kitchen extractor fan in bathroom?

fotokat66

We are finally doing up our bathroom and are looking to replace the extractor fan. I would like to put a fairly powerful one in there, as the bathroom has suffered a lot with damp (looking into other possible causes, but seems to mainly be lack of air circulation).

The room is 2 x 2.5m and 2.2m high (making 11m3). We have a shower, so I've read that we should ideally get a fan which circulates the air 15 - 20 times per hour. This means we would want a fan with an extraction rate of 165 m3/hr minimum

The standard extraction rate bathroom fans seems to be around 85m3/hr which would not be enough. Much more realistic seem to be kitchen extractor fans which have a higher extraction rate. is there anything wrong with installing a kitchen extractor fan in a bathroom?

Screwfix, for example, sell a flush kitchen fan for just £16 ish which has an extraction rate of 230m3/hr - perfect!

I have searched around on the forums and can't find this info anywhere, so advice would be much appreciated..!

thanks.

TimBuckTeeth

Most bathroom fans have a low extraction rate because they are too small at 4 inches.
Depending on how close to the shower the fan is it will need to have a suitable IP rating (protection from water ingress) and if very close to the shower head might need to be a low voltage type.
Have a look at inline ducted fans, a larger fan can be mounted in ducting in the loft with a grill in the ceiling. They are more powerful and quieter than a wall mounted fan.

http://www.dealec.co.uk/acatalog/Xpelair_XID_Inline_Duct_Fans.html

http://www.dealec.co.uk/acatalog/xpelair_xidp_plastic_inline_duct_fans.html

delain

you have given me a bit of a giggle as when i read your post i imagined one of those huge extractor hood jobs above a toilet

need one of those with my OH around!

not too helpful sorry, but you made me smile

ormus

or fit two of the small bathrooms ones.

fotokat66

Will have a look at the inline ones, thanks. the bathroom is downstairs on an extension, so nothing above it (false roof for lighting).

The fan would go the other side of the room to the bath (I know that's probably not the best location but we're stuck for other places). The bathroom ones seem to 20W and kitchen 25W so not a massive difference.

And definately not one of the extractor hood types, although that would be funny delain!!

andyhop

You will require a centrifugal fan and not a axial to push that volume of air

A good bathroom centrifugal fan will set you back around £80 trade

The idea of fitting 2 fans is bonkers!

dampdaveski

fotokat,
I specified a fan for the same sort of reasons you state just last week.
the fan i'm going to use is an envirovent filterless extractor fan.
the beauty of this fan is that it is a 100mm fan, it is a centrifugal fan AND with the flick of a switch internally it can be turned into a kitchen fan ie it will extract upto 60 litres of air per second
Have a look on their website www.envirovent.com
I expect you will be able to buy one for around the £100 mark inc vat
I can give you a suppliers details if you want one :-)

mikey72

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/58483/Heating-Cooling/Extractor-Fans/Xpelair-SL150P-Axial-35W-Pullcord-Bathroom-Fan

ormus

andyhop wrote: »

......................

The idea of fitting 2 fans is bonkers!

that must be why commercial operators do it all the time.

andyhop

ormus wrote: »

that must be why commercial operators do it all the time.

As a commercially trained HVAC fitter this is standard practice in Commercial applications, These would be inine fitted fans and not surface mounted....They would als have large difussers to dampen/silence the noise from air movement

Xpelair and vent axia will do a single centrifugal fan thats capable of pushing most volumes of air over long distances for house applications

ixwood

You could just open the window during/after showering/bathing.