Bathroom Extractor Fans
Jul 9th, 2010 by MCSmith
There are a great variety of bathroom extractor fans. You can have an extractor fan fitted in a window, or you can have one fitted in a wall. It can be hard to decide which the best option for you is because there are so many choices.
You can choose the correct fan for your bathroom by taking the time to learn about all the different options available. This will help you to make a smart and informed decision. The use of a bathroom extractor fans is a requirement in many building codes. It also just makes sense to have bathroom extractor fans installed in a bathroom since it improves the bathroom environment.
It’s important to choose a bathroom extractor fan that is the correct capacity for the room it’s being installed in. To calculate this, using meters as your unit of measure, first measure the width of the room, then the length of the room, and then lastly the room’s height. Multiply the three measurements together to calculate the bathroom’s volume in cubic meters. Three times every hour, the extractor fan will need to change this volume of air inside the bathroom space. You can multiply your calculated bathroom volume by three to figure out this requirement.
The extractor fan should also be used with a timer so that it continues to work for fifteen minutes after the switch is turned off. This will make sure that all of the moisture left in the bathroom after a shower is taken is removed.
By cutting a hole in a glass window pane and clamping the fan over the hole, an extractor fan can be fitted into a window. In order to prevent a sash window from opening and thus blocking the fan, you’ll want to set stops in the window.
In order to extract any moisture in the bathroom air as quickly as possible, you can mount the bathroom extractor fan above the shower. You will need to cut a hole in the top of the ceiling and run the duct through the crawl space to properly fit the extractor fan in the ceiling. You will either need to lift up the floor above (if you’re working in a ground floor bathroom), or go up into the attic. When installing the fan above the shower, it’s possible that you might need to route the duct a long way to get it to an external room.
You can also mount the extractor fan underneath the soffit board – that way the fan doesn’t actually need to be fixed through a wall.
Lastly, one of the most easiest and common options is to fit the extractor fan into an external wall of the house. You can only use this option if the bathroom is built along on of the external walls. This option does make fitting the fan easy since you’ll just use a hole cutter to cut through the wall, the duct can be fixed in place, and the extractor fan can be fixed to the wall.
Remember that a bathroom extractor fan is usually less powerful than other extractor fans, as it isn’t needed to change the air in the bathroom as often as is needed in other rooms of the house. For that reason, almost all bathroom extractor fans are exactly the same. While this information should help you with installing bathroom extractor fans, keep in mind that when you are installing a ceiling fan, or an extractor fan for a range hood, there are different considerations to take into account.
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