Extractor fans extract and expel moisture and stale air from inside your home. They are found as both a part of larger heat retention and ventilation systems, as well as individual installations in separate rooms. If you need to add or replace one or more extractor fans in your bathroom(s) or kitchen, get to know your options first.
Axial Extractor Fans
Axial extractor fans are what we most often see in bathrooms and, sometimes, kitchens. They are primarily chosen for their aesthetic designs, smaller size, silent operation, and energy-efficiency, as compared to other extractor fans. As these rely on axial motion to expel air, axial extractor fans must be installed so that they face the room’s interior.
However, axial extractor fans also lack sufficient suction power to be used as single units in larger bathrooms or other wet rooms. These can be ideal, provided that the room is relatively small, the ducting does not have bends, or it exceeds two to three metres at most. To know if a room in your home can make do with axial extractor fans, visit bpcventilation.ie for a professional consultation.
Centrifugal Extractor Fans
Using drum blades, centrifugal extractor fans can build significant air pressure while expelling the indoor air out of wet rooms. This makes the larger, louder, and more power-consuming extractor fans ideal for larger rooms with long and bended ducts.
They are also better fitted for rooms that use ceiling ventilation ducts than any axial extractor fan. The use of centrifugal extractor fans in large homes is not uncommon, but they are more likely to be seen in commercial buildings (restaurants, offices, retailers, etc.).
Inline Extractor Fans
Inline extractor fans are the ones that you never see anywhere, at least not after their installation anyway. Just like the name suggests, inline fans are installed inside the ducting, in line with the primary ventilator fan’s air extraction path. Both axial and centrifugal extractor fans are used as primary extractor fans that feed the air into inline extractors.
Inline extractor fans are only needed to support the primary fans if:
- The ducting is too long.
- The bends in the ducting system are too steep.
- There are far too many bends in the ducts, steep or not.
- All of the above applies.
How many inline extractor fans would be necessary to successfully ventilate air out of your home will also depend on the factors mentioned above, as well as the size and power of each extractor fan used in the system (primary + inline).
Nevertheless, when a centrifugal extractor is working as the primary extraction fan, you will need the lowest number of inline extractors to facilitate successful ventilation in any home or place of business. However, combining axial extractors with an inline extractor does allow for more energy-efficient and silent ventilation in residential buildings.
Prioritize installing an extractor fan as soon as possible if you do not have any ventilation system in place at all. A poorly ventilated home will become highly vulnerable to germs, moisture damage, mould, mildew, wood rot, and pests within a very short amount of time.
