IXLTastic:any thoughts?

[arimar]

Our Builder has listed IXLTastics as fittings in our bathroom and ensuite. Not having lived with them was wondering what the pros/cons were of these products. How do the lights compare to downlights? Do they suit a contemporary design etc....Any thoughts here would be most appreciated. Thankyou,

M

[bitingmidge]

The light is fine, but you'll need another source over the mirror.

The heater's fine too.

The only thing I hate about them is discharging all that moist air straight into the ceiling space, it's asking for trouble. In our current house I finally relented and did just that, but for a few dollars, it's far better to get a bit of flexible ducting and exhaust out through the soffit.

Cheers,

P

[Iain]

We have a 4 heater tastic clone that comes with a vent hose and a valve that closes when the fan is off, four switches operate fan, light and heaters in banks of two.
Had a look and it has no name but a wander around the retailers will surely find them.
We ducted ours into the hotwater overflow in the old dead gravity feed hot water service that still resides in the roof, the sparky said he didn't think it was neccessary as most just vent into the roof cavity and don't cause any problems.

[Damon_11]

Howdy Folks,

I bought 2 of them at Kmart for $80 each (when on special) for our bathroom renos in main and ensuite 2 x heat and 1 x light with fan. Does a ripper job, but noisy because the fan is quite powerful. i must say that I don't have a problem with fogged mirrors of moisture though, much better than the standard 10inch fans.

Don't bother with alternate branded 3 in 1's they are rubbish - my neighbour bought one and regrets it...

Cheers

Damon

[Pat]

I placed a whirlybird directly ablove the fan. So it extractes the warm moist air out of the roof space.

[demuire]

I've installed one of these in each of my two bathrooms too (kmart specials ), and they seem to work pretty well apart from the fans being a bit noisy. Mine are vented into the ceiling space, I haven't had any problems with them yet. I've been considering getting some whirly birds put into the ceiling space though, just in case.

I initially wanted to duct them out, but my bathrooms are a fair distance from the eaves and the roof is very shallow so I can't reach them from the attic, so I didn't know how to duct them...

Question: Bunnings sometimes advertises these flap things that are designed to go over a normal fan to prevent air from the attic coming back into the house, do these fit over these 3-in-1 units?

[David H]

Arimar
We bought a 3 in one - light/fan/heater last year when we renovated our ensuite and found the warrenty very good as one of the heater lights blew about 2 mths after instalation. I rang the number on the warrenty card and the lady who answered said no problems,(no if's or buts as to why it blew) you will get a replacement in the mail and 3 days later it turned up. Can't complain about service like that.
David

[arimar]

Thanks everyone for such great feedback. I had wondered about the extraction of moist air into the ceiling space. Will be definbately discussing with the builder. The ensuite is in the old part of the house witha pitched roof, but the new bathroom will be in the new with a flat roof. Will this be a problem doe s anyone know. Should we just install a flue anyway???Just to be safe. What are the alternatives to the IXL?

Thanks again, M

[demuire]

I would be guessing that whatever option you do choose, you would want some form of moisture extraction, so whether you go with a 3-in-1 like the IXL or a separate fan, you'll still have the issue of where the moist air has to go.

I think as long as the ceiling space is reasonably well ventilated (and this is purely my highly uneducated guess) it should be okay to vent it to that space - as long as where you live doesn't get too cold? My roof doesn't have any whirly birds but my attic space already seems quite drafty (a lot of air comes through the eaves), and I haven't seen any noticeable effects or problems above and around my extraction fans yet...

[TrevorOwen]

I think I can offer advice with some experience. I had one of the first IXL Tastic's ever made in my bathroom until last year when it was renovated. I replaced the unit with a new IXL Tastic only because the original model did not come with a central light, only four heat lamps and the fan of course. The unit worked perfectly even after all that time but I was changing lighting design and needed a unit incorporating a light. The fan on the new model is a little noisier than the old, I think because the motor is fitted with a fan having different profile blades. Having said that the fan noise is quite acceptable. My house has a tiled roof and because of the climate in Adelaide, venting into the roof space has not presented any problem. If venting was to be below a flat roof or even an iron roof then I would definately vent to atmosphere.

Regards from Adelaide
Trevor

[Yonnee]

We had an IXL Tastic in our previous home and it was the best thing we did, particularly as I'm a cold fish on those chilly winter mornings. I too put the "Whirly-birds" on the roof, but with just about every ceiling fan installed in Australia only venting into the roof cavity, I doubt that it would be much of a problem without them.
However...
...when we built our new place 2-1/2 years ago, we had some cheaper alternatives installed at time of building, and what a mistake that was. They are a Heller brand and instead of a normal bladed fan, the have a cylindrical barrel arrangement fan (best as I can describe it) with the vanes around the perimeter which, although are very quiet, do bugger-all to remove the steam.
I think I'll eventually replace them with IXL's unless I can figure a way of adding another fan above the existing units.


Yonnee.