Posts Tagged ‘diy’
Exhaust Fan
Exhaust Fan
Best Ceiling Exhaust Fans or Wall Ventilation Fans
Why Your Home Needs An Exhaust Fan
Today’s homes are built to be “airtight” and energy efficient with few drafts. In terms of heating and cooling bills, an airtight home can dramatically lower your heating and air conditioning bills. In terms of air ventilation, however, an airtight home may be dangerous to your health and safety.
Why is an “Airtight” Home is Dangerous?
Having proper air ventilation goes further than just getting rid of foul odors. In fact, air exhausting is about:
-
Preventing excess moisture that cause biological pollutants like mold and mildew that:
- Become harmful biological pollutants like airborne mold spores that can hazardous to your health and breathing
- Compromise the structural integrity of the building like your walls, ceilings, and floors; and lower the value of your house by causing bathroom fixtures to rust, paint to blister, wall paper to peel, and grout to be moldy.
- Eliminating harmful chemicals called Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) that naturally build up in your house from aging, decomposing, and curing building materials, carpets, furniture, and other household items.
So, good ventilation fans can keep the air in your home fresh and well circulated and thus help you take care of your family’s and your home’s well-being.
How to Select a Ventilation Fan
When selecting a fan, the purpose — that is, central or intermittent ventilation — should be your foremost decision-making criteria:
- Continuous, central ventilation system are used to to continuously replace stale air with fresh, clean air in the whole house quietly and energy-efficiently. In the summer, in fact, circulating air can keep your house feeling 4 degrees cooler.
- Intermittent ventilation fans are used in certain areas like the bathroom, kitchen, or garage to quickly exhaust moisture and chemicals. In fact, if you live in an “airtight” home, “bathroom” (intermittent) fans are quiet and energy efficient-enough to continuously ventilate your entire home.
Additional Highlights of Fans
There are many brands of ventilation or exhaust fans today that keep the air throughout the house clean such as Panasonic Vent Fans. These fans have the following advantages:
- Function very quietly
- Use less than 30 watts (that’s less than what many CFL bulbs use!)
- Designed for 100,000 hours of continuous use
- Have little to no defectiveness
- Energy Star rated
- Come with multi-year warranty
About the Author
Ahreum is a freelance writer at Conservation Mart. To read more articles by Ahreum, visit Hubpages.
How do I convert a hard wire type exhaust fan into a 3-prong electrical cord to plug into a wall socket?
I purchased a 24″ direct drive exhaust fan with the typical black, white and ground wiring designed to be connected directly into the circuit. I would like to convert this connection to a 3-prong cord so I can plug it into a nearby wall socket. The fan’s specs are: 120V / 60 Hz / 336 W / 2.8 Amps. Could I safely accomplish this by attaching a 12 gauge, 3 conductor grounded SPT-3 cord or another gauge cord like an SJT? I plan on using this fan only as needed during the summer months and won’t need it permanently connected throughout the year. I know a enough about electricity to possibly get myself into trouble. Having never attempted something like this, I thought I’d ask for some experienced advice here. Thanks for your reply.
That fan does not draw enough power to necessitate the use of 12 ga wiring. If it was a 15 amp draw then maybe. You can easily use 14 ga wire and, to make it even easier, if you have an old outdoor extension – use that.
Mid 1950’s nutone Kitchen Exhaust Fan