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Bathroom vent out the side of the house? (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 months ago by Fosheze@lemmy.world to c/homeimprovement@lemmy.world

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So I'm planning out a bathroom remodel and part of that is replacing the vent fan because currently mine is just venting into my attic (no bueno). I know normally bathrooms are vented out through the roof but my bathroom is on an exterior wall so I was wondering if I could just vent it out the side of the house. I'm going to be ripping open that wall anyways and I would much rather cut a hole in the side of the house than run a vent pipe up through the roof.

Also I'm in Minnesota if climate is a concern.

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[–] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 0 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I think you'll have a tough time insulating such a vent so that your bathroom doesn't end up cold to make up for your attic being less stinky. I don't see a vent cover that is openable by air pressure being heavy enough to keep the cold from getting in when the fan isn't on. Though it might help to make the vent push the air downwards so that the cold air would have to creep upwards to get into the bathroom.

I am out of my element for this, however, so this is more advice to look into this angle rather than advising to not do it.

[–] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It's not about the smell, its venting moist air into the attic which causes it to get trapped and promote mold growth like with a sweaty gym sock. The people who built my house just used string to point the vent pipes toward the standard screened roof vents and even that has been an issue. They should ideally be exhausted through the roof with purpose built vents. Even exhausting through the wall or soffit can be an issue as air gets sucked in through the soffit which can pull that hot air with it.

[–] Fosheze@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

Yup. With the vermiculite insulation in my attic and the moisture from that vent, I practically have an ideal mold farm up there right now. I need to fix that vent before it gets too much worse.

[–] IMALlama@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

Most fans have a back draft flap built into them, do it shouldn't be an issue.