Bathroom extractor fans

R.O.S.S.I · 20 Jan 2016 at 11:49

Hello all, our bathroom at the moment has no extractor fan so gets very moist and damp when someone has a shower resulting in the window needing to be left open for quite a while.

I'm just wondering is it a messy job getting one fitted and wont require me to re-tile the bathroom or anything significant?

We will probably in 2 years time be ripping the bathroom out and having a new one fitted then so wondering if I should just wait and do it then or if its a fairly easy job to get one installed now?

Also can they be fit to external cavity walls or do they have to go into ceilings?

rodders · 20 Jan 2016 at 12:37

Go through bathroom ceiling then out roof (bit awkward)
Go through bathroom ceiling then out external wall (if its near one)
Go though tiles to external wall.

dholdi · 20 Jan 2016 at 13:04

Also another possible option is to go through ceiling into loft and out through an eaves vent.

R.O.S.S.I · 20 Jan 2016 at 14:01

There is an actual vent on the wall in the bathroom on one of the external walls.

Would it be easiest to just go out through this?

Not sure how easy it would be to go out through the loft as it isn't boarded out and has had extra insulation added so I can't even see the joists or anything!

One More Solo · 20 Jan 2016 at 14:23

If you do go out through the wall, make sure you get a cowl vent fitted. The builders just put grates on ours and the wind blew back into the bathroom making it cold and making the fan click when it rotated. They're only a couple of quid but made a decent difference for us. I also fitted some draught excluder strips around the flap to stop it rattling against the housing.

Russinating · 20 Jan 2016 at 15:03

Apologies on hijacking, but one thread on extractor fans seemed dull enough

.

We need an extractor too, however I think ours may be easier. Bathroom is an extension with a flat roof with a small cavity between it and the bathroom ceiling. We've already had 3 spots fitted but as they're so bright I was thinking we could replace the middle one with a fan so it's on the same circuit as the lights.

What kind of extractor would I want for a ceiling? And how difficult would it be to DIY fit? I'd be happy with the electrics and internal side just unsure about the roof, but that depends how they come built I would have thought.

craig_t · 20 Jan 2016 at 15:32

Where would you route power from though?

kinobestew123 · 20 Jan 2016 at 16:17

Russinating said:
Bathroom is an extension with a flat roof with a small cavity between it and the bathroom ceiling.

Surely the problem you're going to have is where to vent out?

I presume you're thinking of going straight out of the flat roof. I'd be very wary of doing this as your flat roof will be all watertight at the moment. If you start making a hole in it, it could be very difficult to seal properly again.

I was advised against doing this myself by a few people.

The_Baron · 20 Jan 2016 at 16:27

Agree with the above. Don't mess with the roof. You may come to regret it.

Russinating · 20 Jan 2016 at 16:43

Yeah I was going to go out through the roof. Where else would you go out? Along cavity and out the side wall?

Showboat · 20 Jan 2016 at 21:00

I'm not a great believer in extractor fans actually doing much... apart from having a hole in your wall letting in cold air 24/7.
I blocked mine up and just open the window and shut the door for 30mins afterwards to vent the room.

chaparral · 20 Jan 2016 at 23:32

Showboat said:
I'm not a great believer in extractor fans actually doing much... apart from having a hole in your wall letting in cold air 24/7.

That why you fit an inline back draught shutter or buy one the extractor fans that has a shutter built in...

You can see how the back draught shutter opens/closes on this extractor fan in this video

rodders · 21 Jan 2016 at 12:31

Showboat said:
I'm not a great believer in extractor fans actually doing much... apart from having a hole in your wall letting in cold air 24/7.
I blocked mine up and just open the window and shut the door for 30mins afterwards to vent the room.

Perhaps your fan wasnt big enough for your room?

I installed one in my bathroom, decent unit, and it was great. Easily notice the difference with it on or off.

kinobestew123 · 21 Jan 2016 at 12:49

Russinating said:
Yeah I was going to go out through the roof. Where else would you go out? Along cavity and out the side wall?

That's the million dollar question really.

Mine sounds the same as yours and I'm thinking that i'll have to have a wall vent instead of a ceiling one.

R3X · 21 Jan 2016 at 17:21

One More Solo said:
If you do go out through the wall, make sure you get a cowl vent fitted. The builders just put grates on ours and the wind blew back into the bathroom making it cold and making the fan click when it rotated. They're only a couple of quid but made a decent difference for us. I also fitted some draught excluder strips around the flap to stop it rattling against the housing.

Thanks for the info, am about to get an extractor installed, that cowl vent looks great but does the extractor still have the normal grill on the outside and then cowl vent over the top of it ?

Great idea about the draught excluder strips btw hate that rattling!

R3X · 21 Jan 2016 at 17:25

chaparral said:
That why you fit an inline back draught shutter or buy one the extractor fans that has a shutter built in...

You can see how the back draught shutter opens/closes on this extractor fan in this video

Thanks for the info also, never knew about this but I noticed on the fan I am considering buying it has "Backdraught flaps" I take it this similar to a draught shutter?

Its an Envirovent SILENT SIL100T model

But still good idea about that should hopefully prevent wind and rain coming from the outside !

R3X · 21 Jan 2016 at 17:28

In case ts or anyone else is interested I did some research in extractor fans and found a few recommending these brand fans:

Envirovent Silent Extractor fans

Youtube video shows how other local DIY £30-50 or those cheapo £10-20 fans don't cut it or even work compared to the Envirovent Silent extractors.

Vids here:

stigggeh · 21 Jan 2016 at 17:38

Be warned - I bought a VentAxia 100t with back draft shutters and it drives be crackers.

In bed all I hear is 'tick' 'tick' 'tick' of the shutters closing when a gust of wind blows through.

R3X · 21 Jan 2016 at 18:55

stigggeh said:
Be warned - I bought a VentAxia 100t with back draft shutters and it drives be crackers.

In bed all I hear is 'tick' 'tick' 'tick' of the shutters closing when a gust of wind blows through.

Yeah this is what I am trying to avoid seems from rainforest reviews on the unit I mentioned above (Envirovent) some have flimsy backdraught fitters which help but can rattle or still let air in on a windy day.

You can like the few posters above mentioned they used an cowl vent (5-6 quid on rainforest) or In-line Extractor Fan Vent Back Draught Shutter (5-6 quid), only thing is I do not know if the cowl covers or replaces the existing grill vent with flaps on the outside of the house.

reviews are mixed on both but overall they do suggest it has helped a lot especially with the clanking and tick tock noise, solo also mentioned he used draught excluder strips on the outside vent to stop it rattling which can be bought from 1 quid shop, worth a shot.

Am tempted to get the Envirovent CLASSIC extractor with soft automatic shutter, key word being soft ! to prevent all the extra hassle of bits and bobs, see them for 40-50 quid around places.