Hi! I am remoldeling a master bathroom and tore evernything out. I had ordered a 150 panasonic fan to vent a large bathroom with a steam shower. The electricians pointed out that it had a six inch vent and my previous fan was a three inch vent so they suggested I buy two smaller fans. I bought two fans with four inch vents, they were installed but were not vented. Now my reno is at a standstill as it seems that no one does this kind of work. My question is this, is there any way to vent two fans to the same vent? Is it possible to change a four inch to a three to at least solve one of the vents issues? Who does this kind of work? I wrongly assumed that the electrician was doing it since they suggested the change, my plumber doesn't return my calls and the jack of all trades guy won't touch it since I have a cerami c tile roof. The ceiling is open to the attic and there is some sort of rectangular cut-ou in the attic area but that is all I know. Please help! Thanks! Sheila
Bathroom Fans
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Jadnashua
Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
I'm not sure you bought anything, since unless you vent each of them separately, you'll still need one 6" outlet to equal the two 4" outputs.
You may have to find a roofer to go through the roof unless you can route it to a gable end.
Getting two to combine into one outlet would require properly installed dampers to prevent it just pushing the air back through the other fan if only one was on. If two inlets was desired, a remote fan with multiple inlets might have been a better choice, but again, most of those would require a bigger hole (duct).
Nobody wants responsibility for the tile roof, either leaks, or breaking things while up there making the required changes (plus, those can be slippery, and falling is an issue). OSHA requires harnesses and certain fall prevention things, which all combine to make it costly. You want to make sure whomever does the work is covered with their own liability insurance in case something does happen. Roofs can be quite dangerous.
You may have to find a roofer to go through the roof unless you can route it to a gable end.
Getting two to combine into one outlet would require properly installed dampers to prevent it just pushing the air back through the other fan if only one was on. If two inlets was desired, a remote fan with multiple inlets might have been a better choice, but again, most of those would require a bigger hole (duct).
Nobody wants responsibility for the tile roof, either leaks, or breaking things while up there making the required changes (plus, those can be slippery, and falling is an issue). OSHA requires harnesses and certain fall prevention things, which all combine to make it costly. You want to make sure whomever does the work is covered with their own liability insurance in case something does happen. Roofs can be quite dangerous.
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The fans both have dampers built in. Would this be enough to vent them to the existing vent or are you speaking of something else. Would I have been better to stick to my original fan with the 6inch vent ? Since eveythring is open I can still change things.
Jadnashua
Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
You mentioned your existing vent is 3". Trying to put two 4" ducts into that isn't a good idea...you will be wasting a good portion of your capacity. Those fans don't work great as compressors! You need either two separate outlets with what you've got, or one larger vent if you combine them.
From what I've read, people really like the quality and quiet operation of the Panasonic fans. But, you need to address the size of the duct. If the only feasible outlet is through the roof, then it could get costly as modifying a tiled roof and keeping things watertight takes skill, and messing with tile is risky as they are brittle.
See what the instructions say about the maximum length of the ductwork and see where else you could vent the thing to if the roof is too much trouble. Fantec and several other companies make remote fans that can handle multiple inputs. It might be possible to combine all of the bathroom vents in the whole house with one remote fan...very quiet since the fan is remoted (in the attic normally) away from the living space.
One thing you may not have considered is a tubular skylight. I have one made by www.solatube.com in my bathroom. I know that they do have roof flashing designed for tiled roofs. The vent kit add-on also uses a remote fan and the added light is a free bonus.
From what I've read, people really like the quality and quiet operation of the Panasonic fans. But, you need to address the size of the duct. If the only feasible outlet is through the roof, then it could get costly as modifying a tiled roof and keeping things watertight takes skill, and messing with tile is risky as they are brittle.
See what the instructions say about the maximum length of the ductwork and see where else you could vent the thing to if the roof is too much trouble. Fantec and several other companies make remote fans that can handle multiple inputs. It might be possible to combine all of the bathroom vents in the whole house with one remote fan...very quiet since the fan is remoted (in the attic normally) away from the living space.
One thing you may not have considered is a tubular skylight. I have one made by www.solatube.com in my bathroom. I know that they do have roof flashing designed for tiled roofs. The vent kit add-on also uses a remote fan and the added light is a free bonus.
attic
Thanks Jim. I am going to go up and have a look in the attic today to see what I can see. I had been avoiding it as there isn't a floor up there but since I can't find any one to do it I guess I have to. I had heard great things about the panasonic fans as well which is why I had ordered one. I rushed out to buy the new fans so that the electricians could install them at their request and now it looks like I will have the same if not bigger problem and not the fan that I had wanted. I am pretty sure that I have room on the side of the house where there is stucco that I could vent to and that is what I will check today. I had considered the sylight that you mentioned but we didn't want to disturb the roof!
Thanks Jim. I am going to go up and have a look in the attic today to see what I can see. I had been avoiding it as there isn't a floor up there but since I can't find any one to do it I guess I have to. I had heard great things about the panasonic fans as well which is why I had ordered one. I rushed out to buy the new fans so that the electricians could install them at their request and now it looks like I will have the same if not bigger problem and not the fan that I had wanted. I am pretty sure that I have room on the side of the house where there is stucco that I could vent to and that is what I will check today. I had considered the sylight that you mentioned but we didn't want to disturb the roof!
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