I am the first owner of a freehold townhouse that I purchased in Ontario. I am in the process of finishing my unfinished basement and was wondering:
- 1) Do I need a ventilation exhaust fan in my 2pc washroom?
- 2) Do I need a ventilation exhaust fan in my laundry room?
- 3) Or could I maybe put it in the hallway to meet the requirements of both rooms?
My house was built in October 2011 so it's not even 2 year old. It has an air exchanger, the basement is a walk-out basement. I do share my walls with a neighbour on both sides.
http://imgur.com/fnla65j (http://imgur.com/fnla65j)
(http://imgur.com/fnla65j)
You'll want at least a 50cfm exhaust fan in the 2 piece bathroom. I would run a 6" insulated duct and reduce it to 3" or 4" at the fan. It should be 4" if you buy an Energy Star exhaust fan.
Some builders put an exhaust fan in the laundry these days. Again a 50cfm exhaust fan should be all you need.
Insulated duct? Does the type shown in the link below work? I'm not so sure that this could be used for ventilation of a washroom. I may likely be wrong though.
http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchView?catalogId=10051&storeId=10051&langId=-15&N=0&Ntt=insulated+duct&Nty=1&D=insulated+duct&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&s=true (http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchView?catalogId=10051&storeId=10051&langId=-15&N=0&Ntt=insulated+duct&Nty=1&D=insulated+duct&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&s=true)
Also, is it required by the Ontario Building Code to put a ventilation fan in the laundry room? I have a fairly small basement and don't want to make my soffits any wider than I plan on. Plus I feel it'll be a lot of work to get a second vent plus duct work. I'm up for the task of installing the one fan since I can route it to the existing wall cap/louver that the builder installed. No existing duct work is connected to it as we speak. The second louver will require me to drill through the brick, etc.
It would be a way more energy efficient to install HRV exhaust from your bathroom and laundry.
That flexible insulated duct is what I would use. It will help eliminate noise and prevent condensation.