How to Fight the Bathroom Mold Invasion with a Bathroom Fan

Mold likes moisture. Keep bathroom mold out of your home with a properly installed bathroom fan. Turn it on while showering and bathing and leave it on until all the moisture has been taken outside.

Got bathrooms? Get fans! Fight the bathroom mold invasion with a bathroom fan. It’s your best weapon.

Mold likes moisture. Every time someone takes a steaming, hot shower on a cold, frosty fall morning, the bathroom fills with a fog of moist air, creating the perfect environment for mold. Moisture in the air collects on the ceiling and walls. Enough moisture is collected to form tiny drops of water that can penetrate bathroom walls and ceilings, even cracks and crevices around electrical outlets and molding. Damp wood, paper-faced wallboard, paint resins and paper-faced fiberglass insulation make the ideal food for dreaded mold.

What is the best way to fight bathroom mold?

The answer is simple. Properly install a vent fan.A properly installed bathroom fan is the best way to fight bathroom mold.

• Duct the fan to the outside of your home.
• Use a spray foam or caulk to seal leaks around the opening for the fan in the ceiling.
• Cover the fan with attic insulation.

How does a bathroom fan work in the fight against mold?

The bathroom fan’s job is to move the fog of moist air to the outside of your house before it condenses. Once condensation collects in the bathroom it can penetrate materials making them the ideal food for mold when wet. Today’s homes cannot pass building codes without a bathroom fan installed. They call it “active ventilation.”

But guess what? Just because a bathroom fan is installed, even properly, doesn’t mean it will do its job to prevent moisture from collecting on the ceiling and walls. It can only do its job when you turn it on during bathing and showering. And it must be kept on until all the moist air has been moved outside, too.

Note: Does your bathroom fan move moist air into your attic? If this is what is going on in your home, make a change. Allowing moist air to blow into the attic only serves to encourage mold to grow in another place inside your home. Moist air in the attic will condense and collect on the wood rafters. And remember, damp wood is an ideal food for dreaded mold!

To Help You in Your Fight Against Bathroom Mold

Turn the bathroom fan on each time you enter the bathroom and flip the light switch on. If the fan is controlled by the same switch that operates the bathroom’s main light fixture, the fan will always be on when someone is bathing or showering, whether it is needed or not.

Install a fan that is controlled by a humidistat. This handy device measures the humidity level in the bathroom. When the humidity reaches a preset level, the humidistat will turn the bathroom fan on. It will also turn the fan off when the humidity level drops to the preset level.

If mold is already a problem, you need to make sure you have a properly installed bathroom fan that is moving moist air OUT of your home. Next, get rid of the mold! Check out the EPA’s guide for mold cleanup. Visit this mold learning center for even more information on mold.

Click these links, Broan or Panasonic, for quiet and energy-efficient bathroom fans.

Are you well equipped to fight bathroom mold? Improve your home’s indoor air quality. Take humidity, odors, and other pollutants outside with a properly installed bathroom fan for a clean and mold-free home. Call Blue Frost Heating & Cooling at (630) 444-0860 for proper installation of a ventilation fan today.

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