Bathroom exhaust fan AND laundry vent question

[_RaT_]

My guess is the fan your wife got is the propeller type and not the squirrel cage type and thus the reason for such a large vent pipe. I much prefer the squirel cage type which typically use a 4" line. They work better against a higher head pressure.

 

[Farwell]

Attic moisture can do a lot of hidden damage. The damage could still be there and to be safe, room vents should be vented to the outdoors.
The previous owners of my home did not open up the soffits for ventilation when installing new OSB over the old one by eights on my roof. There were the can type of roof vents installed along with the new OSB and shingles but there was little or no venting or air movement. After 5 years of poor venting I had to have the roof replaced at a cost of $14,000. The moisture made the 1/2 inch OSB swell up to almost 3/4 inch, caused mold to grow on the OSB and rotted a lot of the one by eight boards. This was all caused by warm air from the house in the Winter rising and hitting the cold air in my attic causing moisture to form with no place to go. Better insulation and a good moisture barrier would have helped but my house is around 80 years old and not that well insulated.
In my opinion any extra moisture in an attic had potential to cause problems.
Farwell

 

[CurlyDave]

I guess that here on the upper Texas Gulf coast, the humidity is so high, it doesn't create a problem?

High humidity is exactly when you should be most concerned about proper venting.

If you lived in the Arizona desert, you could get away with all kinds of evil practices and your attic would still be dry. With high humidity to start with, there is not as much margin for error.

I am convinced that spec homes are built with little attention to functional details and lots of attention to cosmetics. In most states a new home is warranted for one year. If it survives that, the builder is home free. The least expensive hidden construction which will last a year is "good enough".

 

[bugstruck]

I wouldn't put it in the shower unless the ducting absolutely forced it, which it sounds like it may. Just outside in the higher ceiling is perferrable IMO.

 

[Richard]

Update: I took the mega blower back (with the 8" vent pipe and squirrel cage blower) and got one a touch smaller.

the guy turned the 'new' one on and you could NOT hear it. I did not belive him until I put my hand over it and felt the air moving. I could not belive how quiet it was.

Anyways, it's going to be installed OUTSIDE the shower, just above the door. I'll take the vent out the other side of house (from the dryer vent) and it will have its own vent.

I might wire it into the light switch so it's on anytime the light is on. I'm still undecided about that because this light gets left on many times when we're gone and I don't want to suck our hot/cold air out endlessly.

Thanks to all for your thoughts & considerations

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