Heating the house. Some things overlooked.

[SlugSlinger]

We had a similar problem in one of our bathrooms. When I would do my business in this bathroom, I would feel a cold breeze coming from the vent side of the vent/heater/light fixture. I did a little research on how the ductwork should be plumb and found that I could add a valve to the duct, simile to this:

This is upside down as it should be installed.

I decided to investigate and it was tough because I couldn’t easily access the area above this bathroom.

So I decided to remove the fixture and go that direction. When I did, I found that a one way valve was attached to the vent outlet on the fan. However, some jackwagon installed it upside down where it would remain open all the time. I turned it over and reinstalled the fixture, and no more draft.

The way that valve works is gravity will keep it closed because the disc is offset, but when the fan starts, the valve opens.

We have vents in our bathrooms that have light plus heat. They let in a bunch off cold air as they vent in the attic. I cover them with the sticky type plastic wrap used in the kitchen to seal food. This stops a great deal of cold air from entering the bathrooms when it's cold outside and in the attic.

Been burning a bunch of firewood the past couple days which keeps the house at about 74 degrees without the electric heat pump kicking on.

Also covered the north windows in the master bedroom with plastic sheeting on the inside of the windows. Those windows get very cold when the wind is out of the north. Makes a great deal of difference on the temperature in the master bedroom.

Lots of great ideas on this forum for conserving energy and keeping one's house warm and economical.

 

[Forgalspop]

We had a similar problem in one of our bathrooms. When I would do my business in this bathroom, I would feel a cold breeze coming from the vent side of the vent/heater/light fixture. I did a little research on how the ductwork should be plumb and found that I could add a valve to the duct, simile to this:

This is upside down as it should be installed.
View attachment 250377


I decided to investigate and it was tough because I couldn’t easily access the area above this bathroom.

So I decided to remove the fixture and go that direction. When I did, I found that a one way valve was attached to the vent outlet on the fan. However, some jackwagon installed it upside down where it would remain open all the time. I turned it over and reinstalled the fixture, and no more draft.

The way that valve works is gravity will keep it closed because the disc is offset, but when the fan starts, the valve opens.

Note to self : Add to my todo list for spring projects. Add one-way valves to bathroom vents!

 

[swampratt]

Yes sirs those flaps will help shut off the cold air from the fart sucker when properly working.
All mine are working perfectly.
My neighbor needed me to replace his suckers and one was covered in insulation that was blown in back in 1976 when his house was built.
Never did work.
He said that bathroom always fogged up really bad when taking a shower and now it stays un fogged.
Amazing how well those work when they are put together properly.

 

[John6185]

I had a home built and told the builder to vent the bathroom exhausts via a hose to an outside vent and he'd never heard of that. I had to splain to him that if it isn't vented the moisture ends up in the attic and creates mold etc. And the electrician couldn't figure out why I wanted a on/off switch on the ceiling beside the drop down ladder. I'm giving serious thought to having some company come out and inject foam insulation behind the outside walls, you sure can feel the cold air creep in at night.

 

[Chief Sapulpa]

I had a home built and told the builder to vent the bathroom exhausts via a hose to an outside vent and he'd never heard of that. I had to splain to him that if it isn't vented the moisture ends up in the attic and creates mold etc. And the electrician couldn't figure out why I wanted a on/off switch on the ceiling beside the drop down ladder. I'm giving serious thought to having some company come out and inject foam insulation behind the outside walls, you sure can feel the cold air creep in at night.

The builder must have been Greg Simmons...

 

[Snattlerake]

Back at the farm, the dryer and washing machine were in the basement. After we moved them to the porch, we had this heat deflector installed inline. It kept the porch warm in the Winter and we could flip the flap and make it a straight through for the summer months.

Since this is a controllable manual flap, it works both ways. It won't allow cold in during Winter when it is set for heating the porch.

 

[Chief Sapulpa]

Back at the farm, the dryer and washing machine were in the basement. After we moved them to the porch, we had this heat deflector installed inline. It kept the porch warm in the Winter and we could flip the flap and make it a straight through for the summer months.

Since this is a controllable manual flap, it works both ways. It won't allow cold in during Winter when it is set for heating the porch.
View attachment 250392

The drawback to this kind of device is that it dumps moist hot air into an enclosed room and will rust any steel items.

 

[MR.T.]

Its not THAT moist of air. It disperses quickly.
Not even as bad than what you get when you take a hot shower.
You won't get a flash rusting of anything any quicker than if it normally sat in the garage or back porch.

 

[Oklahomabassin]

Some of you are solving life's problems while sitting on the shtter.

 

[Fredkrueger100]

I've done the same thing with my clothes dryer this year.
However, I got an extra length of hose & a bucket. I drilled a bunch a holes in the lid & have the hose running into the bucket. Some water in the bucket catches the lent & keeps it from blowing into the room.

It certainly helps bring a little warmth & humidity into my lower room of the house which has no HVAC vents.

Mine used to be ran this way but my vents into the garage. I removed the bucket and just connected the vent hood where it blows out into the garage without a bucket. Works really well for heating the garage when it’s cold. There is a little lint that gets into the garage but not bad. As long as the filter is clean it doesn’t allow much out. My mom and dad had the bucket in their laundry room for years. And they custom built their home! But a few years ago they had it ran up into the attic. I told my dad not to do it as it would cause clogs. He didn’t listen and now it gets clogged alot. Lol.