Connecting fans in the bathroom to the mains

Ventilation of the bathroom and toilet is an integral part of it. Ventilation provides an optimal microclimate in these rooms, both for a person and for objects and interior elements.

Firstly, ventilation significantly reduces the humidity in the room, which is especially true for the bathroom and toilet - rooms with high humidity. Humidity reduction prevents the formation of mold and damage to electrical appliances and interior elements due to increased humidity in the room. Secondly, ventilation eliminates undesirable odors and prevents the growth of bacteria.

Ventilation can be either natural or artificial. In the absence of the possibility of ensuring natural insulation of the bathroom and toilet (lack of windows in these rooms, high tightness of windows and doors installed in the apartment), artificial ventilation is used, which is implemented by installing fans specifically designed for ventilation of domestic premises.

One of the stages of installation of the ventilation system in the bathroom (toilet) is connecting fans to the mains. Below we consider the features of connecting these fans.

When connecting ventilation fans, you should first take into account the fact that the bathroom and toilet belong to rooms with a high level of humidity. Therefore, all elements of the wiring and fittings for its installation must have a housing with a sufficient level of protection against moisture. As a rule, the degree of protection of the housing of the mounted wiring structural elements is selected not lower than IP44.

How are fans connected to the mains? In this case, it all depends on its design features. There are types of fans, the inclusion and shutdown of which is provided by the built-in switch, which is controlled by a cord. By pulling the lace down, you can turn the fan on or off.

Some fans provide the ability to open and close the ventilation hole, usually a switch is built into this device for closing and opening the hole. Pulling one rope, the opening opens, and the fan starts to work, pulling the other rope, the fan opening closes and it disconnects from the mains.

If the fan does not have the above devices or for one reason or another it is inconvenient to use them (for example, if the fan is high enough relative to the floor), then you need to install a switch to turn the fan on and off. For this purpose, the switches used for lighting equipment are suitable, since the fan power is usually small.

As mentioned above, all elements of electrics mounted in the bathroom, including the switch, must have reliable protection against moisture.

Where to get power for the ventilation fan? The power consumption of this consumer of electric energy is small, therefore, a separate line for its power supply is not necessary. It can be connected in the nearest junction box, and in its absence, branch a line from one of the outlets located in the bathroom. If the bathroom has an outlet, for example, for a washing machine, then you can connect a fan from it.

Connection diagram for a fan in the bathroom

The operation time of the fan in the bathroom or toilet can be set using a timer.For these purposes, both universal timers and fans with built-in timers can be used.

Fan connection diagram with integrated timer

Turning on the bathroom ventilation fan can be done automatically. The main objective of the fan, as mentioned above, is to reduce the humidity level in the room, based on this principle, it is necessary to realize the fan automatically turns on in case of an increase in the humidity level in the room. Humidity sensor (hydrostat) It turns on the ventilation fan in case the humidity level in the room rises to the set value.

Hydrostat for controlling a bathroom fan

Hydrostat connection diagram

As for the toilet, where, in addition to reducing the humidity level, the fan eliminates unwanted odors, a single humidity level sensor will not be enough. In this case, to implement automatic fan on, a motion sensor is installed. That is, when movement appears in the sensor detection zone, it supplies voltage to the fan and, accordingly, in the absence of movement in the sensor detection zone, the fan turns off after a while.

It is advisable to choose a motion sensor, which provides the ability to set the time after which the load is switched off in the absence of movement in the room.

In most cases, the installation of motion sensors and humidity levels in the room is neglected and limited to installing a switch to manually control the fan.