A well-ventilated bathroom is a must for any home.
Not only will it help to keep your bathroom a comfortable temperature, it will also help to minimise mould and mildew, avoid unpleasant odours, and limit condensation.
There are multiple options for achieving the perfect temperature and humidity in your bathroom throughout the year, so it’s best to be familiar with all of them so you can make the best choice when building or renovating your home.
Windows
The most obvious choice for ventilation is simply to open the windows. It’s free and easy, but it does come with downsides.
A warm, sunny, and slightly windy day is the perfect time to open a window for bathroom ventilation. However, if there is no functional breeze circulating air from outside to inside and vice versa, it won’t be overly helpful as it won’t be creating the airflow you need. Similarly, if it’s freezing cold or raining outside, a window might bring in fresh air, but air that is uncomfortably cold.
Therefore, a window is a great option – but only under certain conditions.
Extractor fans
An extractor fan is so essential to a bathroom that it is required as part of the Healthy Homes Standards. These standards require new fans to have either a diameter of at least 120mm, or the fan and exhaust ducting must have an exhaust capacity of at least 25 litres per second.
That said, these minimums might not be enough to properly ventilate a bathroom with a hot steamy shower running, so be sure to consider the size of the bathroom before settling on an extractor fan. The team at Black Fox Electrical can help you with these specifications and choosing the right fan for your bathroom.
Plus, keep in mind that an extractor fan works best when there is also a source for fresh air to the room to replace the extracted air. This could be an open window or door, or a secondary relief vent from the outside.
Dehumidifiers
Another option to introduce to your bathroom is a dehumidifier. As the name suggests, this machine can help to remove the excess humidity from the air.
As a result, you can minimise mould and mildew, excessive condensation, and the odours that come with an overly damp room.
This is especially helpful if your existing fan isn’t powerful enough to extract the humidity from the room, or if the weather isn’t dry or warm enough to open a window to keep the room warm and dry.
Dehumidifiers come in a range of sizes and power levels, and one of the benefits of this method is that you can bring one into the bathroom just for the winter months when you need it most. Over the summer months, you can keep it in storage or another area of the home.
Extractor fan installation with BlackFox Electrical
BlackFox Electrical is highly skilled and experienced when it comes to residential installations. From whole-home ventilation systems to bathroom extractor fans, we can work with you to find the best solution for your home, needs, and budget.
Our friendly installation teams work throughout Wellington and the Wairarapa regions. Get in touch today for a free quote or to chat through your options for properly ventilating your bathroom.