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