How much fresh air is needed?
Construction of ventilation or modernization of the existing system is preceded by an analytical phase, which consists of determining the rates of air exchange. For different zones in the apartment this parameter is different. In the network there are a lot of handy calculators and programs for the most accurate calculation, taking into account all the features, but you can use the average values, according to which:
- For residential areas air exchange should be at least 30 m3 /h per person. If the living area is less than 20 m 2 per person, it is necessary to provide an air exchange of 3 m 3 per each square meter of the room;
- In the kitchen, the air exchange should be 90 m3 /hour if you use a gas stove with 4 burners, and 60 m3 /hour with an electric stove;
- for the bathroom air exchange of 50 m 3 / hr in the combined bathroom and 25 m 3 / hr for bath and toilet separate.
If your apartment has a fireplace or stove, air exchange rates increase.
Estimate the size of your room
Don’t make the same mistake as millions of ventilator buyers, don’t look at the wattage without first estimating your living space.
You need to choose a fan based on the size of the room in which you are going to use it. You have to admit that it makes no sense to buy a very powerful device for a small room? You are more likely to be uncomfortable with it. You can judge the uselessness of a weak device in a large room, in which case it is better to splurge on a more powerful device. Do not forget about the fact that cheap fans are usually flimsy during operation, they produce a lot of extraneous noise.
If you are now sitting there thinking “how can I afford a big fan in a small room??”, remember that a powerful device always makes a lot of noise. Ready for the humming sound right over your ear? Unlikely. It won’t be as noticeable from a distance.
It’s best to put it in the middle of the room or by an open window so that the hot air is immediately cooled. For personal cooling the table version is used. As we have said before, a container of ice by the fan will increase its effect.
- Not to let warm air into the house.
- Create shade.
- Light textiles are more effective than dark textiles in the summer.
- Proper ventilation.
- Limit the use of electrical appliances.
- Humidify the air.
- Get the most out of your fan
How to choose a fan for the bathroom and toilet
Seems simple, decided that you need a fan, go to the store and buy. But only cats are born quickly. There’s a big surprise in the store with a bunch of different kinds and models. There are dozens or even a couple of hundreds of them And you’ll hang over the question of which fan to put in the bathroom?
It’s no wonder. Different types, power, models, installation methods, characteristics of the devil in this variety of technical progress in the field of ventilation. It’s hard for salespeople to figure out if the assortment is huge.
That’s why we’ve made a guide to bathroom fans. To make your task easier and help you quickly buy the right equipment. And first, let’s deal with the general characteristics of fans for the bathroom
Axial, centrifugal what does it mean
This type or type of fan. It speaks to the design of the equipment and its operation.
Axial fan is a vane impeller in a casing. The impeller is driven by a motor on whose rotor it is mounted. The blades are tilted inward relative to the placement plane, they draw in air well and move it in a straight line. That is why this type is called an axial fan. It has a good efficiency, medium noise level and is mainly used for bathroom installations.
The centrifugal fan is different. The air is sucked in by a turbine with blades. Inside the housing, the flow is wound into a spiral and is accelerated by the centrifugal force. The flow does not exit in a straight line, but at a 90 degree angle in a special device volute. A centrifugal fan is also called a radial fan.
Less powerful than axial, but can deliver flow at varying pressures. The noise level is low or medium, depending on the direction of the bend of the rotor blades. With a front bend makes less noise, with the rear one is stronger, but it saves energy.
Overhead or duct
Ventilation equipment is available for outdoor installation and for indoor installation. Outdoor type of installation is mounted on the wall or ceiling at the outlet of the ventilation hole in the shaft or in the pipe system. Duct fan is built-in equipment that is put inside the ventilation duct (duct). Ventilation duct systems are built of metal or plastic. For bathrooms, plastic duct systems are more commonly used, such as those from Vents.
Often there is an exit to a ventilation shaft in the bathroom. For bathroom exhaust, put a duct with an intake grille. The ventilation hose is pulled up to the sump window. Duct fan with an extra grille is installed in the toilet. Exhaust simultaneously takes air from the entire bathroom and sends it to the ventilation shaft of the house. By design, outdoor and duct fans make both axial and centrifugal.
