Full ventilation is necessary in any room. In the bathroom - first of all, since there is high humidity and, as a rule, there is no possibility of natural ventilation. In urban houses, an exhaust hole is necessarily provided in the bathroom. But it works effectively only in cold weather, due to the temperature difference in the street and in the house. In summer, the natural hood is non-functional. And if the house is old, the ventilation shaft is clogged, which interferes with the free passage of air mass in the winter too. To ensure normal air exchange, forced draft is required, which creates a fan for drawing in the bathroom.
Features of ventilation of the bath and toilet
The specifics of the bathroom and toilet:
- aggressive microclimate - high temperatures, temperature changes, humidity, spray, water vapor;
- unpleasant odors;
- small space;
- “Non-breathing” materials for wall cladding;
- most often there are no windows.
In the absence of adequate ventilation, the air in the room becomes suffocating, mold and fungus grow on the surfaces, pathogenic bacteria multiply, and the materials of walls and floors are destroyed.
Types and features of fans
Structurally, fans are:
- axial. The working unit is a blade impeller in a cylindrical housing. The reverse side, it is attached to the rotor of the electric motor, rotates when power is supplied. The blades are inclined with respect to the axis of rotation, they draw air to the axis. Outside the impeller is closed by a grate. The size of the device corresponds to the size of the opening of a standard hood. The efficiency of this model is quite high, 100 cubic meters per hour, but a small pressure. Another minus is a lot of noise during operation (up to 50 decibels);
- radial. The rotating wheel is located in a spiral casing. The form of the working body is a barrel with parallel blades. The blades draw in air, distill it into the casing. In the chamber, the air is compressed and moves further along the internal channel to the discharge opening. The blades can bend in both directions, back and forth. Depending on this, air is drawn in on one side or two. Fans with backward blades are considered more economical: they consume less electricity and successfully compensate for high loads when pumping a large amount of air. Models with forward blades work quieter and more compactly, they have smaller wheel size and lower engine speed;
- Duct (centrifugal) are usually used in large rooms, from 15 squares. These are powerful devices that work quietly. Distill the air from the bathrooms to the ventilation duct network. Air duct - rectangular or round section. The fan is installed in or near the inlet.
Attention: when the fan is located at the inlet to the duct, an additional anemostat must be installed to prevent moisture from being drawn into the device.
How to choose
The main selection criteria are performance, noise level, moisture resistance. Additionally - the ability to configure, automatic control (in this case, the price of the device will be higher).
Productivity (consumption) is measured in cubic meters per hour. On average, it is about 100 cubic meters. Depends on the power. The higher the flow rate (and, accordingly, the fan power), the greater the cost of electricity. The optimal value of this indicator is defined as follows: you need to measure the volume of the room in cubic meters and multiply by the number of circulation cycles per hour. Recommended number of cycles for the bathroom: 6 - with a small number of users, 8 - for a family of more than three people.For the toilet - 6-10 (also depends on the frequency of visits). The device is bought with a small margin of power compared to the calculated one.
The maximum permissible noise level is 35 decibels, moreover, the volume causes serious discomfort. The recommended number for bathrooms is up to 30 decibels, and if the device is to be used at night - 25. You can lower the volume by installing a silencer behind the working body and gluing the air ducts from the inside with insulating materials. Silencers exist in the form of plates or pipes. When installing a silencer or insulating the air ducts, care must be taken that the working clearance does not decrease much, otherwise air plugs will form.
Waterproofing is a safety issue for the device. When water or condensation enters the conductive part of the fan, a short circuit occurs. To exclude such situations, a special valve is installed above the air inlet - an anemostat. Thanks to this valve, the steam at the inlet condenses, the condensate settles on the anemostat filter.
Each model is assigned a dust / moisture protection class IP. The standard indicator is not less than 34. This means that splashes of water and solid particles over 2.5 millimeters do not get inside the device.
A standard option for connecting a fan is through a light switch. The disadvantage of this method: when the light is off, the fan will not work either. The presence of an automation model implies that the device is turned on / off by a signal from humidity / temperature sensors, regardless of light and without user intervention.
Another convenient automatic function is a timer: the device turns on and off in accordance with the time settings, i.e. works until the humidity drops to acceptable values.
