Whoa...
"Do Not Go In There!"
Bathroom-Ventilation
It's easy to understand why we need
bathroom-ventilation. I'm sure all you handywomen out there KNOW
what I'm talking about! But there's more to it than just dealing with
after effects of the Mexican Carne Asada Burrito your husband had the
night before. Moisture is a serious problem that must be dealt with as
well. To properly ventilate your home's interior living spaces,
(especially your bathroom) will require two complimentary strategies.
Since we are specifically talking about bathrooms, we'll focus on the
one strategy of local "intermittent", ventilation which can deal with
short periods of poor air quality and moisture.
The Bathroom-Ventilation Strategy
is to apply intermittent ventilation that will exhaust polluted (the
bean burrito) air, forcing it outside your home. The bathroom-Exhaust-Fan
is essential for providing that ventilation to remove odors and
potentially damaging moisture typically vented through the attic or
wall to the outdoors.
Moisture, as I'm sure
you already know, is generated in the form of steam by the warm water
from showering, bathing or other bathroom activities and can cause
serious damage to your home. The humidity level can be like that of a
tropical rain forest (trust me I've been to South America) bringing
many unfortunate side effects. This moisture can cause paint and
wallpaper to peel, damaged drywall, warp doors, and mold and bacteria
growth, none of which you want in your bathroom.
Proper bathroom-ventilation achieved by the
exhaust fan vented to the outdoors will remove moisture, odors,
potentially hazardous aerosol vapors and other pollutants. Your
families health and comfort level after taking a bath, shower or spa is
what's important here. Another bonus to healthier air is that home
damage is minimized saving you the cost of making repairs to
preventable problems.
Bathroom-Ventilation
to Complement
Every Decor
Today bathroom-exhaust-fan comes in many
attractive options to fit any decor conscious home owner. If you're
upgrading an old bathroom with an ineffective and noisy old fan...
replace it with a quiet, effective, easy to install upgrade. Obviously,
in new home construction, homeowners can find fans to complement the
interior design from simple to extravagant.
Take the area of your bathroom Length X Width =
#CFM fan required for that bathroom. EXAMPLE: (7' x 12' = 84CFM) A fan
with a minimum of 84 CFM is required. A minimum of 50CFM is required
for bathrooms smaller than 50sq ft.
When installing a fan, put it as near to the
shower as you can to capture the moisture direct it outside. The
optimum installation is to install a control that allows the fan to
remain
on for at least 20 to 30 minutes after each shower ensuring the
moisture levels are reduced.
Home air quality doesn't stop in the bathroom. A new
awareness of indoor air quality is gaining steam and in an effort to
bring you quality information you need to check out this site on
Indoor air quality. The Indoor-Air-Health-Advisor has
pages of information
on what threatens the quality of our home's air. Radon gas, for
instance, is the second leading cause of lung cancer behind smoking.
Take the time to educate yourself and how you can midigate the
risk with a DIY test kit to test your homes air quality.
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