Your bathroom is undoubtedly the wettest place in your manufactured home.
In there, you have steamy showers, running sinks, flushing toilets, and sometimes, drips.
All these are obvious reasons why your bathroom has the highest humidity.
With such extreme moisture content come potential problems and health threats.
Most notable are molds and mildew developments.
Funky smells and peeling off of wall paint are other problems caused by high humidity.
Fortunately, proper ventilation in your bathroom is a sure way to avoid all these potential problems.
Installing an exhaust fan and keeping your bathroom door and windows open are some primary steps to take.
So, Should The Bathroom Door Be Closed When The Exhaust Fan Is On?
Yes. Keeping the bathroom door open when the exhaust fan is running ensures the fast drying of the bathroom. Bathroom exhaust fans operate by sucking up humid air and venting it out of the bathroom. This is made possible by the convection of air in the bathroom. Steamy air moves up and is removed by the fan.
Opening the bathroom door allows cold air in which completes the convection cycle. This dries your bathroom very fast. It is in our best interest to make sure you are in a safe and conducive home environment.
Here’s Why You Should Keep the Bathroom Door Open When the Exhaust Fan Is Running
Your bathroom accumulates a lot of steam and humid air when you are taking a shower.
Such conditions need to be checked by ensuring the moist air is cleared off. A sure way to do that is to keep the bathroom door open and the fan running.
You know why?
- It’s because the principle of convection is applied in the bathroom fan. Your bathroom fan blows out hot and humid air.
- Cold air is needed to complete the convection cycle. Opening the bathroom door paves way for cold air to come in.
- So to ensure a maximum flow of air and fast drying of the bathroom, keep the door open and the fan running. An open door also facilitates the removal of bad odors in the bathroom.
Is A Bathroom Exhaust Fan Effective?
As we had mentioned, bathrooms are a major source of humidity in your manufactured home. Under the moist condition, molds thrive very well. These can be disastrous to property and the occupants of your home.
Molds can destroy property where they infest. They can also cause allergic and respiratory ailments to the occupants of the room. Clearing them is also a tedious and equally expensive task.
Fans help to eradicate moist air in your bathrooms. This keeps mold and mildew growths at bay. Besides, they expel foul smell in the bathroom. They exhaust humid air hence keeping the bathroom dry and conducive.
What Do Bathrooms Fan Do?
What about bathroom fans? They have a great role to play in our bathrooms as well.
Our bathrooms may harbor humid, stale, and impure air.
Fans help in eliminating them.
When you take a warm shower, water tends to turn into steam.
This makes it very humid and stale. Installing fans help to remove this humid air.
That is why it is important to open your bathroom door for a while after taking a shower. It is a perfect order of events to ensure a healthy bathroom.
Exhaust fans in the bathroom also help to prevent paint peelings that are associated with excessive humidity.
Getting rid of humidity is also an efficient way to prevent potential molds developments in your bathroom.
Did we mention that fans help in eliminating the foul smell in the bathroom and prevent it from spreading to the rest of the rooms in your manufactured home?
How Long Should I Leave My Bathroom Fan Running After Shower?
The length of time you should leave the bathroom exhaust fan running is dependent on several factors.
First, to accelerate your results, we recommend keeping the bathroom door open.
There is some kind of convectional air currents and leaving the door paves way for fresh air in.
This will help with air circulation and eventual fresh environment in the bathroom.
The power of your bathroom fan and the size of the bathroom itself will dictate how long the fan should keep running after a shower.
You need to keep the fan running until all the steam has cleared off.
Thanks to modern fans which come with timers where you can time the duration you want it to run. Ideally, leaving it to run for half an hour is what we recommend from experience.
Chlorine gas is known to build up in the bathroom especially when you are on a hot shower.
Besides, steam will keep on accumulating.
It is, therefore, advisable to keep the exhaust fan running even when taking your shower.
It helps to reduce the amount of chlorine you inhale. Once you are done, leave the fun running and the door open for about half an hour.
Here Are Two Reasons Why You Should Not Leave the Bathroom Exhaust Fan the Whole 24 Hours
Leaving your bathroom fan running through the day and night is a mistake.
- First of all, it does you no good. What it does is that it will keep consuming electricity which will drastically raise your electric bill. Why not save on electricity by switching it on only when you need it to function.
- Bathroom fans can also cause a fire if left to run for this long. The fan’s motor could get heated up and trigger a fire. It is important to handle these preventable cases.
Using The Bathroom Exhaust Fan During The Winter Can Be Problematic
During the winter, the air is very cold.
As such, running the bathroom fan can be a little problematic.
This is because your fan will exhaust the humid air and replace it with very cold air. You will require to use more energy to heat the cold air in the room.
Principally, cold air is dry since its ability to hold moisture greatly drops. Opening the door or the window of your bathroom allows cold air in which consequently reduces the humid conditions in the room.
Choosing the Right Bathroom Exhaust Fan
While opening the door of your bathroom and keeping the exhaust fan running dries your bathroom fast, having a poor fan in a place compromises with the results. It is therefore important to install a quality fan for maximum results. Fans vent moist air and odors out of the bathroom.
There are many types of bathroom fans to choose from.
These include
- the simple box fans installed in the bathroom ceiling
- light fixtures fans
- heater, and light fixtures fans.
Wall-mount bathroom fans are also available.
A wall-mount bathroom is usually a smart choice if your bathroom does not have much ductwork. Most bathroom exhaust fans are designed with ducts running up the room and emitting the exhaust air.
Three Other Ideas That Will Dehumidify the Bathroom
Opening the bathroom door and keeping the exhaust fan dries your bathroom real quick. Additionally, you can add these helpful tips for better results.
1. Open Your Bathroom Windows
If your bathroom has windows facing the outside, opening them allows steamy air to move out.
Besides, windows will work with the bathroom door to allow cold air in and complete the convection cycle which turns out any moist air in the bathroom.
With bathroom windows, you only keep them open if the weather outside is fair enough. There are some cases where the humidity outside is far greater especially during rains and misty days. Opening your bathroom windows during such days is not going to help.
2. Mop The Bathroom Floor
Mopping the bathroom floor is a quick way to keep it dry after a shower. It also helps in eliminating potential mold development.
3. Closing the Bathroom Door
While opening the bathroom door dries it fast, there are some cases where you need to keep it closed.
- If the foul smell emanating from the bathroom escapes through the bathroom door, you will be prompted to close it.
- If the windows and doors of other rooms are open, movements of air could speed this up. It is not a common case but it is worth noting.
Final Thoughts
- Finally, keep your health and the safety of everyone in your manufactured home a priority by maintaining healthy conditions in the bathroom.
- The only way to keep the disastrous molds, mildew, and chlorine accumulations at bay in your bathroom is by maintaining it clean and dry.
- Opening your bathroom door and keeping the fan running ensures that it is dry.
- Apply these helpful tips and enjoy a worthwhile living in your manufactured home.