Inline fan recommendation

[Camster]

I am planning to have my ground floor cloakroom refurbished. Its a very small space around 1metre square and only has a WC in it. There is currently an inline fan fitted which is located in the ceiling void which has been lowered and is made of pine cladding. The ceiling will be replaced as part of the upgrade with a more modern style of cladding.

I would like to have the fan replaced as part of the upgrade, and I need a reliable model, due to the fact that any problems with the fan could only be sorted by taking the ceiling down to access the fan. I don't think I need anything powerful for such a small apace, but it needs to be reliable.

I would appreciate any advice on what makes or models you would recommend in this situation.

 

[bill01803]

Can you not just put a cheap fan in the ceiling and then it can be replaced easily as necessary

 

[Camster]

Can you not just put a cheap fan in the ceiling and then it can be replaced easily as necessary

The duct for the current inline fan runs over a metre to the outside vent, so from what I've read, a basic ceiling fan wouldn't cope with extracting over this distance. If there are some that can, that would be ideal.

 

[Pretty Mouth]

The duct for the current inline fan runs over a metre to the outside vent, so from what I've read, a basic ceiling fan wouldn't cope with extracting over this distance. If there are some that can, that would be ideal.

A centrifugal fan should do it. They're a little bulkier than axial fans, and don't tend to be silent when running, but are able to push air through longer runs of duct. Something like the Greenwood airvac RF90.

That said, a metre of duct isn't too long. If you used rigid plastic ducting, I'd expect an axial fan to be able to extract over that distance.

 

[Camster]

Thanks for the suggestion. I've just double checked the distance the ducting would need to cover, and it's only just over 1 metre, so a decent axial fan should be OK with a flexible or rigid ducting?

 

[Pretty Mouth]

Probably... I fitted an envirovent SIL100T in a similar situation recently, ceiling mounted then through about 2 to 2.5 foot of rigid plastic duct, and that seems to be fine (it passed the toilet paper test anyway). I expect a slightly more powerful axial fan would manage a metre.

Use rigid plastic ducting if you can though, the smooth walls allow a better airflow compared to flexible ducting. It definitely makes a difference.

 

[goasis]

1 m of ducting is very short, any fan should be able to cope with that. And it's not even having to extract steam and moist air... don't over think it! But also, don't hide an inline fan in the ceiling void.... terrible idea.

 

[Camster]

1 m of ducting is very short, any fan should be able to cope with that. And it's not even having to extract steam and moist air... don't over think it! But also, don't hide an inline fan in the ceiling void.... terrible idea.

That's good to know. I've discovered another small problem. The external vent has a diameter of 115mm but most fans are 100 mm. The vent is in a very awkward position to fit a new one from the outside, so I was hoping to use some kind of step down coupling to go from 115 to 100mm, but I can't seem to find anything that size.

Does anyone know if there is anything like this available?

 

[DPG]

That's good to know. I've discovered another small problem. The external vent has a diameter of 115mm but most fans are 100 mm. The vent is in a very awkward position to fit a new one from the outside, so I was hoping to use some kind of step down coupling to go from 115 to 100mm, but I can't seem to find anything that size.

Does anyone know if there is anything like this available?

A friend of mine has just 3D printed something very similar and it was very impressive. Not sure that helps though, unless you have a 3D printer.

 

[loz2754]

A friend of mine has just 3D printed something very similar and it was very impressive. Not sure that helps though, unless you have a 3D printer.

Or a friend...