Bathroom Extractor Fans - a DIY Guide

How to choose a bathroom fan, axial v centrifugal v inline, extraction rates, bathroom zones, isolator switches and a comparison of the UK's leading fans.

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0:00 Start
0:01 Intro
1:06 Buy Me a Coffee Plea
2:12 Why you need a Fan
4:09 How to choose a Fan
4:27 Axial Fans
5:14 Centrifugal Fans
5:50 Inline Fans
7:05 Extraction Rates
7:01 Fan Size
9:00 Calculating Extraction Rates
9:47 Ducting
11:00 Core Drill or Chiselling?
11:35 Backdraught Shutters
13:54 Air Starvation
14:20 Electrical
14:25 Switching
15:37 Isolator Switches
18:10 Bathroom Zones
19:48 Silent Tornado
20:35 Vent Axia Svara
25:10 How to Test your Fan

Today's Toolkit (UK)*

Extractor Fan World Resources

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LET'S CONNECT!
Charlie DIYte

#extractor #fan #guide

[misstakenot]

43dB is not "nearly twice as noisy" as 25dB - it's more. The Decibel scale is logarithmic, not linear. It's also likely that the measurement criteria are not consistent between manufacturers.

[kunid]

I respect how much effort you put into doing the research, explaining your rationale when faced with difficult choices, and the comprehensiveness of the videos. And most importantly, the absence of click-bait. Keep maintaining this level of quality ... for it's your USP compared to other channels YouTube. Best regards!

[tuongkhanhung]

*Works amazingly **Fastly.Cool** . I love all the features and the double expansion. For once a fan is almost as tall as my window. Updated but not overly fancy.*

[chrisohanlon]

Was amazed to find that my not very well maintained vent axia fan installed before I moved in in 2008 was still pulling a tissue. I must say I don't think I could be bothered with an app for a bathroom fan mine comes on with the light and turns off after a few minutes, which is perfect. Very informative video, thank you.

[simonturner]

Hi Charlie thanks for this. I’ve never imagined that I would’ve spent 20 minutes watching a video on bathroom fans. It was really informative and useful. I realise what I need is to replace a particularly useless fan that my builder installs in the loft. It currently has ducting all the way from the front of the house and vents out of a Event that looks more like it was designed for a soil stack, at the back of the house. I think it’s almost entirely useless and the ducting is in a really inconvenient position across my loft.. I now realise I need to install one of those tile vents at the front of the house and replace the fan with a decent one. It will be so much more efficient. I have an original 1920s roof with clay tiles. Paragraph the bit I need to install it in is hard to access because of the way the downstairs protrudes out. I wondered how easy it would be to insert the tile vent from the inside. The tiles are held in place with cement that is easily removed (it largely does so by itself bit by bit).Do you think I should just be able to slide the tiles around and remove the ones I need? As far as I can tell none of the tiles and the nailed in place.

[Spherian]

I'm putting my house up for sale, and the real estate agent who has seen it all, was very impressed with the caulking in the shower/tub which, of course, I did using your great instruction and profiling tool. You have increased the value, and I shan't soon forget it. 💎

[impamiizgraa]

What a comprehensive video. So grateful for this. I'm renovating with a shoestring budget (most of the work myself) this is the type of decision and work that you just never know what to do about but makes such a difference to your overall enjoyment of the final home. Thank you!

[gumboe]

An electrician fitted two inline fans, one for the main bathroom and one for the ensuite. He said he had a good idea to fit them upside down to the rafters so that it would be silent. Because the white thin flexible hose was used between the grill on the bathroom/ensuite side and to the fan it meant water was pooling in the flexible pipe and evaporating on the fan. This meant moisture ended up dripping out of the electrical part of the fan as it was mounted upside down on the rafter. I put it back on the joists in the loft (the right way up) and replaced the thin white flexible hose with some silver coloured insulated hose. No problems since then.

After watching this video I'm thinking of trying to connect the grille on the ceiling to the fan using straight white plastic ducting and covering it with the insulated flexible hose.

[evemaegoodman]

I bought the Svara after watching your Video Charlie (in black!) and it has been amazing ! So so silent on trickle mode and even on full speed it is extremely quiet ! The app adds so much more to customisation - we have one in the bathroom and one in the kitchen !

[Czechbound]

That was really great ! I hate having a shower - even in the winter - in a room where I can't open a window. But most people that I know have showers with the window closed, and then complain about the mildew on the walls. Cause. Effect. At least with a fan wired in a way so that it has to operate this helps to eliminate the mould problem. Though one couple I know in their new house ( with a timber frame roof and wall studs ) put old t-shirts in the wall vents in the their bedroom, living room and en suite as they hated "feeling cold". When I told them the house has to breathe - it's not like a concrete apartment, and that their roof could rot, they said they didn't care ...

