Extractor fan terminating in loft

[kevin123]

Hi all,

Our extractor fan in the en-suite stopped working and upon investigation i found that it isnt being vented to the outside.

What had caused it to stop working is that the fan has literally been screwed on to the ceiling and that's it, insulation has then been put over it. As soon as i lifted the insulation off, the fan starts working.

However, it's clear that the extractor fan should be venting to the outside so the question is, how easy is it to do?

Would it be a case of connecting some ducting pipe to the fan, cut hole in roof tile and stick on an outside vent cover?

Or is that wishful thinking and there's a lot more to it?

It was clearly a builders cock up, the house is 12ish years old and we moved in to it last year. We found last summer after many nights of bad smells in out room that they hadn't terminated the soil pipe outside either, that ended in the loft with no filter on it!

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

You would try and prevent going through roof, outside wall or soffit vent would be preferred method.

 

[CambridgeBrummie]

Flexiduct to the outside. You could run above the insulation and out tothe eaves soffit, to avoid going through the roof. Watch out for condensation forming on the inside of the duct (due to the loft area being cold). You should have a condensation trap just above the fan and before the flexiduct to avoid this problem.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

after many nights of bad smells in out room that they hadn't terminated the soil pipe outside either, that ended in the loft with no filter on it

Nothing wrong with terminating in the roof it just need the valve fitted.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You should have a condensation trap just above the fan and before the flexiduct to avoid this problem.

Aye this is pretty important.

 

[JohnD]

if you can use rigid pipe, and slope it so condensations runs outside, that will save your condensation trap from filling up.

Also, if you flop loft insulation over the duct, it will be less chilled so less prone to condensation.

The convoluted flexible hose with the ridges is very prone to catching condensation in the ridges and pooling in any loops.

 

[kevin123]

ok, thank you for the replies.

Does the condensation trap fit directly on top of the extractor fan then? Is it one size fits all?

Could the trap fill up and therefore need emptying?

So the job would be...

fit condensation trap on to top of the fan that's in the loft
fit ducting to condensation trap and run ducting to soffit
cut hole in soffit
fit end vent

Does that sound about right?

 

[cjard]

I think it relatively unlikely you'd get condensation in the very first bit of pipe especially if insulated, so you're looking at: fitting a bend to your fan's backside(loft side), running from the bend to the outside, throwing loft wool over the whole lot

alternatively, remove the fan from the ceiling, and fit it to the wall instead

 

[kevin123]

cheers for all the replies. Pretty sure I know what to do now. I'll fit a condensation trap just to be on the safe side.