Average tasks like showering, bathing and shaving can put home-damaging humidity into the air in your Moline home. There’s good news though—a simple bathroom ventilation fan can protect you from warped wood, mold growth, damaged drywall and other problems associated 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? J.L. Brady Company LLC is here to answer your questions.
Today’s bathroom ventilation fans are small and smooth and they run more quietly and efficiently than ever before. You’ll find a large range of options, 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 you have a lot of bells and whistles to choose from, the most important characteristic 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 move, a bathroom ventilation fan should be able to swap out 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 at least 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 use HGTV’s tips for bathrooms larger than 100 square feet – determine 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 pros at J.L. Brady Company LLC at call at 309-517-7511. We’re here to help you ensure you have a ventilation fan that will run hard to care for your home and keep it cozy.