Choosing a fan in the bathroom by power
The power level or capacity of the fan is one of the main characteristics. In fact, it is used to choose the extractor, paired with the construction (axial/centrifugal). Performance tells how many cubic meters of air the fan pumps per hour 100, 200, 300.
To choose the right power, you need to calculate the volume of the bathroom and multiply it by 8. The eight indicates the sanitary requirement for the number of air changes per hour. Simply speaking, the fan must pump the volume of your eight bathrooms. Then it will be clean, beautiful and no mold.
How to calculate the volume? Very simply take the length of the room, width, height of the ceiling, multiply and we get the required number. Multiply that by eight and you have the minimum wattage.
Choosing a fan in the bathroom by noise level
It is clear that the hoods are noisy, but not particularly strong. If you want a really quiet one, get an axial model from the Silent line. They have a motor mount on silent blocks, which dampens noise and vibration. Among the quiet ones you can choose a model with a noise level of even 22 dB.
The centrifugal ones are louder because the turbine blows air under pressure. But they also make average noise, about the same as a computer cooler. It doesn’t prevent you from watching movies, listening to music or playing games. So the fan will be just a background if you are in the bathroom when it is on.
Best fan placement to move air through the house
Which fan in the bathroom or toilet is better reviews of additional functions
Modern appliances can do a lot, and fans are produced with different additional functions. Their list includes:
- Additional sensors. They measure humidity or react to movement.
- Off timer. You can set a time delay on it, the minimum is 2 minutes, the maximum is 30 minutes.
- Indicator lights. Lights up while the fan is running.
- Lanyard switch. Can turn on and off the vent at the right time. For example, when you take a shower or bath. That is, when the bathroom light comes on, the fan does not start automatically.
- Automatic blinds. They are used to close the ventilation grille after the duct fan is turned off.
- Check valve. Its main task is to prevent penetration of unwanted odors from the ventilation shaft.
According to feedback from our customers, most often take the model with humidity sensors and timer shut-off. The non-return valve that blocks the air flow from the shaft or duct back to the fan has already become a part of the construction. Very rarely it is sold separately and is considered an optional extra.
Degree of moisture protection
All bathroom fans have increased moisture protection in the range of 4-5, dust protection can be either zero or 3-4. In the passport of the equipment will be specified IP X4, 34, 44, 45.
We got the characteristics, now let’s talk about the range.
drumsmen
We always look forward to summer, dreaming of picnics, cold drinks and carefree reading in a hammock. But summer has two sides of the coin. It comes suddenly, bringing with it the exhausting heat, from which you can not get rid of even at night, which prevents a good night’s sleep. Put a bowl of ice in front of the fan.
There’s one trick that will keep you fresh all night. Place a bowl of ice in front of the fan. The air flow will draw water from the surface of the ice, so you will create an air conditioning effect.
Set aside sateen, silk and polyester bedding for cooler winter nights. But cotton underwear is a great find for summer: it will breathe and give you the ventilation you desire.
Put a bowl of ice in front of the blower.
Point a fan through the window, so the hot air can escape outside. You’ll love the effect!
Whether it’s worth sleeping without clothes is debatable. Some people think that’s how they ensure they stay completely cool, while others think the clothes save them by absorbing sweat. The choice is yours, but if you like to sleep in your pajamas, choose the roomiest, shortest and cotton ones.
To cool down very quickly, put an ice pack or a towel soaked in cold water on your wrists, neck, elbows, ankles and knees.
Sad as it may seem, it is better to sleep in the heat in complete and proud solitude. Your body heat will increase from cuddling with your partner, and the bed will never become a cool oasis. And when all the space is yours, try falling asleep in the starry position. Many people find it helps, because it aerates the body as much as possible, but it doesn’t work for everyone.
A glass of cool water before bedtime will help you get rid of the dehydration that comes over you from sweating profusely and constantly moving around the bed in search of a cooler place. It doesn’t hurt to have a glass of water on your bedside table so you can freshen up a bit at any time.
