Bathroom Fan Back Draft
I am going through and replacing all of the exhaust fans in my bathrooms. First, I removed the fans, one of the motors looked replaced but it was still a simple, budget builder option. These had clips on them to remove the grate and the power inside included a two prong plug, obviously built to be easily swapped out like-for-like. Unfortunately, I didn't like these fans so I had to pull the housing out too. For that, I turned the breaker off and, since they were original and I didn't want to tear into the wall, I got a pry bar and popped them off the joists. Them being original is relevant because it was obvious they attached them before the dry wall was installed so there wasn't easy access to the screws. I installed the nicer, ceiling mounted options with humidity detection and auto shut off for the two full baths. I purposefully bought ones with the same size housing so that I didn't need to cut any dry wall and I could just screw them into the exposed joist. My half bath is a different story and I need help deciding if my plan is enough. Before removing, there was air flowing in from outside through the exhaust fan pretty freely. I could hear the flap (damper) shutting from the negative pressure of just opening the door every time someone enters. I live in the desert so we get crazy wind and with this back draft, it's consistently 10 degrees hotter in this half bath than it is in the rest of the house. When I pulled out the old housing, I looked at the damper and it's a simple piece of plastic, as I would expect. I'm buying a new fan to replace it, but wasn't planning on anything special since this is a half bath. I'm facing two options and would love some feedback. I can find a fan that has an explicit back draft damper feature, which seems to be twice the price of a standard fan. The alternative is buying a cheap independent damper, cutting the duct and inserting it above the fan, then install any cheap, normal fan. submitted by /u/Egregious_Egret [link] [comments]
I am going through and replacing all of the exhaust fans in my bathrooms.
First, I removed the fans, one of the motors looked replaced but it was still a simple, budget builder option. These had clips on them to remove the grate and the power inside included a two prong plug, obviously built to be easily swapped out like-for-like. Unfortunately, I didn't like these fans so I had to pull the housing out too.
For that, I turned the breaker off and, since they were original and I didn't want to tear into the wall, I got a pry bar and popped them off the joists. Them being original is relevant because it was obvious they attached them before the dry wall was installed so there wasn't easy access to the screws.
I installed the nicer, ceiling mounted options with humidity detection and auto shut off for the two full baths. I purposefully bought ones with the same size housing so that I didn't need to cut any dry wall and I could just screw them into the exposed joist.
My half bath is a different story and I need help deciding if my plan is enough. Before removing, there was air flowing in from outside through the exhaust fan pretty freely. I could hear the flap (damper) shutting from the negative pressure of just opening the door every time someone enters. I live in the desert so we get crazy wind and with this back draft, it's consistently 10 degrees hotter in this half bath than it is in the rest of the house. When I pulled out the old housing, I looked at the damper and it's a simple piece of plastic, as I would expect. I'm buying a new fan to replace it, but wasn't planning on anything special since this is a half bath.
I'm facing two options and would love some feedback. I can find a fan that has an explicit back draft damper feature, which seems to be twice the price of a standard fan. The alternative is buying a cheap independent damper, cutting the duct and inserting it above the fan, then install any cheap, normal fan.
[link] [comments]
