It is important to have ventilation fans installed in the bathrooms throughout your home. It’s not just a matter of removing unpleasant smells. Moisture accumulated in the air during routine bathing, toilet and sink use can cause damage to your flooring and paint or wallpaper. It can also cause doors to warp and there is a risk of mold or mildew building up as well. Truly, a ventilation fan may be the most important single item you install in your bathroom when building a new home or adding on to your existing home.
Without a ventilation fan in place, you will certainly notice a problem with dampness in your bathroom after the first steamy shower. Toilet paper will be moist, clothing set out to be worn after your shower will be damp, even the towel you intended to dry off with may be slightly wet. In addition to helping with a moisture problem, ventilation fans help with the air quality in your home as well. Too much moisture in the air creates a breeding ground for mold and mildews, which irritate the airways of many people. Ventilation fans also help draw out smelly odors, and let’s be honest, we all need something to help with that from time to time!
There are several types of ventilation fans to choose from. You will have to decide which type suits your family’s needs when you install one. There are varieties with lights build into them, others with heaters, some connected to a timer so that you can decide how long to run them with each use. Ventilation fans are also referred to as exhaust fans, so do not be confused by the interchangeable terminology.
Ventilation fans must be properly vented when installed or the moisture intended to be pulled out of the air will accumulate in the fan and back up. When this happens, condensation will form and drip into the bathroom, sometimes causing more damage to the ceiling & walls than you would have dealt with had you not installed the fan at all. It is important not to vent the fan into the attic since this would create a moisture problem there. Ventilation fans need to be vented to the exterior of your home. Since most of these fans are mounted in the ceiling of a bathroom, they can usually be vented through the nearest soffit, but some must be connected to a roof vent. Other ventilation fans, mounted on the wall, can be ducted outdoors with a flap similar to the ones most people use for clothes dryers.
While some people feel that there is no need for a ventilation fan in their bathroom and argue that it means cutting an unnecessary hole in the roof or soffit, the truth is there are so many reasons to have one. I’d venture to say that those who choose not to install one will live to regret that decision!
At Hollywoodwholesaleelectric.com, you can find ventilation fans and the tolls you need to install them to protect your home from moisture damage.
