How Effective Are Bathroom Extractor Fans?

If you're struggling with excessive moisture or mould growth in your bathroom, installing an extractor fan can make a big difference. But how well do these fans actually work to reduce condensation and control mould?

When properly sized and installed, extractor fans can be very effective for improving bathroom air quality and ventilation. They literally extract the humid air out of your bathroom to the outside before it reaches the colder surfaces such as your walls and ceiling. Some key benefits include:

- Reducing Humidity & Moisture: Extractor fans vent water vapour out before it condenses on surfaces, known as condensation, that leads to dampness and mould growth. They can quite significantly lower indoor humidity when run consistently

- Controlling Mould Growth: By reducing humidity levels, bathroom extractor fans help prevent, or at least, minimise mould taking hold in your bathroom spaces. They cut off mould's water supply!

- Removing Odours: Extractor fans whisk away smells and odours quickly when run after baths and showers. No more lingering steamy smells!

We visited our client in Princes Park, Chatham, ME5 to see how they're getting on with their bathroom extractor fan upgrade.

How Good Are Extractor Fans at Stopping Condensation and Mould?

The performance of an extractor fan depends on factors like its airflow rate, activation settings, and how consistently you use it. But when the right fan is installed and used utilised properly, it can dramatically reduce condensation build up and prevent mould taking hold.

Most bathroom mould issues stem from relative humidity levels staying consistently above 70% for too long. The perfect storm happens over the winter months when we tend to close all of our windows in an attempt to keep warm. A good quality extractor fan with strong airflow can easily maintain 40-60% relative bathroom humidity, even over the winter months. Over time, this climate control keeps surfaces too dry for mould growth. So extractor fans are an incredibly effective condensation and mould prevention tool!

Our bathroom extractor fan systems are excellent at stopping condensation in a busy bathroom with 2-4 adults that really enjoy hot steamy baths for long periods. We seriously recommend running our fans with an override switch that keeps it going 24/7 throughout the cold winter months.

How Do Extractor Fans Actually Work?

Extractor fans are pretty straightforward devices. An electric motor drives a set of fan blades that provide continuous airflow, venting air out through ducting. But what drives all that humid air out of your bathroom?

It comes down to air pressure, or 'push' created by fast spinning fan blades, which creates an airflow. This airflow extracts the moist bathroom air and draws in fresh replacement air through gaps around windows and doors, amongst other areas such as purpose built ventilation bricks.

Will Extractor Fans ALWAYS Stop Mould and Condensation?

Extractor fans are very effective for most bathrooms, but they do have some limitations:

- Undersized Fan: Too low an airflow rate won't adequately ventilate a larger bathroom's steam and moisture levels. Make sure your fan is powerful enough. A lot of standard bathroom fans fail at this hurdle.

- Improper Installation: Bad ducting connections or installations can reduce fan extraction capacity. Good standards of ducting installation is paramount to help the fan perform the best it can, and to stop water coming back down through the vents!

- Infrequent Use: Just turning on fans briefly after baths provides very limited mould and condensation control. They need consistent use from the moment the water starts flowing and for at least 5 minutes after the bath has drained. In fact - we recommend going that next step further and putting it on manual override for the entirety of the cold winter months - as soon as the windows start closing to the point where we're having nice weather again and the windows start opening again!

- Excessive Moisture: No fan can keep up with moisture and humidity from inadequately sealed bathrooms or from activities like indoor drying wet laundry, although they will do their best and they will put up a good fight with noticeable differences

- Water Ingress: If the water and damp keeps coming from water ingress such as leaky roofs, plumbing or gutters, the extractor fan will not put a stop to the cause - it will just help with the symptoms. These sorts of issues need resolving ASAP to prevent further deterioration to structure and health.

How Much Power Do Extractor Fans Use?

When it comes to energy efficiency, extractor fans are remarkably modest in their electrical power usage. Typically, our bathroom extractor fans only draws between 15 and 30 Watts during operation - similar to an ordinary light bulb. Many fans draw remarkably lower than this, but remember one of the first points in this article - a fan needs to be up to the job and many fans available on market are not necessarily up the job. And also remember - 30W is nearly negligible to the rest of the house usage of 210-500W averaged out over the coourse of a 24 hour period - quite often less than 10% even in these high-efficiency times!

So - even running your bathroom's extractor fan consistently throughout the day would amount to fairly minimal energy usage and electricity cost. And that's for a dramatic improvement in ventilation and humidity control.

So not only are extractor fans highly effective for condensation and mould prevention, they also offer very economical operation. That checks both the performance and efficiency boxes for an all-around smart home improvement upgrade!

Bathroom Extractor Fans Can Work Really Well! Find Out About Our Ventilation Installation Services Today!

Installing and consistently running a good quality, well-sized and well installed extractor is one of the best ways to prevent condensation and mould growth in your bathroom. If after reading this, you feel like your bathroom condensation can be stopped with one of our extractor fan systems, feel free to contact your friendly local electricians serving Medway and Maidstone on:- 

01634 218 821 (Medway) or 01622 277 321 (Maidstone)

Want to find out more about our work in this area? Read more here.