Bathroom vent fans are rated by how many cubic feet of air they can move in one minute known as the cfm rating.
How to vent bathroom fan through wall.
In this video this old house general contractor tom silva explains how to vent a bathroom fan.
A down through soffit exhaust vent design by leaving warm air in the exhaust duct when the fan is off creates a heat trap that reduces heat loss out of the bathroom through the exhaust fan duct when the fan is off in comparison with up routed vents or even horizontal vents through a gable end wall.
I recommend that my clients vent their bath fans out a gable wall if at all possible when not using an hrv or erv that is.
Keep the run of vent pipe as short and straight as possible.
Options for venting a bathroom exhaust fan include best to worst.
It can probably be done in an afternoon if you are organized for the job but it may take a weekend if you aren t fully prepared.
Depending on the location of the bathroom it may be easy to vent the exhaust fan through the roof.
If you want to vent a bathroom fan through an exterior wall you will have to cut a 3 inch or 4 inch hole with a hole.
If you vent through a soffit where attic vents are often located the moisture will get sucked back up into the attic or roof venting.
This will serve as a reference point for positioning the wall cap.
The fan can be vented either through the ceiling or wall.
Since a bathroom vent fan should run for 10 15 minutes after you finish your shower to remove all the moisture consider a fan that cuts on and off automatically using a moisture sensor or replace the wall switch with a timer.
To determine which size fan to buy for your bath multiply the room s square footage by 1 1.
This involves running ductwork from the fan usually though an attic and out through the roof.
1 climb into the attic and locate the bath fan.
A 3 or 4 inch duct connects to the outlet on the fan housing and runs to a side wall or to the roof and connects to a vent cap that allows the.
For example a 100 square foot bath would require a 110 cfm rated fan.
Behind a gable vent.
If you vent through the roof condensation will drip back into the interior.
Drive nail through house wall from attic.
The bathroom exhaust ventilation fan disperses air through an opening in the fan housing which is usually 3 inches in diameter and ideally faces in the direction of the ventilation system outlet.
It eliminates the need for routing ductwork through the house and these fans usually dry the bathroom more quickly.
Fans also have a sound rating measured in sones.
To improve venting and reduce air resistance in the vent pipe.
Behind a soffit vent.
However venting through the wall is considerably less risky.