Can an exhaust fan help ventilate my room?

[ChevyVon]

 

 

I want to ask about the exhaust fan. Because my house is a loft house type, the ventilation of air and oxygen at the bottom of my house is okay, but there is also the second floor of my house, which is a bedroom only. The space is super small, and there is no window to let the air in and out. Now, it's not comfortable to sleep because it's hard for me to breathe there. I would like to ask if the exhaust fan will help ventilate my room, and I won't have trouble breathing if I install an exhaust fan.

[EricL · Accepted solution]

Hello @ChevyVon 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us and thanks for sharing your question about exhaust fans.

It will most definitely help with the airflow in the room. I suggest looking at either the Manrose Slimline 150mm Wall/Ceiling Exhaust Fan or the DETA 250mm Side Duct Exhaust Fan - Bunnings Australia. These fans are designed to ventilate or move the air inside a small room.

I recommend engaging the services of a registered electrician when installing the exhaust fan in your room. This means that the fans will safely be installed to code and covered under the electrician's warranty. Please note that it will be necessary to cut into your ceiling or your wall to allow the fans to operate properly.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[ChevyVon]

Thankyo so much for your response i really appreciate it ❤️

[Rickshaw]

Dear ChevyVon

To properly ventilate a space with an exhaust fan the following items require attention/sorting:

a) Size of fan. This will depend on primarily the volume of the space. e.g. a room that is 4mx5mx2.4mhigh has a volume of 48cubic m. A rule of thumb for ventilation rate (total airflow) for a bedroom is to provide a suitable air change in the room. This can vary from 2 - 10 air changes/hour (ACH), depending on preference. But the minimum specified by the building code equates to around 0.5-1.0 ACH if natural ventilation is the case (i.e. windows). This may be sufficient for fresh air required but is not adequate if (i) there are multiple occupants, (ii) there is not opposing windows or ventilation openings. In addition, if one is using an exhaust fan it is good strategy to provide a multi speed fan of sufficient capacity to enable large volume air movement (room air change) in order to remove any heat gain during summer and marginal weather.

b) Adequate air intake opening(s) to enable make-up of air being exhausted from the room.

I would recommend a fan that provides a minimum of 2 ACH at low speed and a minimum of 10 ACH at high speed (when cooling the room - i.e. removing any heat gain through roof and walls). For the above room example the equation Q=VxACH/3.6 will provide the answer as follows:

For 2 ACH : Q=48x2/3.6 = 27L/sec

For 10ACH :Q=48x10/3.6 = 133L/sec

Q = L/sec = Litres of air moved per sec. The above rates equate to 0.027 cu.m/sec and 0.133 cu.m/sec for your reference if the fan model capacity is listed in cubic metres/sec. Sometimes the capacity is listed in cu.m/hour which is easily determined by multiplying these figures by 3600 giving  97 and 478 cu.m/hour.

Hope this helps, but if any further questions please ask.

Rickshaw

[EricL]

Hello @Rickshaw 

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and experience in regards to exhaust fan requirements. Let me tag @ChevyVon to make them aware of your recommendations.

Were keen to hear more about all your projects and plans around the house and garden. Please feel free to reach out whenever you need assistance or would like to share a project with the community.

Eric