If you have a bathroom in your home, which hopefully you do, the fact of the matter is that there are some things you need to know to keep it in great condition. One of the problems that bathrooms often face is that of moisture. Excessive moisture in your bathroom can lead to mold, mildew, bad smells, and other such issues.
One of the easiest ways to combat this problem with excessive moisture in your bathroom is to simply leave the bathroom fan running after a shower. That said, how long are you supposed to leave it on?
How Long Should You Keep Your Bathroom Fan on After Shower?
In terms of leaving your fan running in your bathroom after a shower, the consensus across the board is that about 20 minutes should be enough to remove the majority of the moisture from the room. Now with that said, it does of course depend on how moist the room is, or in other words, how humid the air is.
How long you need to leave that fan running for is also going to depend on how powerful the fan itself is. A really weak fan could take two- or three-times as long to remove all of the moisture from the bathroom as a powerful fan. Another thing to consider here is how great the airflow in your bathroom is to begin with. For instance, if you have no windows in there, you are going to need to leave the fan running for a lot longer than if you do have a window and open it.
Finally, the last thing that is going to determine how long you need to leave that fan running to remove the majority of the moisture in the bathroom also depends on how large that bathroom is. Obviously, a very large bathroom is going to take a lot longer than a small bathroom.
However, with all that said, the bottom line is that about 20 minutes should be enough.
Is it Safe to Leave Your Bathroom Fan on Overnight?
You might think that it is OK to leave that bathroom fan running overnight for hours on end, but the fact of the matter is that it is not. Yes, how long you can leave that bathroom fan running for it is going to depend on the quality of the fan. If you have a really nice fan with good heat dissipation features, it should be able to run for a few hours.
The simple truth here is that bathroom fan motors are not built to last for a long time, and they don’t dissipate heat well, which means that they do overheat. With prolonged use, most vacuum fans aren’t going to be able to run for more than about 60 minutes without starting to overheat, and eventually, yes, this can cause a fire.
Therefore, the simple answer to this question is that no, it is absolutely not OK to leave your bathroom fan running overnight. Even worse, if the fan is clogged with lint or dust, then it can overheat and cause a fire in less than 60 minutes. So always make sure that your fan is well maintained and clean.
Can You Leave Your Bathroom Fan Running Nonstop?
As you have probably gathered by now, no, it is absolutely not OK to leave your bathroom fan running nonstop. Just think about it folks. If it’s not OK to leave your fan running overnight or for more than 60 minutes, then it’s definitely not OK to leave it running nonstop. The fact of the matter is that this can be very dangerous and it can quite quickly lead to overheating and a fire.
If you do need to leave your bathroom fan running for longer than 60 minutes, because maybe where you live is extremely humid, then it is recommended that you leave it running for an hour, turn it off for half an hour and then turn it back on. If you take breaks in between, then yes, you can leave it running for longer than 60 minutes, as long as it’s not consecutive.
You can also consider one of the ways to get your bathroom dry without a fan too.
How Much Electricity Does a Bathroom Fan Use?
The good thing about normal bathroom fans is that they really don’t use all that much electricity and therefore they won’t cost you that much either. Now with that said, do of course keep in mind that how much energy your fan uses depends on the size and power of a fan as well as if it’s a basic ventilation system or a high-efficiency system.
For instance, a basic bathroom fan can use around 60 Watts, which is not great, but not too bad either. That said, there are some high efficiency bathroom fans that can use as little as 6 Watts of energy, which is absolutely amazing.
Now, let’s talk about the actual cost to run your bathroom fan if you use it only when necessary. So, let’s say maybe about 30 minutes a day. In that case, you’re looking at about 3.5 dollars per year which is of course almost nothing.
What Can Happen If You Don’t Run Your Bathroom Fan Long Enough?
Although you don’t want to let your bathroom fan run non-stop, the fact of the matter is that you do want to let it run after showering, and it’s all because of the moisture:
- Excessive moisture in your bathroom can cause mold and mildew to start growing. If mold and mildew are left untreated, they can be harmful to human health.
- Over time, the mildew can become quite sticky and cause the bathroom to smell. It’s really quite an unattractive, terrible smell.
- Excessive moisture can also lead to huge water spots that can be very hard to clean away.
- Excessive moisture in your bathroom can cause your towels to not dry properly. That’s also making them smell bad.
- In the worst-case scenario, excessive moisture in your bathroom can seep into the walls, and if you have wooden walls this can be a big problem because eventually, it can cause the wood to rot.
Summary
The bottom line here is that after your shower, you should always leave your bathroom fan running for at least 20 minutes, but no more than 60 minutes. Remember, if you leave your plan running for more than 60 minutes, it poses quite a risk of overheating and causing a fire.
That said, you do need to leave it running, or else you’re going to run into problems created by all of that excessive moisture.