[paulb]

This is amazing, thanks so much for going to the effort of researching and explaining this. My bathroom has slowly been developing humidity over the years and now I understand why. I think I’m in love with you.

[mstatham]

I put an 150mm in-line fan with pvc ducting into my shower with the vent positioned above my shower. I left my old bathroom wall fan in place but switched off, to allow air inlet. The results transformed my bathroom eliminating 99% of condensation. No more Mold, and my painted walls remain in fantastic condition 3 years on!

I run the fan at medium speed option, as it is much quieter

[amwphotos]

Did you consider getting one of the heat exchanger extractors? Youve done so much work to make the rest of the house well insulated, seems amiss to leave a window open or blow all that warm air outside. Thorough video!

[smokinjoe]

This is such a well put together and informative video, I feel like I can take on the world when it comes to bathroom extractors now. Thank you very much.

[Playingbyear]

Thanks Charlie. That tornado looks suspiciously like a rebadged Soler & Palau silent 100, which is what your previous fan was too (envirovent silent 100). BTW, the S&P silent is available in 5” (125) and 6” (150) models. These fans are the best by far in suction tests, I bet they'd outperform the vent axia you tested. Best solution as you say is an inline fan in the attic - these are more akin to professional HVAC fans than crappy manrose ones installed in new builds by builders looking to install the bare minimum. I'll be installing S&P / envirovent (same thing) again, I reckon they punch well above their weight.

[neelmistry]

Any one in the London area who has watched this video through to the end? I'm based on Bow (E3) and have a windowless bathroom in a new development. I require a new fan (long ducting), something that stays on when I switch off the light and is more powerful than the one Linden Homes installed. I currently have issues with mold. If you're keen to help, please respond to this comment and I'll contact you directly. Thanks. Also thanks a ton Charlie! Best video online! instant Subscribe.

[mishabruml]

Thank you for this video!

I replaced the horrible old inline fan and ducting run that wasn't working as it was a total bodge job, and had caused a lot of mould in the bathroom that sadly had been painted over by the vendor before we purchased the house.

I purchased a Tornado TT100PROT Turbo Tube from Extractor Fan World after your recommendation, and its really good, and the customer service/support I got from them on the phone was also really good so thanks for that!

The fan itself is of good build quality, the only niggle I have is the screws for the electronics enclosure are really cheap, poor quality screws the heads stripped very easily. I replaced them with some similar dimension pozi screws I had lying around, which makes for a much better enclosure seal as I can tighten the screws adequately, without fear of stripping the head.

The install itself was simple, although time consuming given the confined space and damp dark conditions in the loft. I used an existing showerlite fitting in the ceiling as the intake, and installed a new grille vent in the fascia for the exhaust. I installed an inline backdraft valve in the exhaust side of the ducting run. For the run itself, I used solid 100mm PVC pipe for the majority, as this improves airflow and reduces water pooling as there is less nooks and crannies for the steam to catch and condense on. I used a short section of flexible ducting to make the bend from vertical to horizontal. I used jubilee clips on all the joints to make sure they are good and sealed, and then I wrapped all the ducting in plenty of insulation; I used some leftover loft insulation first, fixing in place with long cable ties, and then a layer of foil bubble wrap insulation to seal it all up, again fixed with long cable ties.

Pro tip from my dad: the fan itself is not mounted to a joist, but suspended from the rafters with some used bike inner tubes. This acts as a damping system, reducing the noise and vibration of the fan. As a result, the fan is very quiet, you can only really hear the whirring noise of the blades spinning, rather than echoey mechanical noise reverberating through the house as I have experienced before.


Now I just need to finish treating the mouldy ceiling, repainting and sealing it in, replacing the horrible old bulkhead light with something from this side of the millenium, and the bathroom will be looking good.

[blackmac]

Really appreciate the effort and time put in to the video, especially about the 2/3 core wiring. I wasn't aware of that.

[davidramsay]

Great video that provides an abundance of information. I like the extraction above the shower with the inline fan in the loft space to avoid electrical issues and conflict with code. This maximises steam extraction before it condenses onto cold surfaces away from the shower also extracted air after the showering with a 10 to 15 min timer passes from least damp to most damp before extraction maximising evaporation. Ultimately I am preparing for a Whole house mechanical ventilation with heat exchanger to permanently exchange damp air from the bathrooms and kitchen via a heT exchanger for dry fresh. Air into the bedrooms and apartments.

[rodgerq]

Good info, I'm doing a bathroom just now and the existing fan is so noisy so it'll need to go. As a side note, I also intend to fit one of those inline fans in my garage workshop and vent it out an air brick in order to remove airborne dust. Seen it suggested by Mike on the 10 square metre workshop channel.