Bathroom/whole house exhaust

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electricguy

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Location
British Columbia Canada
I went on a service call today to replace a bathroom exhaust fan.What i found was amazing.

The worse hack work i have ever seen for a ventilation system.
These people have respiratory Issues.
They have the air tank with hose they walk around with.
Our POCO sponsors a power smart program which is contracted out.
10 years ago these people spent the money to use the existing bathroom vent fan opening .
What the so called contractor did was wired a timer and a humidistat into an in-line exhaust fan that they mounted in the Attic.

The duct work was horrible the fan was mounted on a truss brace with flexible ducting .

the intake side is 4 inch insulated plastic flex duct . the exhaust side of the fan was 6 in insulated plastic flex duct.

What they did was run the 6 inch stuff about 12 ft away from the fan unit and it was placed between the truss support and because it was flexible as soon as the moisture started to gather in the duct the weight of the water just made all the ductwork sagged between the truss supports this fan could not exhaust any of the moist air to the outside as the duct was full of water.

The inline fan was full of water and all the exsiting ductwork is contaminated with mould.

I feel the whole system needs replacing. This is a side by side duplex the bathroom is on the same wall the divides the 2 units and it is about an 15 ft or so run out to the gable end for the vent cover.

Now should this replacement systen still run horizontal or is it better to have it go staight up and though the roof.

I fell bad for these people as they piad good money from a sponsered program but this system could never of worked properly .


other question is to do this properly how many hours with new duct work and a fan. the wiring seems to be fine.

this link is for referance only

http://www.homeworks.ca/


Thanks in Advance
 
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If this were in the USA, I would report this to the Attorney General to take remedial action against the incompetence. It's a wonder these people aren't dead....and I would be very surprised if their health was not directly affected by this all.
 
If you replace the duct work it does not need to be solid, flexible duct will work, however it must be insulated if it is in an attic. The high velocity of those inline fans will cause moisture buildup if the duct work is uninsulated. Also the inline fans are quieter with insulated duct.
 
Now should this replacement systen still run horizontal or is it better to have it go staight up and though the roof.
Click to expand...

i install broan inline fans and while a vertical exhaust will work, they recommend a horizontal exhaust path.
 
If you do the replacement, depending on what IRC you are using will depend on how the venting is done. I believe that the 2006 IRC requires direct outdoor venting where as the 2003 allowed for in soffit venting. (If memory serves me correct) Also, if you tape anything in theory it is to have a UL 181? or 184? stamp on it.

c2500
 
Doug :

I really suggest to get a hold of dept of health and see what they can come up with the guideline. [ I am sure there is some company they are specalized with testing for airborne mold particles ]

anyway if running in horzontal exhaust fan the felxable ductwork is not really good idea unless you can make it pitch down a bit so that way the any condending water will run off so it don't build up at all.

Check with IBC or IRC one of the two will tell ya the details with it.

Merci, Marc
 
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