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Bathroom ceiling vent fan, heater, light combination (C) Daniel FriedmanBathroom Ventilation Fan Energy Costs vs Savings

How installing & using a bathroom exhaust fan can save on building energy costs

Bathroom exhaust fan energy costs versus savings:

This article explains how using a properly-installed bath vent fan can save on building energy costs. We also discuss air to air heat exchanging vent fan use. This article series on bath vent fan installation explains why bathroom vent fans are needed and describes good bath vent fan choices, necessary fan capacity, and good bath vent fan and vent-duct installation details.

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- Daniel Friedman, Publisher/Editor/Author - See WHO ARE WE?

How Proper Bath Vent Fans Save Energy & Lower Heating Bills

Bath vent over shower © D Friedman at InspectApedia.com Our photo at page top illustrates location of a bathroom exhaust vent over the shower stall - a location chosen to maximize the effectiveness of exhaust of moisture during shower use.

We used a GFCI circuit to assure safety for anyone changing bulbs in this fixture. In additional photographs below we illustrate the duct routing for this bath exhaust.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Sure, when a bath exhaust fan is running to remove unwanted excess moisture it is also removing warm air from the building.

But which do you think wastes more energy: the bath vent fan system shown at page top, venting outside through an insulated duct, or the box fan stuck in the window and blowing indoor air outside - shown at left?

Air to air heat exchangers and exhaust fans are available that can move air into or out of a building while keeping the heat (or cooling) indoors, but we suspect that such equipment is not cost-justified in a private residence.

An air to air heat exchanger ventilator may be very appropriate for a public building, large dormitory bathroom, or gymnasium.)

But using a properly vented bathroom vent fan wastes less heat than is lost by opening a bathroom window.

To remove the same amount of bathroom moisture as will be handled by a bath exhaust fan a window would need to be open considerably longer than the bath fan must be run.

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Reader Comments, Questions & Answers About The Article Above

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On 2017-05-03 - by (mod) -

The cost of electric to run continuously running bathroom fans is about $35 per year.

Good point, Anon, see this article on BALANCED VENTILATION

that avoids un-wanted heat loss or heat gain when ventilating a building.

On 2017-05-03 by Anonymous

The cost of electric to run continuously running bathroom fans is about $35 per year.

The much larger cost is the reheating or re-cooling of replacement air because of the air continuously exhausted.


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