Everyday tasks like showering, bathing and shaving can put home-destructive humidity into the air in your Siloam Springs home. There’s good news though—a simple bathroom ventilation fan can protect you from deformed wood, mold growth, broken drywall and other issues associated 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? Siloam Springs Heating & AC 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 hefty range of selections, from average fans that will get the job done to fans with built-in 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 pick from, the most imperative aspect of your fan is whether or not it’s full-sized enough to do its job.
Rated by the cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air they push, a bathroom ventilation fan should be able to exchange 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 about 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 sufficient.
If you have a larger 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 simple, you can use HGTV’s guidance for bathrooms larger than 100 square feet – verify 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 correct size, or you know it’s time for a new one, give the professionals at Siloam Springs Heating & AC at call at 479-308-8176. We’re here to help you ensure you have a ventilation fan that will drive hard to protect your home and keep it comfy.