I picked up one of those cheap humidity meters after our bathroom started smelling musty—turns out the fan was just making noise, not actually moving air. Ended up swapping it for a better one and running it longer after showers. Not glamorous, but way cheaper than fixing mold later.
That’s a smart move checking the humidity and not just trusting the fan noise. I’ve been burned by that myself—our old fan sounded like a jet engine but barely moved any air. I’d say, for anyone in a similar boat, check the vent outside too. Ours was blocked with lint and dust, so even a good fan wasn’t helping. Not the most exciting home project, but I’d rather spend $30 on a meter and a couple hours swapping a fan than thousands on mold remediation. Sometimes the “boring” fixes are the ones that actually save you.
Sometimes the “boring” fixes are the ones that actually save you.
Couldn’t agree more, but here’s where I get stuck: even with all the right fans and meters, if the builder didn’t run the ducting properly (like too many bends or cheap flex pipe), you’re still fighting an uphill battle. Has anyone actually checked the duct runs in their attic before? I’ve seen some wild shortcuts up there...
if the builder didn’t run the ducting properly (like too many bends or cheap flex pipe), you’re still fighting an uphill battle.
You nailed it—doesn’t matter how fancy your fan is if the air’s playing a game of Chutes and Ladders up there. I’ve crawled through more attics than I care to admit, and it’s wild what you find. Once saw a dryer vent looped around like a rollercoaster… zero chance that thing was moving any air. Ever try following a flex duct in blown insulation? It’s like a bad scavenger hunt. Curious if anyone’s ever found ducts just… ending nowhere? Seen that twice now, believe it or not.
I’ve actually found a duct just dangling in the attic, not even hooked up to anything—like it was hoping to air out the insulation or something. Drives me nuts, honestly. You pay for all this “energy efficiency” and then half the air is just getting dumped into the attic. I get trying to save a buck, but cutting corners on ductwork is just asking for headaches down the road. Sometimes I wonder if builders think we’ll never poke our heads up there...