We just complete a bathroopm renovation with a steam shower. The problem is the ceiling fan drips water after the shower door is opened. We changed out the 90cfm Braun fan for a inline Fantech unit with 6″ insulated ductwork and wall jack thinking the extra CFM and duct size would fix the problem with the same results. The ceiling height is 11ft. and the vent is about 10 Ft. from the shower door. Space constraints and a sloped ceiling prevent moving the 6″ intake any closer. Water is condensing in the fan housing making a neat paddle boat effect, but not what customer wants. Any ideas on a fix?
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Replies
A place to start maybe.......
Is there adequate air inlet to this room and exhaust fan? If not, you're not likely moving much air at all.
Is the exhaust ductwork insulated as it passes thru the cold air space?
Tried leaving the bathroom door open and had the same results. All of the duct work is 6" insulated from the ceiling to the wall jack.
It's possible that the fan housing and duct are cold enough to allow the steam to condense and by the time the steam reaches the fan it is almost at it's condensing temp.. You should talk to the steam generator people. Years ago I designed a house with a steam mist generator and I believe they wanted an exhaust fan in the shower
thanks for the replys. The tech staff at Fantech are busy when I called. I'll try them again today. The Steam Mist company will be the next company to leave me on hold.....I hope to fix this problem and get that elusive final payment.
The last plase I would look( because I could see this hapening to me) is to see if the fan itself is well insulated from the cold air. Just a thought because I know I have found them that way in some houses. I have put a small dip before the vent at times if space allows to that there is less chance of runback down the duct into the fan housing. This might not apply in your case however.
Scott T.
I've seen something like this when I was caled in to change a system.
The original installer had the fan in place and the ductwork going up to a vent on the outside.
Remembering an old TV how-to project, we changed the plastic drier-vent type stuff to metal corregated (insulation not needed here in this installation) and changed the angle so that the majority of the run was downhill to a new vent.
All the moisture went up to where the pipe changed direction, then as the steam condensed, it ran downhill.
Quality repairs for your home.
Aaron the Handyman
Vancouver, Canada