What Size Should My Bathroom Ventilation Fan Be?

July 28, 2017

Average tasks like showering, bathing and shaving can put home-destructive humidity into the air in your South Beloit and Belvidere home. There’s good news however—a simple bathroom ventilation fan can protect you from distorted wood, mold growth, damaged drywall and other trouble connected with a humid bathroom.

Even if you have ventilation fans in your bathrooms, do you know if they’re the correct size? Are they as noiseless and energy efficient as they could be? Fleming Heating & Air Conditioning Inc is here to answer your questions.

Today’s bathroom ventilation fans are small and sleek and they work more quietly and efficiently than ever before. You’ll find a great range of selections, from average fans that will get the job done to fans with fitted heat lamps, motion sensors and heat-exchanger ventilation that helps avoid warmed air from leaking through your ventilation. While you have a lot of bells and whistles to choose from, the most important aspect of your fan is whether or not it’s large enough to do its job.

Graded by the cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air they transfer, a bathroom ventilation fan should be able to replace the air in a bathroom at least eight times an hour. With a normal 8-foot ceiling, your ventilation fan should have a CFM rating almost as high as the number of square feet in your bathroom. So, if your bathroom is 5 feet by 8 feet, a CFM rating of 40 would be sufficient.

If you have a higher ceiling, the equation gets a little more complex. You’ll want to multiply the width of the room by its height and length, divide it by 60 and multiply by 8. Or, to keep it easy, you can use HGTV’s guidance for bathrooms larger than 100 square feet – verify your CFM requirements by increasing 50 CFM for every toilet; 50 CFM for each shower, bath and combo; and 100 CFM for each whirlpool.

If you’re unclear if your bathroom ventilation fan is the proper size, or you know it’s the occasion for a new one, give the pros at Fleming Heating & Air Conditioning Inc at call at 877-389-2465. We’re here to help you ensure you have a ventilation fan that will drive hard to guard your home and keep it comfortable.