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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:

neepsandtatties · 07/03/2014 08:03

We've just had one of the powerful in the loft ones that Piglet John mentioned. You can barely hear it when you are in the bathroom, and not at all when you are in the bedroom (it's an en-suite).

mewkins · 07/03/2014 20:12

We are aboout to do our bathroom and will be getting one. The bathroom window is permanently open but the ceiling has still gone mouldy. It's not a good look.

Selks · 08/03/2014 00:49

I can vouch for the fact that they are not rubbish, Gillthegiraffe. Did your plumber say why they thought that?

ThatVikRinA22 · 08/03/2014 01:08

we refurbed our bathroom last year - we got a fan put in - its a spotlight with a fan so it doesnt look like a fan.

its made a HUGE difference! no mould. no mildew. no orange grout. its fab. the bathroom feels drier, cleaner.

WillieWaggledagger · 08/03/2014 01:11

We've just bought a house without an extractor fan, and having rented one without we're getting one put in ASAP. It's so much better for the house really

PigletJohn · 08/03/2014 02:03

Humidistat fans seem to go wrong often, and do not keep the room as well ventilated and fresh as one that comes on with the light switch.

GillTheGiraffe · 08/03/2014 12:37

After the plumber admired my stonking great extractor fan (thanks PigletJohn), the electrician who came to wire it in also admired it.
(Was quite funny listening to the pair of them standing over it discussing with awe how powerful it was ).
And you really struggle to hear that it's actually on.

chimchar · 09/03/2014 09:39

GILL.....can you tell me which one you have?

We're putting a whole new bathroom into a room with no windows. We have agreed that a mega fan is the way to go. Can trawl around myself, but a recommendation would be ace!

Thanks everyone. interesting thread.

chimchar · 09/03/2014 09:39

oops. didn't say please! Please could you tell me Gill!

Thanks.

GillTheGiraffe · 09/03/2014 10:25

I showed the one that PigletJohn recommended to the bathroom fitter, so presumed that's what he's fitted. The paperwork just states 'centrifugal fan'. But I saw it before it was fitted and it was big!
The fan that PigletJohn recommended on this thread - see PigletJohn's 2nd post

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/1926134-Any-extractor-fan-vent-that-is-not-noisy-and-drafty

chimchar · 09/03/2014 17:22

Great. Thanks very much.

When we did our kitchen, we ran out of money so we had to buy a cheap extractor hood thing. It's SO noisy, and doesn't work that well so we never use it. It's a mistake we can't afford to make with the bathroom so trying to start with the practical things, rather than the pretty bits!!!

PigletJohn · 09/03/2014 17:48

if you hire a core drill, or get someone in, to make the round hole in the wall, do one for the cooker hood if you haven't already got one. Also behind where a tumble drier might go, it gives you flexibility to use a vented drier if one day you feel like it. The hole is usually 100mm dia, but you can get a 150mm (6-inch) one. It might be big enough for a small cat but I have never tried.

I made holes for 2 shower extractors, 2 tumble driers and a ventilator for the utility room in one afternoon. The tool is quite easy, but rather heavy, and you must hire one with a clutch in case it jams and whirls you round.

chimchar · 09/03/2014 17:58

Piglet..you sound hardcore! Are you a professional or a keen DIYer?

I don't know if this a potential problem or not...we are semi detached. New bathroom is in the middle of the house, with one end on the attached side, and we are going to do a loft conversion after doing this bathroom, so I'm unsure even WHERE the fan with take the air. I'm sure dh has considered this, but we hasn't had a discussion about it.

So much easier to pay someone to come and do the whole lot, start to finish!!!

chimchar · 09/03/2014 18:02

Shit.

Last post barely made sense! We HAVEN,T had a discussion.

It's been one of those weeks!

PigletJohn · 09/03/2014 18:05

you can often vent through the ceiling, and run the duct between the joists above. You must never vent into a roof space or the space under a floor, the steam has got to be ducted out of the house. Duct is available round or rectangular.

chimchar · 09/03/2014 20:33

Ok Ta piglet.

Will look into it,.

GillTheGiraffe · 09/03/2014 21:23

Mine vents out up through the loft and out of a grille in the underside of the soffit? board.

PigletJohn · 09/03/2014 21:37

yep, soffit or eaves is quite usual out of the loft.

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