Ordinary tasks like showering, bathing and shaving can put home-damaging humidity into the air in your West Valley City home. There’s good news however—a simple bathroom ventilation fan can protect you from distorted wood, mold growth, damaged drywall and other problems related with a humid bathroom.
Even if you have ventilation fans in your bathrooms, do you know if they’re the proper size? Are they as noiseless and energy efficient as they could be? Select Comfort Systems Heating & Air Conditioning is here to answer your questions.
Today’s bathroom ventilation fans are small and sleek and they run more quietly and effectively than ever before. You’ll find a hefty range of choices, from classic fans that will get the job done to fans with fitted heat lamps, motion sensors and heat-exchanger ventilation that helps avoid warmed air from leaking through your ventilation. While there are a lot of bells and whistles to pick from, the most important feature of your fan is whether or not it’s large enough to do its job.
Graded by the cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air they move, a bathroom ventilation fan should be able to exchange the air in a bathroom at least eight times an hour. With a standard 8-foot ceiling, your ventilation fan should have a CFM rating almost as high as the number of square feet in your bathroom. Therefore, 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 follow HGTV’s advice for bathrooms larger than 100 square feet – establish your CFM requirements by increasing 50 CFM for every toilet; 50 CFM for each shower, bath and combo; and 100 CFM for each whirlpool.
If you’re not sure if your bathroom ventilation fan is the right size, or you know it’s come to the point for a new one, give the professionals at Select Comfort Systems Heating & Air Conditioning at call at 801-305-4777. We’re here to help you ensure you have a ventilation fan that will drive hard to guard your home and keep it comfy.