When too much humidity gathers in bathrooms, it can cause dampness that facilitates mold growth on walls and ceilings. As a homeowner, you want to keep the moisture in your bathroom under control to prevent these potential health hazards.
These days, we are lucky enough to have an assortment of solutions that address bathroom condensation effectively. Among these solutions are to install an extractor fan or put in place a dehumidifier.
Despite being two completely different machines, the dehumidifier and extractor fan function similarly.
To decide which among these moisture-regulating equipment is ideal for your bathroom, you need to take a closer look at each of their benefits.
Benefits of an Extractor Fan
You can use extractor fans for a variety of purposes. You can install them in rooms that have issues with gas, humidity, and smoke. They can also be fitted easily into a pre-drilled hole on your wall.
1. Controls Humidity
The constant humidity and steam in our bathrooms can lead to mold and mildew growth. While there are various products on the market that can temporarily remove these health hazards, they typically don’t address the base cause that keeps mold and mildew from growing back and breeding.
Mounting a small extractor fan on your bathroom’s wall or ceiling can help remove moisture from the room and leave the air too dry for mold spores to grow and thrive. You can either install the fan yourself or hire a handyman to do it. Some models can even be attached to light fixtures, which is a great way to maintain your bathroom’s aesthetic.
2. Removes Odors
Without going into details, a bathroom doesn’t always smell like roses. A bathroom should be a private place but residual smells can spoil that privacy, making it hard to preserve your privacy from the next bathroom user. This might not be an issue for family members, but for a guest, it can be an embarrassing situation.
Extractor fans can help remove left-behind odors and provide every user the chance to have a pleasant bathroom experience.
3. Removes Smoke and Gas
If your bathroom is in an area prone to accumulating harmful air contaminants, then consider installing an extractor fan. If you have a bathroom near the kitchen, living room, or workshop where people cook, smoke, or use dust-producing equipment, respectively, an extractor fan can be beneficial.
4. Removes Heat
In the warmer months, heat typically rises and pools around your bathroom’s walls and ceilings, making the room extremely uncomfortable to use. Extractor fans are great heat-removal tools for homes located in hotter regions. They pull heat into the roof’s surface to create a continuous flow of cooler air around the room.
Benefits of a Dehumidifier
The climate doesn’t have to be hot for you to benefit from a dehumidifier. Some areas in your home, such as your laundry room and bathroom, are more humid than others and could benefit from the effects of a dehumidifier.
1. Relieves Allergies
A bathroom’s humidity makes it easier for allergens like mold, mildew, and dust mites to thrive and, as a result, exacerbate the effects of people’s allergies. Installing a dehumidifier keeps these health hazards from growing, which means less money spent on medicine and doctor’s visits, and less time lost at school or work.
2. Reduces Moisture Levels
Having a dehumidifier in your bathroom ensures that you can control its higher-than-average moisture levels and prevent molds from growing in your towels, furniture, or clothing.
3. Lowers Energy Costs
Humid air makes your air conditioning system work harder, so it incurs higher energy costs. Since dehumidifiers regulate humidity, installing one will help your system work more efficiently and, in turn, reduce your energy bills.
4. Prevents Mold and Mildew Growth
Keep the unpleasant odor associated with mold and mildew growth at bay by having a dehumidifier installed. This is not the kind of smell you want greeting you or the people visiting your home. Dehumidifiers target the source of these health hazards, which keeps them from growing back and breeding.
5. Reduces Cleaning
No mold and mildew issues to deal with, along with minimum dust levels, means that you don’t have to clean your bathroom as often.
6. Prevents Rust and Corrosion
If your home has a high-tech bathroom with electronics, a dehumidifier can help keep these gadgets in excellent working condition for a longer time. You don’t have to worry about any of your expensive equipment and their metal parts developing rust or corrosion since moisture levels in the air will be regulated efficiently.
Final Thoughts
Both the extractor fan and dehumidifier are awesome tools for keeping your bathroom in great condition. These two machines address typical bathroom moisture issues that affect the health, aesthetics, and functionality of the bathroom.
However, if it came down to choosing only one of these two pieces of equipment, you have to go for the dehumidifier. It is a bit more thorough in the way it tackles your bathroom’s problems with humidity, air contaminants, and all the effects that come with them.
It’s important to choose the best dehumidifier for your bathroom, too. There are a plethora of detailed reviews comparing top 4 dehumidifiers for bathrooms that should be able to help with this decision.