Bathroom extractor fans

[ey143]

If(?) it is a requirement to install a bathroom extractor fan as part of any new extension, what is the logic of this when, if it is connected to the light switch, it only comes on during the night with the light and not functioning during the day?

 

[chaletstyle]

Quite !

 

[ey143]

I must be missing something....has to be more to it than my thought process!

 

[^woody^]

I must be missing something....has to be more to it than my thought process!

There is.

The regulation does not say it needs to be connected to the light, only that it could be where there is no means of natural light.

 

[foxhole]

I connect mine to ceiling sensor so they run anytime the room is occupied.

 

[ey143]

There is.

The regulation does not say it needs to be connected to the light, only that it could be where there is no means of natural light.

that does not make sense. Surely it must be where there is no openable window rather than light? Purpose of the fan is to get rid of moisture and smells not to facilitate light or the lack of it.

 

[^woody^]

that does not make sense. Surely it must be where there is no openable window rather than light? Purpose of the fan is to get rid of moisture and smells not to facilitate light or the lack of it.

It makes perfect sense

If there is no natural light, then you wont be ****ing in the dark so will have a light. In which case you can connect your fan to it.

Otherwise you need to connect the fan to a presence sensor or something

 

[ey143]

So what about then when you do have a window - are you saying you dont need an extractor then?

 

[Nakajo]

If you can open the window, then you don't need an extractor.

 

[JohnD]

will he actually open it though?

every time?

even when it's cold?

what if the wind is blowing the steam and fumes into his house?

the benefit of connecting it via the lightswitch is that it will sometimes actually get turned on.

 

[Nakajo]

That wasn't the question.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

In our house when we moved in the extractor was connected to the light. Not anymore.

 

[JohnD]

If you can open the window, then you don't need an extractor.

yes you do.

the question wasn't "if you do open the window"

 

[wessex101]

If you can open the window, then you don't need an extractor.

Have I nodded off again and they've gone and changed the Building Regs?

 

[Nakajo]

Perhaps. People often get confused between the 'Building Regulations' and the 'Approved Documents'. While, if followed, the Approved Documents provide a route to compliance, non-compliance does not automatically follow from a failure to adhere to the advice provided within the Approved Documents.

In this instance, the regulation requires that 'there shall be adequate means of ventilation provided for people in the building'.

Here, we are concerned with 'purge ventilation', i.e. the 'manually controlled ventilation of rooms... to rapidly dilute pollutants and/or water vapour'. The approved document acknowledges that adequate Purge Ventilation may be achieved by 'natural means (e.g. an openable window)' and goes on talk about this in more detail in the appendices.