Bathroom Fans

Bathroom Fans

Bathroom Moisture Solutions

Overview:

Moisture is a bathrooms biggest enemy. Hot air and moisture must be vented out of the house to prevent paint peeling, doors warping and the risk of mold collection in the corners and on the walls. The solution to removing moisture and excess heat from the bathroom is to install a bathroom fans, a ventilation fan, or exhaust fan to vent the moisture to the outside.

Most modern homes have a bathroom fan installed because they are required by building code but older homes may not. If the bathroom was an addition to the house the bathroom fan may have been omitted. There are a variety of sizes and style of bathroom fans. Picking the right one for your home is not necessarily easy.

When selecting a vent bathroom vent fan there are a couple of things to consider. First, should the fan be powered simply by an on / off switch or would you prefer a timer instead of a switch. If there are children or young adults in the house you may want a timer rather than a switch to insure that the vent fan is turned off at some point before all the heat in the house is vented to the outside.

Most vent fans are very quiet running and can be easily forgotten to be shut off. Second, do you want a light in the vent fixture in addition to a heating element. If the fixture has a heating element it is known as a bathroom heater fan that incorporates a light, fan and heater. If you live an area that has frosty mornings but you don’t want to run the heat in the house, having a heating element or heat lamp in the vent fixture may be a good idea. They are required to be on timers to prevent overheating and are quite safe.

The size of the vent fan depends on the size of the bathroom. To determine your size and minimum air flow to vent the bathroom is a simple mathematical exercise.

First find the volume of the bathroom. Volume = length x width x height

Find the CFM (cubic feet per minute). Volume / 7.5

This CFM is the minimum airflow required to achieve 8 air exchanges per hour.

Example: Volume = 10 x 6 x 8 = 480

CFM = 480/7.5 = 64
In this example you would only purchase a fan that has a CFM listed on the box greater than 64.

Bathroom vent fan fixtures that do not contain heating elements are normally wired on a # 14 wire circuit using a 15 amp breaker. However, if the fixture contains a heating element or heat lamp it should be wired on a # 12 wire circuit using a 20 amp breaker in accordance with standard building code requirements.

Related articles:

Bathroom Remodeling

Bathroom Safety

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