Bathrooms need exhaust fans to help eliminate moisture problems. When people take showers and baths, moisture gets pumped in to the air, which can cause mold, mildew, dampness and humidity.
If you live in a house without an exhaust fan in a bathroom that gets used for showers or baths often, install one.
If you’re going to install a fan, here are a few tips to make sure your fan works properly for your home.
- Choose a quality fan. You’ll want to balance noise level, performance, and price and there are many fans to choose from. If you buy a cheap noisy fan, you probably won’t even want to turn it on.
- Make the exhaust duct short. A proper exhaust duct will need be as short as possible and take as few turns as possible. The longer the duct and the more twists and turns it takes, the less air flow.
Don’t use a standard switch to control the fan. When a single switch controls the fan, people turn the fan on while in the shower or maybe after the shower, and turn the fan off when leaving the room. The problem is that the fan doesn’t run long enough to remove enough moisture. Installing a timer that runs for at least a half hour, or installing a humidity sensing fan would be a better solution.