Bath extractors: main types and characteristics

In a building or home that has a mechanical ventilation system that uses fans to enter or extract air in the building, it has extractors in the bathrooms. These rooms are humid, odors and high amounts of steam are generated and it is therefore essential to ventilate them properly.

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In a case of mechanical ventilation that has natural admission (through grilles or openings, usually above the windows), the extraction is performed mechanically in wet areas: kitchens and bathrooms. In addition, bath extractors can be used in any other system that has mechanical or mixed type admission.

Due to the characteristics of the location, the use of bath extractors is fundamental to guarantee adequate comfort and sanitation conditions, since in the bathrooms there is a high level of indoor air pollution. The appearance of odors and high levels of humidity, due to the production of water vapor, makes it essential to perform good ventilation in the room. These special characteristics of the location determine the constructive and operative requirements that these teams must have in order to be able to act effectively.

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TYPES OF BATH EXTRACTORS

The bath extractors must be able to operate in high humidity conditions without any deterioration or anomalies in the operation. This means that they must have an adequate protection index (IP), in addition to integrating, whenever possible, characteristics to ensure a low level of noise, absence of vibrations and high energy efficiency. The protection index (IP) will be IP44, IP65 or IP67 depending on the location of the equipment inside the bathroom.

Depending on the type of installation, the extractor can have a centrifugal type fan or a helical type fan:

• The equipment centrifugal fans are indicated in those locations where you have to beat a high pressure loss in pipes and fittings. The use of a centrifugal impeller allows to overcome the pressure loss that occurs in conduits of a long length. These extractors are used in bathrooms where a duct of a significant length must be installed until reaching the air evacuation area.
• The systems of axial or helical type do not allow to overcome so much loss of load and are used in direct installations to facade or with conduits of small length.

In addition to meeting these operational requirements, bathroom extractors must be prepared to provide the highest level of safety to users. Depending on the location of the bathroom in which they are installed, they can be very close to risk areas, called safety zones. An example can be an extractor located above the shower or bathtub. In this case, the extractor must have a system that allows working at very low voltage, by using a specific transformer. This operating voltage, normally 12V, guarantees the absence of risk for people in the event of a derivation or an electrical failure

CHARACTERISTICS OF BATH EXTRACTORS

The majority of the bath extractors are constituted by an axial fan of 100 mm of diameter that gives a flow comprised between 60 and 100 m3 / h and the working pressure is usually between 15 and 30 pascals. In single-family homes with larger bathrooms there may be extractors of 125 mm in diameter and even larger. In cases where a higher pressure is required, either by having long air expulsion ducts or by having many elbows, there are centrifugal bath extractors that fulfill the duty of flow in those conditions of greater load loss.

The traditional motors that move the propellers of the bath extractors usually have a power (absorbed) of a few watts (from 5 to 12 w in the case of 100 mm). To improve the energy efficiency of the extractor, reducing its consumption by 40-60%, EC motors are increasingly used , they are motors with magnets in their rotor and a switching electronics that makes them much more efficient than traditional induction motors. .

• There are also different possibilities in the market regarding the assembly and installation, such as the possibility of installing them directly in glass or replacing old fans of rectangular type.
• Another important component is the presence of a timer that allows the equipment to operate a certain time after the drive to ensure that pollutants are evacuated properly. A common example can be to connect the ventilator in combination with the lighting and that this, once the lighting is off, will work for an additional time to ventilate the bathroom after use.
• Constructively the bath extractors are made of plastic, normally the most usual technical plastics are used in their manufacture, such as polypropylene, ABS and polystyrene, all of them suitable for a good recyclability once the extractor has finished its useful life.

ANTI-RETURN SYSTEM AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Due to the need to extract odors and contaminants, these equipment usually have an anti-return system, to prevent the backflow of contaminated air into the home. They can also incorporate other options to improve energy performance, such as automatic shutters, which close on the outside and prevent cold air from entering the building or home, or high-efficiency fans, which reduce electrical consumption during air extraction.

HOW TO MINIMIZE NOISE FROM EXTRACTORS

An important aspect is the noise, both the noise radiated by the extractor and the vibrations produced by the motor that are transmitted to the plates or paraments where the extractor is placed and which act as a membrane increasing the noise of the extractor itself. There are models with a sound level and very low vibration to not affect comfort conditions. These models are  extractors with the motor supported by silent blocks in a way that prevents the transmission of vibrations from the motor to the construction elements in which the extractor is anchored. It is convenient to install extractors equipped with this silent pad because this achieves a significant reduction in noise and a significant improvement in the comfort of the occupants of the house.

VERSIONS

The main commercially available versions of the bath extractors are:

• Basic . There is a basic version of the extractor that starts when the bathroom light is turned on and stops when it is turned off, that is, the extractor is connected in parallel with the bathroom light and it is the bathroom's own switch that starts it and turns it on. for.
• Timed . It is the same as the basic version but equipped with a timer so that it starts up as in the previous case but when the light goes off it continues to work for a period of time normally adjustable by the user. This version requires three electric current wires to reach the extractor.
• With adjustable humidistat . The extractor starts when the relative humidity of the bath exceeds the threshold set by the user in the humidistat and stops when the humidity falls below that threshold.
• With presence detector . The extractor is started by detecting the human presence inside the bathroom and stops when there is no presence.
• With CO2 detector The extractor starts up when the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the bath air exceeds a certain level.
• With VOC detector . The extractor starts when the concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the bath air exceeds a certain level.

In all these versions there is usually a timing to disconnect. They operate at very low voltage (12 volts) for electrical safety when installed in classified areas of the bathroom.

From the point of view of aesthetics and design there are versions with different grids, covers and decorations.

VENTILATION IN BATHROOMS AND IMPROVEMENT OF COMFORT

Ventilation in bathrooms is essential to improve comfort in the home or building, since in these areas odors are generated that affect the comfort of users, and if they are not removed they can be extended to the rest of the rooms. This improvement of the healthiness, by the adequate ventilation, has another very important facet, which is the evacuation of the humidity generated during the shower or wash. The water vapor generated can condense, if it reaches the dew point, on the walls or other surfaces, which generates aesthetic problems such as, for example, fogged mirrors, and health problems, with the appearance of damp or mold on the surfaces .

For all these reasons, a good system of extraction in the bathroom will guarantee the comfort of the users, some conditions of healthiness in the house and will avoid the premature deterioration of its components. On this page you will find our bathroom extractors.