In your column, you recommended ENERGY STAR® bath fans for saving energy. Isn’t the best way to save energy and ventilate just to open the bathroom window?
In ideal conditions, sure. Unfortunately, those conditions aren’t available every day or in every home. Some bathroom windows are positioned on a side of the house or in relation to other windows in a way that doesn’t provide sufficient air exchange. Sometimes the outside air is still, so open windows wouldn’t remove excess moisture from your bathroom. And on most winter days, you would pay a lot more to heat that outside air than it would cost to use a bath fan.
My advice is to take as much control over indoor air as possible to prevent problems that excess moisture can cause. Those problems can include unhealthy indoor air from mold and mildew, costly wood rot, and more cosmetic problems like damage to paint. ENERGY STAR qualified baths fan are energy-efficient, run quietly, and give you the ability to effectively control the airflow in your home. If you decided to install one of these fans, you can ask the folks at your local hardware store if they stock them or if they’d order one for you.
Kathleen for The Home Team