Bathroom Design
Green and Clean: Ventilate for a Healthy Bathroom
Ridding your bathroom of excess moisture is vital for indoor air quality. Here's how to do it best
More than a pint of moisture is injected into your home's air during each shower. If not ventilated properly, that moisture and its potential mold and mildew can compromise your home's indoor air quality and structural integrity. Fear not, though — these design tools and techniques can rid that moisture, leaving you breathing easy.
You needn't be an extrovert to incorporate windows into your bath. Shutters allow airflow and modesty to coexist. Seek out shutters made of composite materials, rather than wood, that can hold up to the moist environment.
This bath smartly uses hopper windows placed well above eye level to achieve natural light, ventilation and privacy.
This bath has ample operable windows yet maintains privacy with obscured glass. Obscured glass comes in many different patterns, like etched, reeded or rain.
Look (up) to operable skylights for another way to introduce natural light and exhaust moist air. If your skylight is out of arm's reach, consider making its operation motorized to ensure you take advantage of its function.
A door from your bath to the exterior is a big design move that also provides lots of fresh air. If you lack access to a walkable surface outside, you can still have doors with a Juliet balcony — a false balcony with a railing mounted just outside the doors.
WhisperGreen-Lite Ventilation Fan
Exhaust Fans
However unsexy, mechanical ventilation via a bath fan is essential (and typically required by building codes) to properly remove moisture from your bath. Seek out Energy Star models, which ensure that the unit is energy efficient, effective and quiet. Panasonic's Whisper series is my go-to for quiet and effective exhaust fans. The WhisperGreen products are up to 871 percent more efficient than Energy Star standards, and they detect both motion and humidity, automatically turning on when someone enters or leaves the room, or when high humidity is sensed.
Consult with a licensed mechanical contractor to be sure your bath fan is sized properly for your bath and that it's properly vented to the exterior.
However unsexy, mechanical ventilation via a bath fan is essential (and typically required by building codes) to properly remove moisture from your bath. Seek out Energy Star models, which ensure that the unit is energy efficient, effective and quiet. Panasonic's Whisper series is my go-to for quiet and effective exhaust fans. The WhisperGreen products are up to 871 percent more efficient than Energy Star standards, and they detect both motion and humidity, automatically turning on when someone enters or leaves the room, or when high humidity is sensed.
Consult with a licensed mechanical contractor to be sure your bath fan is sized properly for your bath and that it's properly vented to the exterior.
Leviton Decora Electronic Countdown Timer
Exhaust Fan Timers
Bath exhaust fans should stay on for at least one hour after baths or showers to effectively remove excess moisture from your bathroom, as moisture lingers in damp towels, bath mats and even in your walls. A fan equipped with a timer will ensure the fan remains on as long as needed to exhaust moisture. Note that many timers have a 30-minute limit, so hit the switch a second time when you leave the room.
Tell us: How do you keep moisture and mildew at bay in your bath?
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A Window Above the Bathroom Sink: Feature or Flaw?
Bath exhaust fans should stay on for at least one hour after baths or showers to effectively remove excess moisture from your bathroom, as moisture lingers in damp towels, bath mats and even in your walls. A fan equipped with a timer will ensure the fan remains on as long as needed to exhaust moisture. Note that many timers have a 30-minute limit, so hit the switch a second time when you leave the room.
Tell us: How do you keep moisture and mildew at bay in your bath?
More:
Your Bath: Good Morning, Sunshine
A Window Above the Bathroom Sink: Feature or Flaw?
Ventilating your bath is ideally a two-fold approach of both a bath fan and operable windows. Operable windows not only ventilate, but also provide design value, views and natural daylight and help balance the air pressure in your home.