Bathroom fans and venting

can anyone inlighten me on venting a bathroom fan into the attic, i have a realtor telling me that it’s OK to vent a bathroom fan into the attic and it doesn’t have to be vended outside.I wrote it up and said it should be vent outside,
any codes on this ?

I am not a code Inspector .
They do need to go to the out side … Roy

https://sites.google.com/a/etccreations.com/energy/hvac/bathventing

This might help:

From the IMC:

  • 501.2 Exhaust discharge. The air removed by every mechanical exhaust system shall be discharged outdoors at a point where it will not cause a nuisance and not less than the distances specified in Section 501.2.1. The air shall be discharged to a location from which it cannot again be readily drawn in by a ventilating system. Air shall not be exhausted into an attic or crawl space.
    • Exceptions:
        1. Whole-house ventilation-type attic fans shall be permitted to discharge into the attic space of dwelling units having private attics.
        1. Commercial cooking recirculating systems.

From the IRC:

  • M1501.1 Outdoor discharge. The air removed by every mechanical exhaust system shall be discharged to the outdoors. Air shall not be exhausted into an attic, soffit, ridge vent or crawl space.
    • Exception: Whole-house ventilation-type attic fans that discharge into the attic space of dwelling units having private attics shall be permitted.

This should help:

The air removed by every mechanical exhaust system shall be discharged outdoos at a point where it will not cause a nuisance and not less than the distance specified in Section 501.2.1.

You also have two exceptions in this section but they do not apply to your case.

This is from FBC 2007 Mechanical Chapter 5 Exhaust Systems Section 501.2 Exhaust discharge.

Home Inspections 101…

I think I see the problem. :wink:

When was the house built? Under what code?

The problem of bathrooms venting into the attic is not as great an issue here in Florida as it is in cold climates where it is common to find a vapor barrier between the conditioned and non-conditioned spaces.

BTW… I see this all the time in homes which are 25 years or older and have never seen any damage related to the issue.