Bob C 5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing results from a unit called the Breeze, available online from Breeze Systems International at 1/4 the price of units like Humidex, Wave, and EZ Breathe- I was a non-believer, but am now blinded by the light! They make crawl space units too. Reduces Radon gas. I was 100% skeptical about this thing having any impact on my musty basement. I thought I was buying snake oil, but was at my wits end when it came to how to deal with the smelly basement on Cape Cod. We had a dehumidifier for years that would remove the moisture from the basement, but we would still get a "wet" spot on the floor at its lowest point and we had a musty smell that had us looking for ways to seal the basement door. When we would open all the windows and the bulkhead, we would get relief, and it would smell okay, but once we closed things up when it got cold or was raining we were back to a smelly basement. I installed this where our floor is the lowest and where we often would see condensation on the floor and have it venting out one of the basement windows that I adapted for the purpose with a vent. I am absolutely overwhelmed by the difference that this device has wrought - my basement musty odor is "cured" - it smells great down there and here is why - this little thing acts like a chimney of sorts, it pulls up the nasty moist air from the floor and shoots it out the window - and sucks down fresh air from the upper floors - circulating the air into the basement with fresh air, BUT also removing the worst air that is down near the floor. I couldn't be more shocked at the results this little device has delivered - amazing. I really thought I was going to be disappointed as I thought "what on earth can this thing really do" but the answer is in the description - a dehumidifier gets the water out, but you still have the same stinky air in your basement - this thing really does the job and I could not be more pleased. I show everyone who comes into the house. My wife is also amazed - she used to dread going down to do laundry - now, she has no excuse!

I used a Panasonic Whisperline in-line blower. Biggest problem is that it needs a timer switch, it's not obvious when it's running so it gets left on all the time. Venting out the soffits is a Bad Idea. The warm moist air will flow up the adjacent soffit vents and create a mold farm in your attic (been there, done that). Vent it through an end wall if you can, otherwise through the roof. Use insulated, smooth wall, rigid piping, not the flex junk.

I'm calling it a "steam shower" because we are going to have it totally enclosed rather than open at the top. But we are not installing a steam generator. I want to capture steam, but I don't like the steam pumping into the shower. I tried one and didn't like it, but I liked the steam building up in there when the generator was turned off. So we are going to have it built like a steam shower, with the sloped and tiled ceiling and the transom window and vent near that. On the vapor/waterproofing, I can't remember the names of the products right now. I've read all of the threads I can find on vapor barriers and waterproofing. I still need to follow up with tiler on which products he likes to use. He built my neighbor's shower and I watched him put a black sheet-type material on the studs, then the cement board, then the mesh tape and redguard, then the tile. After I talk to him again, I'll probably have some questions and I'll post them.

Whether round or square, unobtrusive is what you want. Generally, you're not looking at your ceiling so something that fades into the background is preferable to a "design statement". More important is function. You want a fan that is properly sized (in terms of air changes per hour) for the room. When I did mine, I also paid a lot of attention to how noisy the fan was going to be. Anything over 2 sones is way too noisy for me. But because I was a new homeowner I allowed my HVAC guy to convince me that 2.2 sones would be fine. It isn't. Oh, and like everyone else has said and for the same reasons, separate fan and light.