Bathroom exhaust fan question

arbfln

I am remodeling a bathroom and am changing out the exhaust fan. When I removed the old fan, I found that it was vented into the attic. Is this a normal way to install an exhaust fan??

hvac dude

hi not really....it should be vented to the outside with insulated pipe when going thru the attic. if you cannot vent thru the roof you can vent it to the soffit and using a proper vent cover on the soffit . it should never just vent into an attic the moisture from the bathroom showers ect may cause moulding issues and wood rot is also possiable

Ed911

Definitely to the outside. We had a serious mold problem in a hallway closet and wondered why. It turns out that the house had settled and the top of the wall in the closet had separated from the ceiling. The door to the closet happens to be in the same area as the HVAC return...and...the hallway bathroom exhaust fan vented into the attic in the direction of the hallway closet.

So, near as I can figure...the moisture from the exhaust fan, after baths, was pulled into the closet by the HVAC return...and created a moist, mold loving environment.

Fixed and gone...

Ed

arbfln

I wish I would have known about the fans (two bathrooms) being vented into the attic years ago as we have lived here for 14 years. I would have corrected it then. No visible damage, so I think I'm OK. Thanks for the responses. This is a very helpful forum!!