head when I'm sleeping, and another big one at the
foot of the bed for really hot periods, and other table fans pointed at
the kitchen table, the office chair, and the shop chair. They don't
make the noise the bathroom fans do (plus I don't need a fan in any
bathroom.)
On Thu, 26 Feb 2015 23:36:41 -0500, snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca wrote:
That is my preference. Never had a problem until grandson moved in
with us. He'd take long showers and steam up the room and it started
to get mold. He mostly took showers when I was not home because I'd
turn the hot water off after a few minutes.
Recently remodeled both bathrooms and installed fans.
| > I expect that probably varies by state. Where I
| > live the code used to require one or the other.
| > It now requires both, so removing a fan where
| > there *is* a window would be a violation.
| >
| >
| Hi,
| Even if you can open the window?
Yes. I'm in Boston, so the logic may have something
to do with not being able to leave the window open
for much of the year. On the other hand, Massachusetts
is also very good at generating regulations.
It makes sense to me for most situations. (Sometimes
it's just prohibitive to put a new fan in.) The fan gets rid
of smells, dries shower condensation and provides sound
privacy for guests.
Example: I remodeled a bathroom, about 10 years ago
now, and built in cherry cabinetry. (Sink base, medicine
cabinet and inset towel rack "shadow box".) The owners
have two daughters, now teenagers. The cherry still
looks good. I attribute that to a fan timer that allows the
fan to run after the shower is used, preventing water
from sitting on the cherry.
On the other hand, if there were floor-to-ceiling tile
there would be no need for the fan timer. I guess that's
the problem with building codes: They're common sense
rules that sometimes get applied to the point of nonsense.
On Friday, February 27, 2015 at 8:46:06 AM UTC-5, Mayayana wrote:
A quick google search produced this:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/bathroom-vent-f-78803
"In Boston at least, codes say that bathrooms (even half baths) need to have an exhaust fan installed even when the bathroom has a window."
Now that does makes some sense. But it's very different from what you're
claiming, which is that a bathroom has to have *both* a window and
a fan. Requiring a window in every bathroom instead of just a
fan, would raise all kinds of architectural and building problems
for no benefit. It makes no sense and if true, I'd love to see the cite.
On Thursday, February 26, 2015 at 9:07:57 PM UTC-5, Mayayana wrote:
I'd like to see a cite for that code. There are
plenty of bathrooms in everything from commercial spaces
to homes without windows and it would sure
create huge problems for architects, for no good reason.
Anything is possible, but I'm taking bets it's not true.
In my old church, in a Chicago suburb, the contractor put exhaust fans
in both public washrooms. They never seemed to work. So, I always wanted
to pull up the ceiling tiles and see what's what. Actually, a friend and
electrician did it at my advise. He found both washroom registers tied
together and connected to a single fan which exhausted to the roof, but,
they never ran power to said fan. We talked about it and finally decided
to replace the light switches with a 2 pole switch, using the 1st pole
to turn on the light in its washroom and the 2nd pole to run the fan. So
now when either washroom light switch is on, so it the fan. Nice .... at
the time 20 years after the church was built!
On Friday, February 27, 2015 at 9:04:09 AM UTC-5, Art Todesco wrote:
In a similar public bathroom in Germany, I was surprised when the fan came on.
I entered a toilet stall and the fan came on when I latched the door. If just using a urinal there was no fan.
I had one installed in the mens room at our shop. Motion detector turns
it on and it runs about 5 minutes after the stall occupant is gone. I'm
not worried about code, just wanted the odor eliminator.
On Friday, February 27, 2015 at 7:39:24 PM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
If just using a urinal there was no fan.
I also worked in a building where the men's room had a strong fan and the d
oor was really tight. The fan ran all the time, and always pulled the trap
s dry, so the room stank of dry traps. We eventually got a transfer grill
put in the door and that solved the problem.
| In my old church, in a Chicago suburb, the contractor put exhaust fans
| in both public washrooms. They never seemed to work. So, I always wanted
| to pull up the ceiling tiles and see what's what. Actually, a friend and
| electrician did it at my advise. He found both washroom registers tied
| together and connected to a single fan which exhausted to the roof, but,
| they never ran power to said fan.
I've seen many cases where a fan was put in but
getting the vent outside would have been a lot of
trouble, so they just vented it into the ceiling space.
One is in the condo of a friend of mine, renovated
in the 70s. I have no idea how the builders got away
with it.
| >> I expect that probably varies by state. Where I
| >> live the code used to require one or the other.
| >> It now requires both, so removing a fan where
| >> there *is* a window would be a violation.
| >
| > I'd like to see a cite for that code. There are
| > plenty of bathrooms in everything from commercial spaces
| > to homes without windows and it would sure
| > create huge problems for architects, for no good reason.
| > Anything is possible, but I'm taking bets it's not true.
One doesn't have to actually add a window, though
in virtually all residential full baths there are windows,
so that's not really an issue there. But a window does
not substitute for a fan. A fan is always required in a
full bath. But that code is actually new within the past
few decades. formerly it was either/or.
Mass. Building Code section 1205.2.1
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