Having good ventilation throughout your property is a key tool for preventing damp, mould and a whole range of other issues in your home.
Did you know that water vapour equaling to as much as 10 litres can be released into your home on a day to day basis? If this vapour isn’t extracted it can not only cause mould and damp, but it can also impact air quality within your property.
The fact is that your bathroom requires more ventilation than anywhere else in your home, because without adequate ventilation bathrooms can become easily prone to issues such as damp, black mould and condensation. (If your bathroom isn’t properly ventilated, it will impact the lifespan of the plaster, paint, wallpaper, and pieces of furniture.)
A good quality, powerful extractor fan is a crucial tool for removing moist air from your bathroom. However, it’s no good just picking any old extractor fan, it’s important that you take steps to choose the right extractor fan.
Most exhaust fans in bathrooms are capable of pulling 21 litres of air per second, which is the ideal amount of a bathroom of average size, helping to remove moisture from the air and reduce the risk of mould developing.
Remember, a quality extractor fan isn’t a bathroom luxury, it’s an essential. So, how should you go about selecting a bathroom extractor fan that’s the right fit for your bathroom?
How do you want your fan to operate?
One consideration to make when it comes to choosing a fan for your bathroom is how you want it to operate. Different fans are operated in different ways.
Some fans can be manually turned on using a cord switch, for instance - this is often the same cord switch as the bathroom light. Whereas, other fans can be operated via a remote control.
Then there are timer fans that are set to come on whenever the light is turned on, and turn off a set period of time after the light is turned off. There’s also the option of fans with humidity sensors that turn on when the humidity levels in the air reach a certain point. (These are a great option if you feel that someone in your home may forget to turn the fan on or off.)
Take the air extraction rate into account
When selecting a bathroom extractor fan, it’s important to take the air extraction rate into account. The air extraction rate of an exhaust fan in your bathroom will differ from fan to fan -the extraction rate is usually measured in litres per second and related to how many litres of air the fan can remove per second.
Most models are designed to extract at least 15 litres of air per second - an amount that works well in an average domestic bathroom. For larger bathrooms - or bathrooms that can more than average use - a higher extraction rate might be required.