Insulated Duct For Bathroom Exhaust Fan

Solid metal vs flex duct for kitchen and bath vent fans.

Insulated duct for bathroom exhaust fan.

The duct runs in my attic above the bathroom ceiling two story home. You can also run the fan longer at least 10 to 15 minutes after showering is a good baseline so the ice melts or doesn t freeze in the first place. This is much easier to do if you have attic access because if you don t you usually have to remove some ceiling drywall and run the ducts along a joist. Otherwise the warm moist air will condense inside the duct.

I recently installed a bathroom exhaust fan. This is non usable space and it is well ventilated with ridge and soffit ventilation so it does get cold in the winter. Bathroom vent fan ductwork insulation insulate the bathroom exhaust vent fan ducts. The common solutions to this ice problem are to use a higher powered fan use a larger diameter shorter duct run and wrap the pipe with better duct insulation.

The building code requires a bathroom exhaust fan to vent outside the building so installation of a new bathroom fan necessarily involves installation of ductwork. The master flow 4 in. In un conditioned space such as an attic where otherwise your fan duct will be exposed to cold attic air in winter use insulated solid metal ducting or insulated flex duct. I used flexible 4 aluminum duct to the exhaust damper on the roof.

The duct has r6 insulation which contains 33 more insulation than the standard r4 2 product. The ducting of your exhaust fan should be properly insulated. For optimum venting use insulated 4 or larger metal ductwork rather than flexduct that may sag giving you areas that collect water and risk leaking into a ceiling below. Kitchen vent fans require metal ductwork for fire safety.

This additional insulation provides greater thermal efficiency to save energy.