Hot air rises upward, so try to lie as close to the floor as possible. If possible, set up a hammock or try to make a simple bed on the floor. Remember, just like when you were a kid? Lay straw or bamboo mats instead of sheets, they are perfectly ventilated and do not retain heat as well as mattresses, blankets and down pillows in a classic bed.
A cool shower will lower your body temperature before you go to bed.
Turn off lights in the house as early as possible so that the heat from light bulbs does not spread everywhere. It can also be a great excuse to have a romantic dinner every evening or sit in a soft chair with your favorite book in the soft light of candles.
Hang a wet sheet in front of the window.
This will keep you cool for a while.
Avoid using the stove and oven so you do not heat the room even more. In the heat, you usually don’t want to eat is a natural reaction. Try to have lighter dinners: fruit and vegetable salads, cold snacks. The body will not produce as much heat to digest them as it does for meat and poultry.
Dip your feet into cool water to cool your whole body down quickly. We recommend putting a basin of water next to the bed so you can get a wave of freshness at any time.
Turn off appliances for the night as they produce heat.
If you live in a detached house, camp outside and sleep in a tent. This is not so easy, easier said than done. You might get attacked by mosquitoes and other critters. But you can plan ahead. There’s nothing like spending summer nights outdoors!
Buy a pillow filled with buckwheat.
It’ll help on hot nights. You can buy a pillow filled with buckwheat, which does not absorb heat like a feather pillow. And for a cold compress, fill a sock with rice, tie it up, and keep it in the freezer for an hour or so. The compress will stay cold for 30 minutes enough to put you to sleep.
Make a draught in the evenings: open all the windows and the front door to chase all the warm air out of the room.
Get fresh air in with air inlets.
There are different models of dampers that differ in their functionality and price. There are simple, designed only to supply air from the street into the inside of the room, and there are more complicated, with the function of heating it in the cold season.
Supply air valve without heating function is best mounted above the radiator. Thus cold air coming into the room will be mixed with the warm air from the radiator, and therefore heated.
There are also air inlets that are installed on plastic windows. Installation of such a valve should be discussed at the stage of ordering a window, since this procedure is quite time consuming. But if you have the desire and tools, you can install it yourself. Information on its installation can be found on the Internet.
Exhaust fans on 12 V DC
In the mentioned model the noise level is attractive in the first place. It is. can not believe our eyes. only 26.5 dB. Extremely quiet model, able to work quietly even at night. According to the law, the noise level for darkness is allowed 30 dB, which is more than the mentioned figure. We believe that the specified characteristics are achieved due to the direct current supply. No harmonics and inrush. no noise.
The second attraction is the capacity. 95 cubic meters per hour. The specifications indicate a power of 13 watts at 2400 rpm. The authors were not lazy to copy the data from the official corporate manual, where in spite of the absurdity with the class of protection against electric shock, interesting data are given. You can see from the chart that the capacity of 95 cubic meters is provided only if there is no resistance of the medium.
To check the required 50 cubic meters is easier to use anemometer. Anemometer is a small case in the manner of a multimeter, in the upper part there is a round hole where there is a paddle that measures the flow velocity. To conduct the experiment, you need to slightly modify the design. The idea is as follows:
- Usually the door to the bathroom is closed. The fan has to overcome the resistance of all slots.
- We recommend to open the door and to put a funnel in the inlet of the extractor fan. Make of plain paper, so that the narrow part was the diameter of the anemometer hole, and the wide part covered completely the diffuser (grille). Seal the gaps.
- The rest is not too difficult. Simply turn on the fan, open the bathroom door slightly (5-7 cm gap) and measure.
Usually the anemometer shows the speed. Often used to estimate wind strength on construction sites. Let’s say, a tower crane is afraid of bad weather, if the situation is pressurized, it is necessary to fold the mahin. Most anemometers are made in China, do not be surprised if the measurement error is given, for example, for the range of 10 30 m/s. Exactly in the case of a tower crane. Everything below is just shown on the display, with no guarantee of accuracy.
