extractor fan issues (as in, it doesn't work very well)

[Rpa07]

nice picture by the way .where you once with black &white minstrel boys!View attachment 38209

Quite normal for a Sunday night that - enjoyable as well! I'll bet there was a do-gooder responsible for its demise. That'll be another thread!

 

[davesparks]

when steam meets a cold surface it condenses into water, no matter how much extraction you have.

 

[MyWifeNowDave]

Are you sure that the whole run of ducting isn't pooled with condensate? If you are then as the others say!
Sometimes it seems like a fan is pulling the air but it's just trying to push it a against a big puddle of water effectively doing nought.

It's all brand new as the old fan was ineffective, the ducting is all new and runs from the fan downwards to the grills. Maybe I need a more powerful fan..... or to lower my expectations?

 

[MyWifeNowDave]

Are you sure that the whole run of ducting isn't pooled with condensate? If you are then as the others say!
Sometimes it seems like a fan is pulling the air but it's just trying to push it a against a big puddle of water effectively doing nought.

It's all brand new as the old fan was ineffective, the ducting is all new and runs from the fan downwards to the grills. Maybe I need a more powerful fan..... or to lower my expectations?

 

[Midwest]

I can take long hot showers in my ensuite, using an in-line 100mm extractor fan, with no steaming up

Is your ducting fairly straight, with no bends & under 3m total length. Venting out through soffit always causes poor extraction IMO

 

[marc8]

hi
what you need to remember with any fan is the ducting, air will travel along the edge walls of the ducting the smoother the better.
when the fan pushes the air through the ducting any ridge or obstruction will create system pressure, air being pushed through ducting tends to roll along the edges if it hits an obstruction it will roll back on itself meaning the fan will have to work harder to overcome the system pressure until a point it just does not work.
with flexible ducting you must stretch it out as much as you can otherwise as above the ridges will make system pressure. if you can use rigid ducting & if required cover in insulation. bigger the fan the more system pressure it will handle.

 

[marc8]

another thing you might want to check is the volume of trickle vents / vents that let air into your house, you have a good fan you have a gap under the door if your ducting is stretched out properly then you need to look at the volume of trickle vents in the house. page 22 onwards approved document F.
for example 3 bed house 91-100sq meters would require 65000mm EA of trickle vents.
(>)50m3/(h.m2)at 50 Pa air permeability.

 

[Phil Thompson]

You'd need at least 4x the size of hole to intake as you do for extracting so just having the gap below the door is insufficient.

You either need to leave the door ajar a few inches, or open the window, or both. if the fan grill on the ceiling above the shower cannot hold 3-4 sheets of toilet roll to the grill then you'd likely need a more powerful fan.

The 4" mixed flow is about £53 plus vat. Just for the fan alone. These are far more powerful than the £20 inline kits.

 

[HandySparks]

The new fan is a vent axia acm100t, ...

Or get an inline mixed flow fan with a higher cfm air movement.

The ACM100T is an inline mixed flow fan:
ACM100T | Vent-Axia - https://www.vent-axia.com/product/acm100t

 

[Phil Thompson]

Then he needs to increase the air flowing into the room to replace the air he want some to remove, otherwise as said earlier, he's just creating a vacuum.

 

[surreygirl]

Hello all, I'm new to the forum and I was hoping to get a bit of advice please

I'm a plumber and I've put a new fan in my bathroom. The old one was ineffective and didn't clear the steam very well. What I'd like to achieve is to be able to run a shower without the walls and mirror steaming up.

The new fan is a vent axia acm100t, the fan speed is at the highest setting and the timer overrun is running around 20 minutes after light goes off. I have situated the fan in the loft about 700mm from extraction grill (bathroom end), which is above the shower area. The ducting is insulated ducting and goes down to a soffit vent. All other soffit/roof vents within 1m of extractor vent have been blocked up to stop moisture getting back up into the roof space. I have about a 13mm gap on the bottom of the door to allow a flow of air into the bathroom..... but the walls and mirror still get steamed up, although the room doesn't fill up with steam the way it used to do. The bathroom is only about 1800mm x 1800mm.

I have just had a shower and the walls are still pretty wet . The heating isn't on at the moment as the stat downstairs is on 20 degrees.....

Any ideas would be gratefully received as I don't know what else I can do to improve the situation.

Hello I am new too. I am sorry to post thread but I cannot seem to find where I start a thread myself as I have a question to ask! Help

 

[Octopus]

Hello I am new too. I am sorry to post thread but I cannot seem to find where I start a thread myself as I have a question to ask! Help

Go to forums above

Find the most appropriate category

Post a thread

 

[Taylortwocities]

Hello I am new too. I am sorry to post thread but I cannot seem to find where I start a thread myself as I have a question to ask! Help

At very top of the page, hit the button that says
"FORUMS"
then you'll get a new screen. Hit the button that says
"START NEW THREAD"

select the forum you want to post in.

Simples!!

 

[Bubba sparks]

Hi there.
If it's any help, all we tend to install is the greenwood Airvac. I've got them in my house for bathrooms and utility. Solid, insulated ducting vented to soffits and they do the job fine. Built in humidistat is a plus. Might be worth a look if you end up changing.

 

[UKMeterman]

Leave bathroom door open after you have the shower and the fan is on for it's min 10 minute overrun.