Bathroom Exhaust Fan - Does Your Bathroom Need Extra Ventilation?

Most modern houses are designed to includeambient light. It is then set by a timer to continue
adequate ventilation. You may notice the importancerunning for a few minutes after the shower is turned
of this during the winter when windows are oftenoff. This can be set on installation and changed if the
kept shut and the house is heated. The hot air risesair is not being removed effectively. New
and when it condenses will turn to moisture. Thismodifications on this include using a humidity sensor
allows mold and bacteria to breed and can soak intothat keeps the fan running until the moisture reaches
the foundations of the building. The mold and mildewa certain level. This is probably more efficient, in
is a potential hazard for the inhabitants of the houseterms of electricity usage, than the standard timer
and the damp is a potential hazard for the houseset up.
itself. Thus it is important that ventilation allows theThe industry standard for a bathroom ventilation fan
air to circulate and hot air to be released.is that it should be able to remove eight times the
This is certainly no more true than in the bathroomvolume of air in the room every hour. This means
and the kitchen. The bathroom is constantly beingyou have to work out the volume of air that is
used and this generally means using hot water for acontained in your bathroom before buying a fan. This
shower, bath or shave. This causes hot vapor orcan be done by getting the dimensions of the room
steam that will rise to the ceiling. When the(width x length). Bathroom exhaust fans are rated by
temperature drops in the bathroom, this steam willcubic foot per minute. Depending on the size of the
condense and leave moisture. This is a potentialbathroom, you may also have to take into account
health hazard and again is not good for the long termthe number of fixtures, like shower, bath, tub, sink
maintenance of the room itself. Thus modernand toilet in the room.
bathrooms, especially those with showers come withAnother consideration of ventilation, especially during
a bathroom exhaust fan. This article will discussthe summer months or during the day, is that you
ventilating the bathroom and some things to considercan simply open a window for ventilation. This will
in the ventilation fan.decrease the length of time the fan has to run for or
A bathroom ventilation fan removes moist air fromyou can switch it off for the summer. It is important
the room before it can condense and leave moistureto get the right fan for the size of room as it can
on the walls and ceiling. It can also remove smellsmake a rather annoying noise. If the fan is too big or
from the room. The fan is normally set to activateroom too small (or both) you might find that it
whenever the shower is turned on or even themakes your experience in the bathroom unsatisfying.