Help Your Bathroom Exhaust Fan Do Its Job

A quality exhaust fan is a bathroom essential, protecting your bathroom from excess humidity that leads to unpleasant odors and unhealthy mold growth. To get the best performance out of your bathroom exhaust fan, you’ll need to learn the right way to select, install and maintain it.

Cheap is expensive. It may be tempting to install the lowest-cost exhaust fan on the market. However, as Grandma used to say, “Cheap is expensive”— meaning that a small price tag tends to go hand-in-hand with poor performance. Cheaper exhaust fans can be noisy and inefficient. It’s worth the extra cash to purchase a high-quality fan that’s sized for your space, in terms of cubic feet per minute.

Keep it quiet(er). Ideally, a bathroom fan in action should not sound like a jet taking off, and it shouldn’t sound like it will rattle the bathroom apart. The amount of noise a fan will make is indicated by its sonic rating, which could range anywhere from 4 (extremely loud) down to 0.5 (barely audible). Buy a fan rated 1 or less if you’re looking for quiet performance, but be aware that you will pay more for what you don’t get—excessive noise.

Vent to the great outdoors. Bathroom fans must be vented to the exterior air and not into unfinished attic or roof spaces. In cold weather, the humid air extracted from your bath will condense where it has been vented, liquefying into water. If this happens anywhere inside your home, the end result will be rotted wood and moldy surfaces, which defeats the purpose.

Keep your bathroom door closed while running the fan (during your bath or shower and for 30 minutes afterward). This ensures that the steam flows outdoors as it should, without escaping to other rooms in your home. But remember to turn off the fan and open the door when the bathroom has been cleared of moist air so that you don’t expel the other inside air that your air conditioner has worked hard to cool.

Keep it clean. Over the course of normal use, your bathroom fan will inevitably become clogged with dirt. Regular cleaning will maintain its efficiency and improve ambient air quality. Vacuum the grille every 3 to 6 months.

If deep cleaning is required, start by turning off the power supply at the circuit breaker and disassembling the unit. Wash the cover with hot, soapy water. Brush dust and debris out of the motor and blades, then wipe the blades with a damp cloth. Take care that all parts are thoroughly dry before reassembling the fan and reconnecting the electricity.