Bathroom fan ducted to loft air brick

Numatic

Hi all,

I have done a few searches, but have yet to come up with a definitive answer.

I recently had my house rewired.
I also had an extractor fan put in the bathroom ceiling which is ducted to the loft.
From there the ducting runs to an air brick for ventilation.
The pipe is a few inches from the actual clay air brick.
The lad said this would be fine.

So, I'm wondering if this is ok.?
There are two clay air bricks in the loft.
Is it OK to have pipe sitting in front of the air brick/vent and is it adequate ventilation?
Or should it be drilled through the wall and attached with a proper outlet?

Thanks in advance.

I'll try and attach a photo.

Numatic

Here's a photo of how the pipe is positioned a couple of inches from the clay vent in the loft.


izzmageupload.co.uk/images/2018/06/30/IMG_20180625_1515002.jpg

JuzaMum

Can't open the link
Doesn't sound OK to me. The moisture laden air won't obligingly jump a gap!

Ectophile

http://imageupload.co.uk/images/2018/06/30/IMG_20180625_1515002.jpg


The pipe should be going out properly through a hole in the wall. You don't want your loft filling with damp air, as that can cause condensation problems.

Lorian

Notwithstanding the issue of it not exiting properly

1) moisture will condense in the pipe and run down to fan, eventually destroying it

2) Flexy ducting should really be tighter than that, otherwise it causes a lot of flow resistance.

3) The ducting should be under the insulation to ensure the hot moist air is ejected before it can condense. Not that I can see any insulation.....?

Carrot007

Numatic wrote: »

I also had an extractor fan put in the bathroom ceiling which is ducted to the loft.
From there the ducting runs to an air brick for ventilation.
The pipe is a few inches from the actual clay air brick.
The lad said this would be fine.

Or in other words. Sorry mate I'm only a single person I'm not going up a ladder to drill a massive hole in the wall to do it properly, it's dangerous you know!

Carrot007

Lorian wrote: »

2) Flexy ducting should really be tighter than that, otherwise it causes a lot of flow resistance.

Indeed, current property when I moved in had a bodged bathroom. Ceiling fan and ridiculous ammounts of flexi pipe just sitting in the loft.


Has about 5 litres of water sitting in it! (went up then down then up).


Oddly enough though a proper exit which they also must have fitted! So who knows why certain parts were so bad (there was a lot more I could mention!), I guess they were just idiots with occasional good advice!


Much better now with inline fan and nice tight flexi ducting.

Numatic

Thanks all,

I did try linking the photo but don't have enough post counts. Thanks for the poster for supplying the link.

Well, the lads did a good job with the rewiring, that I can say.
I trusted their word with the extractor fan.
That's a shame because I must had a feeling that although pointed towards a vent still some air would surely escape.
I'll call them back and see what they say.

It is a concern as I will be renting the property and won't be able to keep an eye on it myself.

So, I need to ask for what exactly?
Proper fitting of outlet and shorter duct?
And insulation around the duct?

Thanks again.

Furts

Lorian wrote: »

Notwithstanding the issue of it not exiting properly

1) moisture will condense in the pipe and run down to fan, eventually destroying it

2) Flexy ducting should really be tighter than that, otherwise it causes a lot of flow resistance.

3) The ducting should be under the insulation to ensure the hot moist air is ejected before it can condense. Not that I can see any insulation.....?

My thoughts and I second this. A side issue is this - there is no insulation visible in the loft. Why?


What needs doing apart from hitting the cowboy with a stick? The simple answer is to drill through the wall like a competent electrician always does. Then correctly fit the extract grill to the wall and fit flexi duct to the extract. It should all be sealed around too - but there should be fitting instructions supplied. I believe the common flap types are rubbish but the flap valve hooded extract far superior.


The in line fan should be higher than the ducting base, and the ducting should all be fairly taught and insulated.


Bear in mind at some stage the fan will burn out and need replacing so the location should be accessible. Also bear in mind that cheap fans can burn out within six months. So if you have allowed cowboy to fit unbranded Chinese dross then you might want to re think this.

Numatic

Furts, thanks.
There is some insulation down but hasnt been changed/upgraded since the 60's.

This is all new to me bit an eye opener once I started searching.
There's plenty of kits on the web and of makes me wonder what kind of hobs are done when installing them.
It really looks like there can be plenty of cut corners unfortunately.
I also wonder how many have added insulation around the duct?

Like I said, the lads did a good job chasing and rewiring and were generally clean and careful.
The fan was one of the last jobs and looks like it was rushed or done for convenience.

Furts

Numatic wrote: »

Furts, thanks.
There is some insulation down but hasnt been changed/upgraded since the 60's.

This is all new to me bit an eye opener once I started searching.
There's plenty of kits on the web and of makes me wonder what kind of hobs are done when installing them.
It really looks like there can be plenty of cut corners unfortunately.
I also wonder how many have added insulation around the duct?

Like I said, the lads did a good job chasing and rewiring and were generally clean and careful.
The fan was one of the last jobs and looks like it was rushed or done for convenience.

Maybe a good job was done but be frank here. Just because the fan was the last job, did the electricians say " Hey Mr Client we have rushed that job and cut corners. Indeed we are taking the p-ss here". I doubt they did so why is being the last job an excuse to cut corners? The opposite is the case. If corners have been cut coupled with blatant bodgery then what happened on the earlier jobs? No competent tradesman cuts corners on the last job because that is the first one that will be checked before payment is offered - that is just common sense, or a statement of the bleedin obvious!