Under the wrong conditions, the warm, moist air produced by showers and baths can be detrimental to your health and your home. High humidity creates the perfect breeding ground for mold and mildew. These indoor pollutants can trigger allergies, asthma, and other respiratory problems, and eat away at sheetrock and wall studs.
Installing a new exhaust fan—or replacing an old, inefficient one—will allow you to control the humidity level, head off damage, and remove odors from your bathroom. There are different types of bathroom fans to choose from so it’s a good idea to find the bathroom fan size and features to best fit your home. We’ve put together this guide to explain the different types of fans available and help you decide which is best for your home.
Moisture from hot showers, baths and other fixtures can accumulate on your bathroom walls, windows and cabinets. Without proper ventilation, this moisture can lead to mold and mildew growth, peeling paint, damaged wallpaper and warped walls and cabinetry.
An appropriately sized and installed bathroom exhaust fan will remove the moist air and prevent these problems. Plus, bathroom fans can help improve overall air quality and remove odors.
The best bathroom exhaust fans connect to your home’s existing vent ducts and channel the moist air outside. Some types of bathroom fans only vent moist air to the space in between your ceiling joists or into an attic. While easier and quicker to install, these bathroom fans can contribute to moisture damage elsewhere in your home in the long run. If your local building codes require an exhaust fan in bathrooms, then they also likely require that the fan vents air directly outside, rather than into other parts of your home.
We recommend always venting your fans to the outside and never into an attic or crawlspace.