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Original poster

Bathroom extractor fan - necessary?

43 replies

Misty9 · 23/10/2013 22:53

We have a very small bathroom in our newly purchased house but no extractor fan...does this matter? The shower is an over the bath jobby and the bath or shower gets used daily. There's a top window we can open - is that enough?

OP posts:
LilMissSunshine9 · 23/10/2013 22:57

I would say as long as you keep your window open during showering and for some time afterwards you will be ok. I don't have an extractor fan so I open the window I have..but I am scared of spiders and lately they have been coming through the window (really big ones) so now I don't leave it open all day and night like I used to.

SandyChick · 23/10/2013 22:59

Are you having problems with condensation?

We have 2 outside walls in our bathroom and the condensation gets really bad in the winter especially. we fitted an extractor a year or so ago and it's help massively.

icklekid · 24/10/2013 06:52

We had a tiny bathroom when the extractor fan stopped working you knew about it, condensation was bad ceiling and grouting started showing signs of mould. We opened windows but no real effect. I would get one asap!

poocatcherchampion · 24/10/2013 07:15

I cannot stand the noise of them so we won't be installing them as part of our renovation. just opening windows in the good old fashioned way.

Sparkeleigh · 24/10/2013 07:24

We have a tiny bathroom with 2 outside walls and didn't have an extractor fan until recently. We had really bad condensation and I was having to scrub the grouting at least once a week to keep black mould at bay, even though we showered with the window open. The ceiling is still a disaster.

We got an extractor fan installed and things have been much better, I'd really recommend getting one to save hours scrubbing grout!

Surething · 24/10/2013 08:12

Op - Our paintwork has grubby patches now due to condensation so we're looking to have one installed. For those who've had one installed, where did you get it and who installed it for you?

Sparkeleigh · 24/10/2013 08:27

Surething we just rang an electrician and told him we wanted one. He provided it and did the venting.

LackaDAISYcal · 24/10/2013 08:32

Afaik, providing extractor fans is compoulsory under the latest IEE regulations./building regs. Properties without them prior to the new regs will be allowed to still be without them, but if you have any work done in your bathroom, then you should have one installed. They provide a change of air every so often; opening a window doesn't have the same effect.

Surething · 24/10/2013 09:06

Tks Sparkeleigh!

MrsTaraPlumbing · 24/10/2013 11:45

I was just about to say that I could be wrong but I thought extractor fans have been compulsory under building regulations for quite some years
so when you put a bathroom in your new extension or buy a NEW built house their must be an extract fan.

I know we have been putting them in as standard not optional for many years.
Then I see LackaDAISYcal has written that it is a new regulation - so perhaps I am wrong.

In practice we have lived for hundreds of years in brick houses with out them, just opening windows, but at the same tim families had a bath once per week!

Opening a window is good - I do that as well - but as almost every one said - do get one.
BTW
If the noise bothers you you can reset the time delay so they don't run on for 5-10 mins after you have left the room.

PigletJohn · 24/10/2013 12:11

if you have a noisy fan, it is probably just worn out. A new one is not expensive. Builders usually put in £6 fans which are weedy and noisy.

Look for a fan with a ball-bearing motor. Centrifugal fans are generally quieter than axial fans. The noise level of the fan will be in its specification. For example 40dba or 27dba. Also look at the extract rate, in cubic metres per hour, for its effectiveness.

If you ever add a fan when renovating a bathroom, the ones that go in the loft using a duct are larger, powerful and quiet. They do cost more but may be three times as powerful

Extractor fans work better with the door and window closed as they create suction which prevents the water diffusng through your home.

Original poster
Misty9 · 24/10/2013 21:39

Thanks everyone - looks like we need to find a trusty electrician!

OP posts:
LackaDAISYcal · 25/10/2013 07:21

We had ours put on a separate switch so we can choose to only put it on when using the shower.

Well when I say "new" MrsTara, it's 7 years since I worked in the construction industry...Blush

Allthreerolledintoone · 05/03/2014 21:28

Dies anyone know how much this would cost??

DIddled · 05/03/2014 21:38

It's a must for me. The last one we had was a light/fan combo over the shower - the latest refurb we have a fan in ceiling separate. Can't hear a thing.

Selks · 05/03/2014 22:00

I have a small bathroom and my extractor fan is vital, and in use every day. It's not particularly noisy. It's a humidistat fan which automatically comes on when someone gets in the shower; ideal if you have family members who would otherwise forget to turn it on.

You will be glad that you've got a fan in winter when it's baltic outside and opening a window would reduce your bathroom to freezing temperatures.

GillTheGiraffe · 06/03/2014 00:56

I took PigletJohn's advice a got a stonking heavy duty extractor fan. Even the plumber is impressed with the size of it Grin
No point doing up your bathroom just to let the midew have a field day with no ventilation. And the kids cannot be trusted to open the window on a frosty Dec night.

Nocomet · 06/03/2014 01:29

I'd rather mold than the noise of an extractor fan.

Anyway both DDs would hear it in their bedrooms and plan it's demise.

Nocomet · 06/03/2014 01:31

I truely loath extractor fans, I go to hotel loos without putting the light on they annoy me so much.

GillTheGiraffe · 06/03/2014 12:05

The fan is in the attic and vents out of the roof. It's so quiet you barely hear it. It'not like the cheap hotel ones.

TunipTheUnconquerable · 06/03/2014 17:31

I do the same Nocomet, but in hotels they're usually in en suites which are part of the bedroom and they're on timers and run for ages afterwards, so they're much more annoying than one in a separate bathroom that you can turn on and off.

I mostly use just open the window at home, but in our bathroom it's quite a big window so it works much faster than the fan. I would still have one for days when you don't want to open the window because it's cold, or when it's so rainy and damp that opening the window doesn't really help.

Selks · 06/03/2014 20:02

You don't have to have a fan that comes on when the light is switched on....a humidistat fan only comes on when there is moisture in the air i.e. if someone is in the shower.

sleepyhead · 06/03/2014 21:07

I like the sound of the humidistat fan. This one's only forty quid - anyone know whether it's likely to be good enough for a 6ft square internal bathroom?

The fan we've got now does a good job - the wall mirror is clear even when I've been wallowing in a hot bath for an hour and there's not a speck of mould anywhere in the bathroom - but the noise bothers me.

Our flat is c14 years old and I suspect the fan is an original fitting so is probably ready for replacing. Currently it automatically comes on with the light and there's no override.

RubyGoat · 06/03/2014 21:13

Definitely get one. Ours is broken, Too cold in winter to open the window for showers. Ceiling has black mould, and all round the bath, we can't sort it as we rent. I've had a permanent sore throat since November since I'm apparently allergic to the mould.

GillTheGiraffe · 06/03/2014 22:44

My plumber says the humidity controlled ones are rubbish.
Iso switch will solve the 'hotel room' problem.

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