What Size Should My Bathroom Ventilation Fan Be?

July 28, 2017

Everyday tasks like showering, bathing and shaving can put home-harming humidity into the air in your Zelienople home. There’s good news however—a modest bathroom ventilation fan can keep you from deformed wood, mold growth, broken drywall and other trouble associated with a humid bathroom.

Even if you have ventilation fans in your bathrooms, do you know if they’re the proper size? Are they as quiet and energy efficient as they could be? Knoechel Heating Company is here to answer your questions.

Today’s bathroom ventilation fans are small and sleek and they run more quietly and effectively than ever before. You’ll find a great range of selections, from classic fans that will get the job done to fans with built-in heat lamps, motion sensors and heat-exchanger ventilation that helps block warmed air from getting out through your ventilation. While you can find a lot of bells and whistles to choose from, the most imperative feature of your fan is whether or not it’s big 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 about the number of square feet in your bathroom. Therefore, if your bathroom is 5 feet by 8 feet, a CFM rating of 40 would be adequate.

If you have a taller ceiling, the equation gets a little more complicated. 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 follow HGTV’s advice for bathrooms larger than 100 square feet – establish 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 not sure if your bathroom ventilation fan is the correct size, or you know it’s the occasion for a new one, give the pros at Knoechel Heating Company at call at 724-425-5852. We’re here to help you ensure you have a ventilation fan that will drive hard to protect your home and keep it comfy.