What Size Should My Bathroom Ventilation Fan Be?

Ordinary tasks like showering, bathing and shaving can put home-damaging humidity into the air in your Abilene home. There’s good news though—a modest bathroom ventilation fan can save you from deformed wood, mold growth, broken drywall and other issues associated with a humid bathroom.

Even if you have ventilation fans in your bathrooms, do you know if they’re the correct size? Are they as soft and energy efficient as they could be? Abilene Air-Tech Inc is here to answer your questions.

Today’s bathroom ventilation fans are small and sleek and they work more quietly and efficiently than ever before. You’ll find a hefty range of choices, from average fans that will get the job done to fans with built-in heat lamps, motion sensors and heat-exchanger ventilation that helps avoid warmed air from getting out through your ventilation. While you can find a lot of bells and whistles to select from, the most important aspect of your fan is whether or not it’s full-sized enough to do its job.

Graded by the cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air they push, a bathroom ventilation fan should be able to replace the air in a bathroom at least eight times an hour. With a typical 8-foot ceiling, your ventilation fan should have a CFM rating about the number of square feet in your bathroom. Thus, if your bathroom is 5 feet by 8 feet, a CFM rating of 40 would be sufficient.

If you have a larger 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 straightforward, you can use HGTV’s tips for bathrooms larger than 100 square feet – determine 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 unsure if your bathroom ventilation fan is the right size, or you know it’s the occasion for a new one, give the professionals at Abilene Air-Tech Inc at call at (325) 692-5850. We’re here to help you make sure you have a ventilation fan that will work hard to care for your home and keep it comfy.