Bathrooms are smelly and wet because they are usually unventilated and closed-in. While smells are simply annoying, moisture is a real issue. This is because moisture can create possibly hazardous mildew and mold that can damage your trimmings, ceiling, and walls.
Your bathroom will surely benefit from a bathroom exhaust venting system. Before you go any further and install one, there are several questions you need to think about.
Important Questions About Bathroom Exhaust Fan Code Requirements
What kind of bathroom exhaust will be suitable for your bathroom? Do you know the bathroom exhaust fan code in your city or town? Are there specific requirements you need to meet regarding the exhaust fan and venting system?
Bathroom code addresses the problem of removing moisture and odor-filled air from bathrooms to the outdoors. Different municipalities have their specific requirements. However, some of these codes do not specify that the bathroom must have an exhaust fan.
This may come as a surprise to some people, but there is no hard line in making bathroom exhaust fans mandatory. In such areas, the municipality code also requires bathrooms to have ventilation. However, the ventilation may be from a window or exhaust fan as per your choice.
What Is Building Code?
Building code provides a set of rules specifying the expected standards for a non-building or building structure. The purpose of this code is to ensure that people’s health and safety are protected. A building code is a law for the particular area where it is applicable.
These regulations provide the model code that every community can adapt and adopt according to its own needs. To find out the code requirements for your area, you will have to check with the county or city office.
What Is The Bathroom Exhaust Venting Code?
The International Residential Code Section R303 discusses ventilation and light regulations overall. Section R303 works with Section M1507 of the International Residential Code, which discusses mechanical ventilation.
The planning and permitting department can give you the code requirements for bathroom exhaust fans. The code numbers for your locality may be different from the ones listed here. So you must check with your local office for the right code numbers.
Why Must Bathrooms Have Windows?
Section R303.3 of the International Residential Code states that bathrooms must have windows. When a community adopts this section, it means that all bathrooms must have windows for venting. The window has to be one that can be opened.
The code states that a bathroom window must have a specified total glazing area. This has to be a minimum of 3 square feet, or 0.3 square meters, and half of this has to be openable.
To summarize, if you choose to install a bathroom window for ventilation, its minimum area must be 3 square feet. The window should be such that it can open halfway. Out of the 3 square feet window space, the open window space should be 1 ½ square feet.
If you have a window in a bathroom that can be opened, it can provide excellent ventilation. But this is only true if your bathroom does not have a tub or shower. A bathroom without bathing facilities will have very little moist air.
While you can install a bathroom exhaust fan in your smoking room, you do not need to. Your powder room will do just fine with a window that can be opened for suitable ventilation.
Which Code Specifies That Bathrooms Need Exhaust Fans?
Section R303.4 of the International Residential Code specifies that bathrooms must have exhaust venting fans.
Some communities use Section R303.4 in place of Section R303.3. In this case, Section R303.3 may be excluded or struck-through. This may mean that according to the code applicable in the community, bathrooms must have exhaust fans. In this situation, a window on its own is not sufficient as a venting method.
In other cases, Section R303.4 may be used in addition to Section R303.3. It would help if you discussed this with your local permitting department to understand the rules applicable to you.
What Does The Code Say About Exhaust Air Terminal Points?
Section M1507.2 of the Residential Code provides specifications about the exhaust air terminal points.
The section states that the bathroom exhaust fan must expel the bathroom air outdoors. You can not send the air to another space indoors in the house or outdoors to another house. Additionally, you cannot move the bathroom air to an attic or crawlspace.
Although this appears to what anyone would do, homeowners sometimes direct the exhaust air to these locations. It is surely not a smart thing to do, but it is understandable. Crawlspaces and attics often provide a short route to vent to.
Taking a vertical vent to the roof or routing it through a wall to an outdoor place is invasive. It is also expensive and time-consuming. When the vent ends outside the house, it is important to add a screen or grille to prevent rainwater or animals from entering.
What Does The Code Say About Exhaust Capacity?
The Residential Code Section M1507.4 gives specifications about the exhaust capacity.
According to the code, the minimum capacity of the bathroom exhaust fan is 50 CFM intermittent or 20 CFM continuous. CFM stands for cubic feet per minute. To calculate the right sized exhaust fan you need to install, measure your bathroom and calculate the required CFM.
What Kind Of Light Will Your Bathroom Get?
The electrical code requires that all habitable rooms should have a switch-controlled light. Your bathroom will need both an exhaust fan for ventilation and artificial light to comply with this code.
A bathroom with a window gets two benefits from it; light and ventilation. If you decide to install only a bathroom exhaust fan, you will need artificial lighting.
Why Should Your Bathroom Have An Exhaust Fan?
Bathrooms need venting fans for more than simply getting rid of odors. While bad odors are bothersome, they are not life-threatening or harmful to the building structure’s integrity.
An exhaust fan in the bathroom is important for keeping a house safe from moisture and water. A bathroom has water everywhere, on the floor and walls, even on the mirror. There is even water in the bathroom air, in the form of moisture.
Bathroom exhaust is critical because it pulls air filled with moisture out of the small closed space. If you don’t have an exhaust fan, the moisture will start condensing on the ceiling and walls, even inside the ceiling.
Crawling above the ceiling of a poorly ventilated bathroom would be an unpleasant task. Years of moisture being stuck in a bathroom can lead to moldy insulation and weak rafters. The moisture may also spread to other parts of your house.
If the moisture starts affecting the wood framework of your house, you will have to act quickly. You will have to contact a good pest control service provider right away, and it will be expensive. You will also have to go through some extensive remodeling to fix the weakened structure.