Saving Money with Bathroom Ventilation
Older bathroom ventilation systems consumed as much as 144 watts, which means that they can make your utility bills skyrocket almost uncontrollably. Aside from this, older systems were very noisy and annoying. Fortunately, newer models allow you to keep your bathrooms odor and moisture free with a library-like silence and using only around 4 watts. Imagine the difference! Let’s take a look how newer bathroom ventilation systems can save you more money.
How it Works
Before we look at how bathroom ventilation systems can save you money, let us first try to understand how they work. Generally, the center of the system if the bathroom fan. The fan is designed to suck out the warm air and moist steam from the bathroom to prevent condensation from forming.
The excess water generated by the steam can damage your tile surfaces and wooden finishes. Can you imagine the amount of damage you have to deal with? The good news is that you can avoid all of these by simply putting in a new bathroom fan or replacing your old one for only $100. This is an economical and long-term solution to your condensation problems.
Fan Switch
In general, a bathroom fan can either waste energy or save it. This all depends on how long the bathroom fan runs after your shower. The problem with turning it off too soon is that you allow humidity to stay in the air making your air conditioning system work harder than it should. Leaving the bathroom fan too long can draw outside air in also overworking your HVAC system. So what is the solution?
As most professional plumbing services would agree, installing a humidity switch will make the operation a lot simpler. The switch is capable of detecting the humidity level in your bathroom allowing the fan to run only as long as it is needed. How much will this cost? The switch itself should cost no more than $50 and replacing an old fan switch with this type should take no longer than an hour. If you cannot swing the $50 cost, get a timer switch instead. This costs almost half of the humidity switch and can be almost as effective provided that you set the timer correctly.
Shopping for a Fan
It is safe to say that bathrooms will differ vastly based on its shape, size, and type of construction. This is important to understand when shopping for a new fan. If you already have an existing bathroom, chances are you have a fan installed as well. Therefore, the duct work and electrical wiring including the switching power supply are already installed.
These are things you need to consider because you do not want to change the duct work needed to make sure that air flow is correctly achieved. You also do not want to re-wire your electricals just to accommodate the installation of a new bathroom fan. This is because these can significantly increase your expenses.
What you would want to do though is to ensure your safety. Have the existing electrical line checked for any crimped, damaged, or frayed wires. Have these replaced immediately in the course of the installation of the new bathroom fan so you do not incur additional charges. Unless there is something extensively wrong with the duct work or electrical wiring, then you do not have to worry about high labor costs for the installation of a new bathroom fan.
Usually a new bathroom fan can cost anywhere from $40 to $200 depending on the features you want as well as the quality of the product. When it comes to shopping for a new fan, getting the most expensive one is not always the best solution. This is because there are many high quality bathroom fans that are reasonably priced around $85 to $150 at the most.
To make sure that you are buying the right type of bathroom fan, have your bathroom looked over by a professional first. This should ensure that you save money on your bathroom ventilation while minimizing potential damage to your bathroom.