It is possible to leaf through the manual, but we do not think that an infinitely low tolerance is required. To increase accuracy, it is much easier to conduct a full-scale experiment: to use the bathroom for its intended purpose with the exhaust fan on. If there are no complaints, the device is chosen correctly. It is acceptable to test in advance if the exhaust fan is suitable. Usually stores don’t mind exchanging the product without any signs of use. It is quite possible to find a range that is set to size and has progressive power.
If the only extractor does not have enough power, it is better to replace it. Of course you will need to discuss such a possibility with the seller in advance.
Let’s continue to take apart the SolerPalau models. To add:
- The low noise level is obtained not only by the use of an asynchronous motor but also with special shock absorbers. It is important to periodically dismantle and lubricate the extractor fan. Maintenance is by ear: the noise of the blades begins to be noticeably annoying. The effect is eliminated if the exhaust fan is disassembled, the blades are cleaned, and oil is put on the rotor axis on both sides.
- How to get a 12V power supply for the fan. The product under discussion comes directly with a transformer. A person who avoids such topics may wonder if the current is alternating or constant. The transformer is usually galvanically isolated, it cannot be operated at DC voltage. At the same time the seller’s information states the following. Yes. The C12/14 transformer gives out an AC voltage of 50 Hz. If you straighten it, the fan will not work. We clarify the fact that you can buy transformers (AC) and power supplies (DC) under the DIN rail. The difference is huge, asynchronous motors are categorical to the type of power. The current is expected to be alternating. In other cases, other types of motors are used, with a slip ring, which reduces the service life and increases the noise level.
There are many types of fans. They differ in different parameters and characteristics. In addition, depending on their design, installation technique may differ. And this should be taken into account when choosing a fan for the bathroom.
Classification of fans
Axial fans. the most simple in design, compact and suitable for installation in the bathroom. They are so called because the captured air moves along the axis of rotation of the rotor and in the same direction goes out.
According to the power of household bathroom fans are divided into three types.
By place of installation distinguish wall and ceiling fans. Wall-mounted are fixed horizontally to the bathroom wall, easy to install. Ceiling fans are mounted more in private homes, where ventilation goes first to the attic, and then to the roof.
Household fans are also available as overhead and duct fans. Overhead mounted mounted at the entrance to the ventilation duct. Duct systems are installed inside the ducts.
Blowers are equipped with additional elements:
- switch-off timers;
- by humidity sensors;
- Backlighting;
- motion detectors;
- lanyard switches;
- check valves;
- automatic blinds.
The owner of an apartment or a house must himself determine which of the additional services he needs, and which it is quite possible to abandon. This is important, t. к. each such option is accompanied by an increase in the price of the product.
Fan calculation
It is equally important to choose a fan for the bathroom with the right power, because electricity is now expensive and constantly growing in price. That’s why everyone saves.
To determine the air volume, multiply these numbers. It turns out 6.1 m³. According to sanitary standards, the volume of air is supposed to be replaced 8 times per hour. So 6.1 x 8 = 48,8 m³/h. Adding for a reserve of 20%. So 48,8 x 0,2 = 9,76
So, to install in this visit is suitable fan with a spigot diameter of 100 mm and a capacity of 100 m ³ / hr, as devices with less power are not available.
Is it necessary to ventilate a “deaf” room, and why??
A ventilation system in a room without windows must be installed, there are no other ways to maintain optimal microclimate and air exchange. If the ventilation is not equipped, the following problems can occur:
- Stale air in the room due to its stagnation. In this case, the air from the blind room can go into the bedroom, the kitchen, the study. that is, throughout the whole apartment, which is already dangerous to the health of people living there (if we are talking about dwellings).
- The appearance of dampness (possibly due to the fact that there is no air exchange).
- As a result of the problems described above, mold can appear. Harmful microorganisms rot wooden surfaces, spoil things and products stored in the room.
Is ventilation necessary for such serious potential problems. yes, it is necessary, regardless of whether it will be a living space or not.
