Bathroom ventilation with inline fan issues Help and information on all topics relating to your central heating, air conditioning and ventilation issues.

[Bikerman]

Previous owners installed an inline fan with two input vents and one output vent through the ceiling, roof and out through the soffit and I've got a couple of practical issues with it.
Firstly there's no airflow through anymore regardless of fan operation. I've cleaned the vents on the ceiling and removed all the fluff and hair, but the nature of the drilled hole in the soffit means it's impossible to clean that.
Secondly the current fan has no timer, so I've removed it and found the same brand and size with a timer.
I appreciate the current installation doesn't look like the most professional job and that wall fans are simpler, but am I wasting my time and energy trying to resolve this? I'm looking now at putting some kind of fluff filter in before the fan, replacing the fan and finding someone to vent the soffit properly.
Unfortunately the shower is nowhere near the outside wall as per pictures, but I can see why normally wall fans are preferred.
Thanks

[stoneyboy]

Hi bikerman
There should not be an issue with the ducting of the existing installation. The problem will definitely be with the exterior termination method. This needs to be a big hole with a grill over it. See if you can get a 150mm one fitted, it won't match the ducting without an adaptor.
When you replace the fan choose a centrifugal one, the extract rates are much better than an axial one.
Regards S

[Bikerman]

Thanks! I'll take a look at centrifugal fans, I'm tempted just to slot the same brand fan (with a timer) into the existing housing and put the clips back on to avoid having to drill holes and such though.
While I'm at it I might consider replacing some of the ducting with insulated ducting too.