Leaking bathroom exhaust fan

[monstermoose78]

How can I fix this? My wife decided this winter we needed to get a bigger humidifier and she will not turn the darn thing off. I turn it off when she leaves for work because the windows are now wet as well. I know it very cold out and this just happened this morning. I am thinking its a combo of humidity and cold. I turned up the heat and unplugged the humidifier. Also I am in a town home so doing anything with the roof is out of the question, but I do not want a mold issue because of this.

[reddog]

Not clear what your problem is,sorry. Is there dripping water out of your bath fan? If so, the duct is uninsulated and you are getting condensation inside the duct. Either insulate the duct in the attic, or warm the duct by running the fan. Since your wife insists on excessive humidity, you've probably got other problems going on in the attic, exterior walls and basement.

[monstermoose78]

the water is dripping out of the bathroom fan. I am turned the heat up a little and turned the fan on in the bathroom to try and warm it up. She bought this humidifier when it got cold last week so I am hoping she did not ruin the house. Any other tips how to dry the house out.

[CAMAN]

+1

Also check to make sure the vent line is straight with no dips that can collect water.

[leech~~]

the water is dripping out of the bathroom fan. I am turned the heat up a little and turned the fan on in the bathroom to try and warm it up. She bought this humidifier when it got cold last week so I am hoping she did not ruin the house. Any other tips how to dry the house out.

Make sure the outside "flipper" is opening on your vent so it is venting the humidity out or you are just sucking it into the vent pipe and it's building up and can't go anywhere.

[monstermoose78]

Thanks guys!

[leechlake]

good thing is that in one week nothing was ruined. You should pick up a hygrometer aka a device that measure the humidity % in your house.

Decide whether the humidity levels are appropriate or not. This really depends on the season, the outside climate and the time of year. The recommended relative humidity for an outside temperature of 20 degrees Fahrenheit or higher is between 35 percent and 40 percent. If the outside temperature is 0 degrees Fahrenheit, the ideal relative humidity would be lower, around 25 percent. (taken from ehow)

In our house we generally run at 35%. We have a furnace connected humidifier and an air exchanger so it's pretty easy to maintain. In your case you should actually turn on any bathroom fans that you have if the house is too "wet".

When it is this cold out moisture on the bottom of windows is common. If this repeats the water ends up running down onto the wood and then you can have issues down the road. Print out some information from the internet showing your wife what % level house should be at and why. You don't want to live in a rainforest or the desert for your sake and the sake of the woodwork and the rest of the house.

[monstermoose78]

Thanks I got both bathroom fans going and the dehumidifier going now as well. I turned the heat to 75. the weather service says its -18 at this time. Thanks for the extra tips leechlake

[Tom7227]

Turning up the heat will only result in your house getting hotter, not faster. The advice about getting a hygrometer and setting the humidifier control as the weather changes is spot on. If the windows have a lot of frost on them you either have leaky windows or there is too much moisture in the air. You can buy a combo temp/humidity gauge for 15 or less just about anyplace.

There is a good chance that the problem with the vent fan is that the pipe isn't properly insulated in the attic. The moisture condenses before it can get out the top and collects in the pipe, eventually dripping down. If you have access to that area you can easily see if there is insulation on the pipe/duct work. If not at least get some 3 inch glass and wrap it. They also sell insulated flexible ducting that you can put up. Cramped and cold but worth the effort.

[monstermoose78]

it is wrapped. I think the moister in the house was to high I went and bought thing to measure the humidity and is at 65% now it was higher before.

But it did stop dripping so thank you all so much for the help!!

[reddog]

65% is way too high for this time of the year... Id take a peak in the attic looking for frost buildup..

The best windows in the world may frost under those conditions.

If the house is extremely dry, without humidification, look for some kind of large scale air leakage, like an open chase in a fieplace chimney, or attic bypasses at the cieling line. These are usually any kind of soffit in the kitchen or baths, that have connectivity with the attic space.

[leechlake]

good point, I had water leaking onto windows one year and I looked in attic and it was all frosted/frozen up. There was so much snow that the roof vents were blocked. I would assume this year that that isn't an issue at least from snow.

[Tom7227]

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/11468916.html?refer=y

If outside temperature is 20 to 40 degrees, humidity indoors should not be more than 40 percent.

If outside temperature is 10 to 20 degrees, humidity indoors should not be more than 35 percent.

If outside temperature is 0 to 10 degrees, humidity indoors should not be more than 30 percent.

If outside temperature is 10-below to 0, humidity indoors should not be more than 25 percent.

If outside temperature is 20-below to 10-below, humidity indoors should not be more than 20 percent.

If outdoor temperature is lower than 20-below, inside humidity should not be more than 15 percent.

[SkunkedAgain]

Interesting thread. I just bought a new humidifier for my 1-year old's room, along with a digital thermometer/hygrometer. The booklet said that 40-60% humidity was the optimal zone, which seemed high. It's good to see the info above.

65% at this time of year is crazy. I don't think that we've climbed out of the 30% range these past two weeks. Then again, your town home is probably 50 years newer than mine, so better insulated.

The main thing that you need to fix is your wife. Help her understand where humidity should be and that while she might be keeping her clothes from being clingy, she's also introducing mold into the house! Buy her a couple boxes of dryer sheets and tell her to keep the humidifier off unless the levels are well below what they should be.

[Tom7227]

The main thing that you need to fix is your wife.

I am waiting to see the tips and suggestions on this one. Not sure it belongs in the home improvement forum, but what the heck, to at it boys.

[harvey lee]

I have an air exchanger and it is typically 25-32% humidity in the house on the setting I have it on.

They sure work nice to control the humidity.

[SkunkedAgain]

I am waiting to see the tips and suggestions on this one. Not sure it belongs in the home improvement forum, but what the heck, to at it boys.

The Spousal Improvement forum was eliminated long ago