Bathroom fan inefficient

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

I have recently moved into a new house with a small bathroom with a shower. There is an fan on the external wall which goes on and off with the light switch.

It seems very inefficient to me, the room becomes very wet when showering and takes a long time to dry.

I'm assuming that I need to replace the fan and have googled opitions. But I can't quite figure out what would be best. Can you help?

[lalalonglegs]

If it's small you may need a low voltage fan to comply with building regs. There is a useful website here that will help you measure how many cubic feet of damp air per minute you should be aiming to expel.

[PigletJohn]

showers generate a vast amount of steam, and the tray, walls and towels will still be wet after you finish. So you need a powerful extractor irth a timer set to keep it running until the room is reasonably dry. This may take 20 minutes.

If yours looks like this it is fairly low powered. If you have room for a [[http://www.screwfix.com/p/vent-axia-acm100-in-line-bathroom-extractor-fan/59546 ducted fan above the ceiling, it can be more powerful and quieter (but not cheaper). You can get 150mm (six inch) fans that are quieter and more powerful than 100mm (four inch)

If there is a long duct. then a rigid one is better than flexible hose. The longer it is the more it will slow flow.

[PigletJohn]

If yours looks like this it is fairly low powered. If you have room for a ducted fan above the ceiling, it can be more powerful and quieter (but not cheaper).

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

It's on the outside wall. I will check the model.

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

I'd prefer not to cut a hole in the ceiling if possible.

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

And I will measure the bathroom.

[peelingwallpaper]

Hello - if you want efficiency go for an Airflow Icon Fan - not prettiest but efficient and quiet. I'm a bathroom designer if that helps.

[PigletJohn]

if it's on an outside wall, it it directly above the shower tray or bath? How high is the bottom of the fan above floor level (accurately - this is important.

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

I'm not at home so will have to measure when I return. But it's a small room and the shower attachment is at the opposite end of the room maybe six feet high.

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

I will measure but it's the fan that is about six feet high. The whole room is about eight feet by four.

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

Thanks for the fan recommendation by the way I will look it up.

[PigletJohn]

if the fan is directly above the bath or shower, and is within 2250mm of the floor (about 88 inches, 7ft 4) then it is more tricky, due to regulations for electrical devices likely to have water squirted at them. Cheapest way might be to have a low-voltage fan and run it continuously. If good quality with ball bearings, and/or new, modern fans are very quiet, and a the latest ones use even less power than usual. An ordinary fan will run for about 50 hours on 15p worth of electricity, but some of the latest ones will run for 80 hours.

A more powerful one would be preferable, but not so easy to fit unless you are on the ground floor or have balcony access to the fan outlet without a ladder. If you have a loft above, one fitted above the ceiling would actually be one of the easier options.

If your current fan is not noisy, rewiring it to run continuously would be quite easy, but if it is a cheap builders one, the bearings will wear out and get noisy.

You are probably going to need a qualified electrician anyway.

[valiumredhead]

Do you have a window in the bathroom? I just open ours a crack after showering.

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

It's 168cms high. It's a Greenwood Airvac.

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

The fan is at the other end of the room as far away from the shower as it can be. There is a window next to the fan. I can open it post shower but I'd prefer another solution that is not hugely noisy rather than having to open the window post shower. There is a mirrored cabinet in the room also that I'd like to be able to use for make up post shower and also the cabinet is getting wet inside after every shower.

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

It looks like this one.

www.google.co.uk/search?q=greenwood+airvac&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=MUM2UtGXMYGy7Aa8soDoCA&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAA&biw=360&bih=483&dpr=2#biv=i%7C3%3Bd%7CzS-El_Z5BDO68M%3A

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

Sorry I'm having a problem getting the link right. Thanks very much for help so far.

[PigletJohn]

And is the extractor directly above the bath or shower tray, or to one side?

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

The room is roughly eight feet by four feet. The shower head is at one end, as far from the outside wall as possible.

The extractor is at the other end on the exterior wall next to the smallish window.

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

There doesn't seem to be much suck on the fan. I put a piece of loo roll against it and it will just hold it up but barely.

[specialsubject]

doesn't sound right if a bathroom cabinet is getting wet inside after your shower! Is there a leak?

how long do you shower for?

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

Exactly, it's crazy isn't it?
I suppose three or four minutes?
But there's a while family here not just me ..

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

I'm not aware of a leak. What kind of leak were you thinking of? I think the cabinet is getting wet inside because the whole bathroom is getting wet when we shower and the cabinet Hh no real seal on the door. So the steel inside gets just as wet as the outside.

From what I've said so far do you think that a new 'quality' fan on the outside wall in the same position would solve the problem? Would this he best to go in and off with the light switch or independently? I'm fine to get an electrician in to do that. If I had to go for a ceiling solution I would but I'd rather not given I already have a hole in the outside wall in my tiles.

[PigletJohn]

you have said the shower head is at the far end from the extractor, but is there a bath, and is it directly under the extractor?

[IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt]

The shower is in the bath at the tap end.

So there is a bath with a shower in it ..the shower attachment being as far from the external wall as it can be.

At the foot of the bath there is the loo and then the external wall with the cabinet window and fan.

So the fan is not over the bath.

Our family mostly just uses the shower. Just the odd bath. ..