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Does this bathroom fan vent anywhere?

7 years ago

I am wanting to replace the loud vent fan in my downstairs bathroom. I have begun to wonder whether it actually vents anywhere, and if that is even possible. The bathroom is in the middle of the house with crawl space underneath, and a hallway above. To check it out, someone would have to go into the crawl space, or up into the attic (which is also basically also a crawl space) I'm defiantly not going in the crawl space, and feel hesitant to go up into the attic space. Before I actually hire someone who might do this, I'm wondering if anyone has an opinion as to if it's possible that this is a fan to nowhere.

Thanks!!

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Comments (3)

catbuilder
7 years ago
Of course it's possible. And, sadly, might even be likely. But why be defiant?:) Just stick your head up in the attic and have a look.
User
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
You could start by checking your roof and all your outside walls for any unaccounted vent opening.

That said, it used to be common for bathroom vents to just vent into the attic. That's a big no-no, as it's bound to lead to mold up there. Our master bath fan didn't even manage that much. Whoever installed it in the 60s, didn't bother to attach a duct to the fan at all. For decades, the fan just "vented" into the fiberglass insulation surrounding the fan housing. You should have seen the color of the insulation, arrgh...
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Olychick
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
My bath is as you describe and it vents all the way across the house, between the 1st floor ceiling and the floor of the 2nd story, to a vent in the ceiling of an outside porch. The way I figured that out was when someone takes a shower on a cold day, i could see the steam venting outside. If you live someplace where it's cold enough to see steam, that might be a way to check. Also you might be able to hear the air venting to the outside, so turn it on and walk around your house when it's really quiet outside.

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