Let’s discuss bathroom fans. Though not a very sexy addition to the bath, it is likely to be an essential one. The problem is most fans are either extremely ugly or institutionally boring. Granted, fans serve a purpose and don’t have to be show stoppers, but can they be moderately tasteful?
If you’re thinking that you don’t need a bathroom ventilation fan, think again. Exhaust fans are necessary to prevent mildew, mold and swampy smells because . . .
1. Most new houses are airtight, allowing little natural ventilation.
2. In older houses, the windows were supposed to be left open but yours might be painted shut like ours.
3. Even if you can open a window, it's so humid outside that you still have moisture in the bathroom (consequently, you can never dry off).
What sort of fan do you need? It’s important to first consider the size of your bathroom, the noise level you can endure, and the function of the fan (light/fan, fan/heater, or just a fan). When it comes to style, options include decorative fans, recessed fans, and those ordinary industrial fans. We’ve found a few of the least offensive fan and light combinations for your ventilating pleasure.
Above: Decorative fan by Hunter, recessed fan light by Broan, and plain exhaust fan by NuTone.
First page (clockwise from top left): Sleek NuTone fan/light in chrome, almost invisible NuTone combination fan, Broan fan/light in satin nickel, and Luminance traditional bathroom fan.
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I have a fan in my new apartment that drives me absolute insane. I cannot handle that sound anymore. My dad came over and fiddled with the wiring and determined the light wire ran through the ceiling to the adjacent wall where the fan is, then from the fan to the switch on the wall perpendicular to each so he wouldn't be able to create a two switch connection. I am pissed off.
Can I ask my building manager if I have hire an electrician to rewire it so I can choose whether or not the fan is on?
The linked article is complaining about an old building in which the owner can't install a ventilation fan. I happen to be in the same boat. Is there anything that can be done in that situation?
When I bought my 1950s house, I was amazed to find no fan in the bathroom. I have even more surprised to find that after 10 years, I have never, ever seen a spot of mildew in the bathroom. I have no idea why, as I've seen plenty of mildew in bathrooms WITH fans! The only guess I have is that the window in the summer and the dry forced air heat in the winter disperse the humidity...
I have a 1930s home and none of the bathrooms have fans... We haven't had a moisture problem yet, but I think that Luminance fan could make me want to install them anyway. It would fit in nicely!
Two problems with fans (besides ugliness): 1) noise; and 2) accessibility to outside air. Our mid-century house came with fans in the bathroom, but in our on-going remodel, we found the fans to be vented straight into the insulation. Surprisingly, it was not so difficult to install the vent pipes to the outside.
@Birdablaze: Depending on where you live it might be illegal for you to add a second switch to the fan.
We live in a 1960s home that does not have fan, and we've never felt like we needed one. Both bathrooms have windows, and in dry los angeles, that seems to be enough even in winter.
i dunno, i'm skeptical. i grew up in a home built in the 70s that had bathroom fans which we never used (frankly, they were too loud and the cover would rotate on the wall b/c it wasn't screwed on tight enough). never had any mildew or mold or bad smells. and i recently lived in a new-ish condo...where i rarely used the fan (again, too loud)...and no mildew/mold/smells there either. (and the few times i did use the fan, it appeared to do nothing) but yet my in-law's house has a fan - which automatically turns on w/ the light - and it has mildew on the ceiling. and an old apartment - that also had a fan that automatically came on - also had mildew on the ceiling. i'm suspicious of the fans!
I didn't know bathroom fans could be anything other than ugly!
The most important thing with bathroom fans is noise. All of the off the shelf ones at the big box stores are insanely loud - I ordered one online with a sone rating of less than one and I can only hear it if everything else is completely silent. The only downside is that you can forget that it is on!
Our fans aren't loud (though not particularly pretty...), but I don't mind either way because the baths aren't in really central locations.
I HATE going to the bathroom in someone else's house where it's VERY central (as in- I can still hear everyone just as well and am certain THEY can hear ME) and there is NO fan!!! I think central bathrooms with loud fans at least provide some privacy for guests, but maybe that's just me.
As a side note, my landlord told me that in Seattle, one should not open the window to vent in the winter, the cold air just exacerbates the situation. He also said we should run the fan for an hour after shower, since it is so humid in the Pacific Northwest.
Does anyone know if it is very hard to convert a fan to a light/fan combo?
Sorry, but the whole point of a bathroom fan is that it extracts air, immediately followed by being not noisy. Hate to burst anyones bubble, but the manufacturers of these "cute" ones are notorious for making JUNK. The junk ones are noisy and/or don't do a thing, aka a waste of money. If it does what it's supposed to, you'll never notice that little grill on the ceiling.
I have one word: Panasonic. They're quiet and they work and you pay more, but considering what a PITA the crappy ones are to put up with or change, it's worth it.
Sorry, splatgirl, but NuTone and Broan have been in the exhaust fan business for years... not sure they warrant the off-handed dismissal.
As someone who sells exhaust fans and bathroom heater/light combinations for a living, I am fascinated by the way this conversation is growing. I hope to see more comments as the days progress... it gives me more of an insight into what people life.
Tradesmen, tend to go for the basic unit, because there are no fiddly installation techniques required and its something they have done a thousand times before.... but as we move towards sleeker finishes and people become aware of how ugly things CAN look... almost every customer says to me.. "i want to not know that the fan is there...."
In Australia, trends in bathroom exhaust are not steaming ahead (pun intended) as fast as they are in the rest of the world, so we seem to be at a standstill. However.. the one thing that people are moving towards from a power consumption point of view is multi room ventilation. Where they use an inline fan and a multi-room duct system similar to central heating. The advantage of this, is that all you get on your cieling/wall/shower cavity is a small-ish grill... which would even be custom made.. or re-purposed from other fittings.
I tend to draw people away from a fan/light combination when ever possible as typically (based on cost and mfgr limitations) the fans are not as high in quality as you are mostly paying for aesthetics so it is nice to see some (relatively) attractive options are emerging.
There's also the issue of recirculating versus vented, no?
CozyLittleCave makes a good point. I'm sure people have been thankful for the noisy ones hooked up to the lights while at someone's small flat.
I don't mind the ugliness of mine. I just need the get the darned thing fixed, as it doesn't seem to do squat (I even checked with some incense). Wonder how much that will cost.
Whatever you do, make sure to get a fan that is one sone or less. That is unless you want it to be loud.
Also, in the future I would get a fan separate from the light. I have a fan with integrated light, and it isn't great to look at. A double whammy of thinks NOT to do, is get a fan/light with a flourescent light in it. You can just get a regular fan/light combo and put a CFL in it. I have the fan/light with flourescent in it, and the room is dim for about 2-4 minutes as the bulb warms and puts out more light. Not cool in a bathroom where you want warm light, and want it immediately.
I rather like our NuTone fans with integrated lights. Very plain and simple, nickle frames with square white lamps, slightly domed... very quiet and effective (I see condensation on the window if I forget to turn mine on when I shower.) Not a major design FEATURE, but not unattractive as a practical fixture.
I see that noise seems to be a major consideration for many people. This one doesn't look fancy, but it has the advantage that the fan is on the roof, so you don't hear it. http://www.roofvents.com/bath-fan.html