Hello. First post, but I have referred this forum many times before.
I renovated my bathroom last year and had a handyman friend do a large portion of the work, including installing my new Broan exhaust fan. Recently (due to the problem I will get to in a moment) I was assessing the exhaust fan in the attic above and realized that he did not vent out of the attic. Uninsulated 3 inch flexible tubing is stretched to the soffit, but not vented through the soffit. I asked him about it and he said that in our climate (central South Carolina) venting out of the house is not necessary. I think otherwise and plan to have the bathroom exhaust vented through the roof once I figure out what to do about the fan unit. Plenty of room to work and a short run straight up and through the roof. No problems I can foresee there.
My biggest problem now is the fact that the exhaust fan hardly seems to move air. Steam accumulates in the room during a warm shower, condensation builds on the wall, and water drips from the fan grill. The exhaust fan in place is one of the less expensive 80 cfm Broan units I bought from a big box store. Maybe I got a bad unit or maybe the model is rather ineffective (I have read other negative reviews), but either way, I need to fix this situation. I will just consider the Broan unit currently in place a loss. I am curious what I can do to improve this situation without replacing the entire unit. I do not want to tear out the housing and deal with cutting the ceiling and installing a new unit (if I can avoid it). Could I simply replace the current motor with a motor with a higher cfm rating? Is an in line unit the way to go? This is the only bathroom in my bungalow. I am looking for the most cost-effect solution.
Thanks in advance for any feedback or advice.
I renovated my bathroom last year and had a handyman friend do a large portion of the work, including installing my new Broan exhaust fan. Recently (due to the problem I will get to in a moment) I was assessing the exhaust fan in the attic above and realized that he did not vent out of the attic. Uninsulated 3 inch flexible tubing is stretched to the soffit, but not vented through the soffit. I asked him about it and he said that in our climate (central South Carolina) venting out of the house is not necessary. I think otherwise and plan to have the bathroom exhaust vented through the roof once I figure out what to do about the fan unit. Plenty of room to work and a short run straight up and through the roof. No problems I can foresee there.
My biggest problem now is the fact that the exhaust fan hardly seems to move air. Steam accumulates in the room during a warm shower, condensation builds on the wall, and water drips from the fan grill. The exhaust fan in place is one of the less expensive 80 cfm Broan units I bought from a big box store. Maybe I got a bad unit or maybe the model is rather ineffective (I have read other negative reviews), but either way, I need to fix this situation. I will just consider the Broan unit currently in place a loss. I am curious what I can do to improve this situation without replacing the entire unit. I do not want to tear out the housing and deal with cutting the ceiling and installing a new unit (if I can avoid it). Could I simply replace the current motor with a motor with a higher cfm rating? Is an in line unit the way to go? This is the only bathroom in my bungalow. I am looking for the most cost-effect solution.
Thanks in advance for any feedback or advice.