When people think about remodeling their bathroom, they dream of soaking tubs, marble tile, and fancy fixtures—not bath fans. But planning for a well-ventilated bathroom is easily the most important decision you need to make.
A key player in your home’s Indoor Air Quality
Your bath fan can play a key role in your home’s indoor air quality (IAQ) by exhausting more than one room at once, controlling moisture, operating automatically and continuously running at a low level. Because bathrooms create so much moisture in a home, it is important to quickly exhaust the moist air to the outside before it condenses on the walls, ceiling and windows.
Efficient air movement means a properly sized fan, a short duct run, smooth-walled ductwork, few or no elbows in the ducting and a damper that doesn’t restrict airflow. More complicated bathrooms require more fans: one for the water closet, one for the jet tub, one for the shower, etc. The size fan that you need may increase for complicated duct runs.
The right fan to overcome remodeling hurdles
Efficient exhausting is even more challenging when part of a remodel because you don’t always have the flexibility to put the fan where you want to. Duct runs may need to be longer and have more elbows in a retrofit design than could be in a new-construction design. Available space above the ceiling could also be a concern as many fans on the market are too deep to fit in some ceiling cavities.
After figuring out fan placement and duct layout, consider how the fans will be operated — manually, automatically, semi-automatically or continuously. The answer depends on what you want to achieve with your whole-house ventilation strategy. With the right fan, a clear exit strategy and versatile control center, a quiet little bath fan can be the centerpiece of your renovated bathroom and comfortable home.
Panasonic has an array of fans that can be the easiest part of your remodeling project, including the new WhisperSense® line with:
• Built-in motion sensor automatically turns on when you enter the room. No more forgetting to turn the fan on with this worry-free, hands-free technology.
• Built-in humidity sensor detects rapid rise in relative humidity. Set from 30-80%; when the humidity level drops below the set point by 5%, the timer engages and turns the fan off in the set time, automatically removing moisture and preventing mold and mildew growth.
• Built-in adjustable delay timer can be set from 30 sec. to 60 min. and activates when motion is no longer detected or humidity drops below preset levels.
• Factory setting: Humidity sensor at 50%; delay-off timer at 10 minutes.
• Pick-A-Flow Speed Selector (50-80-110 CFM) along with SmartFlow™ Technology simplifies the selection process and ensures optimum performance to meet code and reduce callbacks.
• Flex-Z Fast bracket for flexible, fast, trouble-free installation, even from below the ceiling.
Visit any Dominion Electric Supply counter location or call your salesperson for details.