Quick question....I created a 218 sq. ft. steam room. My question is, is what kind of exhaust fan do I need to exhaust excess steam/heat? I installed a Amerec Ak 10 (wire size 6-2 With Ground)
To ponder the question more specific...do I need just a normal exhaust bathroom fan that can handle changing the room air (x amount of times per hour) Or do I need a specific moisture sealed fan to exhaust the excess steam?
I'm not positive if a normal exhaust fan can exhaust the amount of steam that can be produced by this Steam Machine SAFELY!

Any help or suggestions would greatly appreciated.

Cheers!!

Daniel

I just bought a steam unit for my new house to be built, and the instruction manual made a point of running cold water in the steam shower before exiting, or turning on the exhaust fan in order to create condensation to drain away, rather than be exhausted out.

I plan on using a 100 cfm exhaust in the steam shower and another 50-100 cfm right outside the shower to make sure I get all of the moisture out. I'm also planning on making sure the exhaust pipe/hose has a "direct" route out to the roof, without a sagging to collect all of the moisture it will be carrying.

Don't know if that helps, but hope it does.

Would also like to know how you waterproofed your walls and particularly the ceiling under the tile. Email me if you would.
1briteboy@comcast.net

your entire shower area should be tiled over Kirdi mat made by Schluter Systems. This is a water proofing membrane that goes directly over the wall before the tile. All walls even the ceiling should be tiled. The exaust fan in the shower will work but how would you turn it on as the electical switch must be located three feet away from the door of the shower. This means that you let all the steam out once you open the door.
Run a good quality exaust fan in the bathroom to draw out steam from the room when it exits the shower door. Ideally a in line exhaust fan located within the attic that pulls the steam up and out of the room is much better then the steel fans located with motors in the ceiling itself. It has a higher draw and much less noise. Be sure to insulate the attic duct and fan unit so condensation does ont form inside of the duct before its vented outside.
Also why would you want to put a hole in your roof. Have the vent installed in the soffit area of the house so you do not risk leaks in the future.

At our local Y the exhaust fan is outside the room. The room itself is simply vented to the outside with a gravity vent. In winter it is shuttered to slow the venting of the room. The steam generator is on thermostat and keeps the room around 110 degrees

When you choose a exhaust fan for you steam room, first thing you should consider is a timer instead of a switch. The success of your fan relies on a two-fold approach. The Home Ventilating Institute recommends that your fan be capable of achieving 8 air changes per hour, with the exhaust of air continuing for 20 minutes after use of the bathroom. Using a timer will help you achieve the extra run time without having to remember to come back and turn it off. Plus with the new quiet fans available it isn't uncommon to forget to turn a bathroom fan off now because we don't have that load roar to remind us it is on. To achieve the air exchanges we need to correctly size the fan.