Many homes have ventilation fans in bathrooms and other locations. It's not uncommon for a Home inspector to discover exhaust fan ducts and dryer vents not terminating where they should be. Many times the issue is not obvious to homeowners without some investigation.

This week's tip will help you to determine if your home's laundry and bathroom ventilation fans and ducts are properly installed.
What is the problem?
The purpose of bathroom vent fans are to move humid air out of the bathroom to assist drying the room after baths or showers and to prevent mold and mildew from accumulating. 
 
Sometimes fans and ducts terminate in attic or crawl spaces. This is a problem because these areas should stay dry to prevent mold and other moisture issues. 
Similarly, gas dryer vents should never terminate indoors as they are also venting gas combustion by-products, such as carbon monoxide.
 
Lint build-up can be a fire hazard and is a significant cause of home fires. The photo to the left was a gas dryer in a 2nd floor laundry room venting to the attic. The proper vent was never installed through the roof.
 
Electric dryers can be vented indoors, but will add additional heat and humidity to your home (which may be desirable in the winter). Be sure to cover the end of the exhaust duct with something (like a knee-high stocking) to collect the lint and clean it periodically to prevent it from clogging if you are venting an electric dryer indoors. There are also ventless dryer models available if venting from your laundry location is problematic.
What can you do?
The best way to ensure your bathroom vent fan or dryer exhaust vent is terminating properly is to follow the entire vent.
 
You may need to access your attic or crawl space for this. 
 
The photo to the left is a bathroom fan with no venting duct installed. Bathroom fan vents should always terminate outside of the home. Vent ducts should be as short as possible with as few bends as possible to work as intended.
 
See our prior tip on Dryer Venting for more information on best practices for dryer duct routing.
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