Everyday tasks like showering, bathing and shaving can put home-damaging humidity into the air in your Houston home. There’s good news still—a modest bathroom ventilation fan can save you from warped wood, mold growth, damaged drywall and other issues related with a humid bathroom.
Even if you have ventilation fans in your bathrooms, do you know if they’re the right size? Are they as quiet and energy efficient as they could be? Marcos AC & Heating is here to answer your questions.
Today’s bathroom ventilation fans are small and sleek and they work more quietly and economically than ever before. You’ll find a large range of options, from classic fans that will get the job done to fans with integrated heat lamps, motion sensors and heat-exchanger ventilation that helps avoid warmed air from escaping through your ventilation. While you have a lot of bells and whistles to select from, the most critical feature of your fan is whether or not it’s large enough to do its job.
Assessed by the cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air they move, a bathroom ventilation fan should be able to replace the air in a bathroom at least eight times an hour. With a typical 8-foot ceiling, your ventilation fan should have a CFM rating at least as high as the number of square feet in your bathroom. Thus, if your bathroom is 5 feet by 8 feet, a CFM rating of 40 would be satisfactory.
If you have a taller ceiling, the equation gets a little more difficult. You’ll want to multiply the width of the room by its height and length, divide it by 60 and multiply by 8. Or, to keep it easy, you can heed HGTV’s guidance for bathrooms larger than 100 square feet – verify your CFM requirements by adding 50 CFM for every toilet; 50 CFM for each shower, bath and combo; and 100 CFM for each whirlpool.
If you’re unclear if your bathroom ventilation fan is the proper size, or you know it’s time for a new one, give the pros at Marcos AC & Heating at call at 713-469-3357. We’re here to help you make sure you have a ventilation fan that will run hard to protect your home and keep it cozy.