Three days ago Jan noticed there was a dead fan in the ceiling of the smallest room in the house. I've already replaced it once, which means it's either the second or third fan since the house was constructed.
Do we replace it or leave the dead fan in-situ? The fan automatically starts when the light is turned on. We're getting old and the personal plumbing doesn't work like it used to. Probably better to replace the fan, thus ensuring the air in the room is also replaced!
Replacing it isn't very difficult. Remove the cover and loosen three screws before disconnecting the wiring. With the fan removed I could measure the diameter of the hole. An online search identified the cheapest fan of the same diameter.
After a trip to the local hardware store it was a 15 minute job to fit the new fan.
This is when the next problem was identified. The fan is immediately above the 'throne' and it's so darned powerful my hair stands on end when seated. I also have to keep my arms pointing downwards as it attempts to suck my shirt off. OK; I'm exaggerating! The problem is the fan is so powerful it's attempting to extract more air from the small room than is available. This is creating harmonics with the fan blades that results in some very loud rumbling. It's probably not good for the fan and will likely shorten its life.
I unlatch the door with the fan on and the suction immediately dragged it open two inches. Obviously we need to get more air to enter the room. Looking around the "stuff that might be useful one day" I found some timber offcuts which I ran through the bench saw and thicknesser to make a louvre vent for the door.
Don't tell Jan; but it's going to be her Christmas present!
Using the jigsaw I cut the required size hole in the lower portion of the door. Whilst doing this I noticed the interior hollow core door was constructed of outer sheets of oil board with the packing being a lattice made of cardboard.
The door would have been manufactured in the early 80's which means I'm really showing my age as all the doors I had worked on prior to this used thick timber shavings as internal packing and structural support.
The louvre was glued into the door and I hung it three hours later.
The rumble from the fan has disappeared and my hair no longer stands on end
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