What You Need to Know About Bathroom Ceiling Fans

Get Discounted Fans
- Hunter
- Hampton Bay
- Harbor Breeze
- Emerson
- Hugger
- Craftmade
- Casablanca
- Monte Carlo
Popular Searches
- Outdoor
- Modern
- Rustic
- Tropical
- Stainless Steel
Sponsors

Shop by Price
- $1-$25
- $25-$50
- $50-$75
- $75-$100
- $100-$150
- $200-$300
- $300+

What You Need to Know About Bathroom Ceiling Fans

The fact is that there really is no other room in a home where a vent fan is more important than a bathroom. For no matter how beautiful a bathroom is, without an adequate bathroom ceiling fan, dampness, mold and odor can completely ruin the overall ambiance.

The good news is that today there are more choices than ever before, including fans with features such as timers, PIRs, humidistats. You also now have your choice of low voltage, slimline and inline fans as well. Not to mention a wide selection of sleek contemporary and classic decorator styles.

So then, just what are the perimeters you can use in making your decision as to what fan to use in your bathroom? As it turns out there are a a good handful and understanding what they are can make your job of selecting just the right fan a whole lot easier.

Understanding Bathroom Zones

Believe it or not, standard building codes divide your bathroom into four operational zones. These zones are used to regulate for safety purposes what types of permanently mounted electrical appliances can be installed in any given area and the wiring used. These zones are identified as zone 0, zone 1, zone 2 and zone 3.

However to make things easier on yourself, you really only have to concern yourself with these zones if you intend to install an electrical component above a bath or anywhere other than the ceiling. What this means, is that once you go down on the walls you need to check to make sure that you're in compliance.

Bathroom Ceiling Fan Sizes

Residential bathroom fans come in two sizes and those two sizes are four inch and six inch. Generally speaking, a four inch fan will do just fine in the majority of cases. However; there are exceptions. For instance a bathroom that's particularly cold due to lack of ventilation will tend to condense steam more readily and as a result may require a six inch fan.

Standard Features and Options

What you'll find is that today's bathroom ceiling fans come with a wide range of available features. Of course the simplest and least expensive fan is just that, a fan that's operated by a switch on the wall. However; up from there are a few very common sense options that can make using a bathroom a whole lot more pleasant.

Two very popular features are a PIR sensor and a timer. A PIR sensor functions by automatically turning a bathroom ceiling fan on when it senses that a person has entered the room. This function is great for people who have kids and teens who all too often can neglect to activate a fan. It also assures that a fan won't be left running all day.

A timer functions to allow a fan to run for a measured period of time after a person has left a bathroom and turned off the fan and light. Of course steam or obnoxious odors often require more venting and a timer allows that extra venting to take place. Then there is a humidity sensor that automatically vents a room when the moisture in the air reaches a certain level.

Choices & Options in Bathroom Ceiling Fans

When it comes to how a fan actually moves the air, it really comes down to two options. One is an axial fan and the other is what is commonly referred to as centrifugal fan. An axial fan is what you are most commonly used to seeing. It's a round bladed fan like you see on common house fans.

A centrifugal fan is quite often referred to as a squirrel cage fan. It's a spinning bladed wheel that's enclosed in a box. So what does it all mean to you? The main difference as far as performance is concerned, is that a centrifugal fan tends to move more air, use more electricity and be a bit more louder.

It's for this reason that a centrifugal fan will almost without exception tend to be used in a system that has long duct-work. Also the fan itself will tend to be located away from the room, somewhere up in the attic where the extra noise won't be a problem.

Calculating and Measuring Air Flow

The term that the industry uses to measure and describe air flow in fans of this type is liters per second or (L/S) or cubic meters per hour. (m3/hr). The choice is really up to you but standard building codes stipulate that a bathroom ceiling fan must move a minimum of 15 L/S.

The fact is that you would really have a hard time finding a bathroom fan today that doesn't at least meet this minimum requirement. Also just so you know, a fan that moves a minimum of 90 meters in three hours time, would be considered to be a powerful fan.