Steam shower ventilation

What are you cooking?

Showers are liquid. steam = gas aboce 100 C at standard pressure, cooks things?

So please clarify

Oh you silly goose. Oh my god I'm so sure. This is a steam shower for people to use in there bathroom shower room. It's a steam room and shower. I was told not to have a vent in the shower room because when using the steam it will cause problems. However, if I could seal the vent or have a 100% closing grill, I could use the vent after I take a shower or a steam to help dry out the room. Steam rooms are closed up with glass panels and I want to help dry it out to prevent mold problems etc. Has anybody heard of a 100% closing grill? The opening is 6" round in the ceiling. Typical vent grilles, even the ones that close, don't really close 100%. I'm looking for a air tight grill.

steam rooms are not fully sealed, they have some counter current air exchangers in them that save heat and vent moisture. Once finished and cooling down, leave the door open and their residual heat will help dry them. If not active venting is needed.

Yes you are right. However the bulk of my use will be showering with water quikly. I don,t think the surfaces with be warm enough to burn off the water droplets.

I just found a iris damper at fantech, I don't know if it seals 100%, I e-mailed them to find out. Also the ceiling is almost 8' tall, this device would need to be automatic or remotely operated.

Goto hardware store, buy some PVC pipe with the inspection threads on the end, and a Endcap, the end caps come with a rubber seal

then you just screw and unscrew the cap as needed, you'll possibly get a better seal than the door you walk in and out of to use that room, possibly also the cheapest too.

I have seen ductwork anti-backflow valves which have a foam rubber seal, when they close, they close well. Probably not 100% but well. You might research heating, ventilation and airconditioning hardware and material for this application.

A cheap and almost 100% seal is the venerable dryer vent! About $6 at most walmarts or home depot , lowes, supply stores. Its plastic so it doesn't rust, and it can handle very humid (wet) air. Just cut a hole ( think its about 4" diam) in the wall to outside) and bawhalla you are done and its remote actived by the pressure of the air you will push through it.

IF you don't have your own fan, use the standard bathroom vent fan with the self closing / self opening dryer vent described above with some 4" pipe to connect them together. Again easy but for this you will need a 110 volt ac supply of electrity for the fan. The best part is you can connect the fan to a wall switch that only comes on when you switch it from the wall, OR you can connect to a motion switch so that it only comes on when there is motion, OR you could conceiveably connect it to some type of moisture (humidity sensing device) which would make it completely autonomous (assuming you don't mind it being on when the user is using the shower, Or sometimes best is the good ol TIMER switch located on the wall. WHen you are done you simply set time for perhaps 10 minutes and it self turns off.

This sounds like a steam generator used in residential applications. It does indeed need an exhaust fan within the enclosure. Remember that this fan must be on a GFCI protected circuit. In applications I have witnessed the fan was a typical bathroom exhaust fan. Be aware that the elements will play heavily on the longevity of this fan, hence the GFCI requirement.

Not sure that it needs to be 100% sealed. There should be a back draft damper built into the fan. IF it is one of the less expensive fans you may need to weight the damper to keep it from flapping when the fan is shut off. You won't have a 100% seal however there should not be a lot of air transfer in the room. If you want to go high-tech you could install a motorized damper in the exhaust duct, the better quality/more expensive motorized dampers have rubber seals on the blades and are close to a 100% seal. They are available in either line voltage, or 24 V AC models however cycle time is quite long about one minute for full stroke.

Wow this is a great blog site.

I am using a energy recovery ventilator (ERV) and wall timer made by RENEWAIRE to vent the shower space, and a vent box with a damper from FANTECH, it is just a metal damper, seems to close nice, but I don,t know if it's a 100%. I would'nt use the vent till after the shower. Would the steam from the steamer push its way into the metal 6" galvanized pipe and condensate while using the steam shower? The pipe and ERV is above the bathroom space and is a heated space, however if the steam is pushing into the pipe it will reach a point were the pipe will be an outside temperature as it goes through the ERV and to the roof vent. I just don't want any dripping. Or maybe the crack for the door will be enough to relieve the pushing and pulling effect of the temperature changes. These steam room glass doors and panels look buttoned up pretty good.

Thanks for the help.

Another thought could be louver windows with "weather strip" to seal the windows in the closed position, or a sliding window, this would also allow natural light in during the day, and if the windows are frosted, you'll stop outside "viewing" while the room is in use..

If you use a sliding window, you could have a "double pane" window to minimise the temperature/sound transmission while closed.

It is not a submarine or a plane to ask for 100% tightness

It is not necessary to be 100% tight- no reason for that

Don't you think that the door is not 100% tight

But you have to be careful in selecting the fan unless you start ventilating the shower space when it cools down

you guys should check these out... affordable steam shower enclosure with speakers built in and color changing lights?

http://www.steamshowers.net/Ariel-Platinum-DZ972F8-Steam-Shower-p/ariel_platinum_dz972f8_shower.htm