Ventilation ensures a pleasant experience for those who use your building and bathroom usage is no exception. This is especially the case given bathrooms are not only actively used areas of any home or commercial building, but also have elements which generate a lot of moisture and humidity.
However, for internal rooms which do not have a window, ventilation can be a challenge. When these internal rooms also happen to house a bathroom, that challenge can soon pose a threat to the health and wellbeing of those in the building, and even the building itself.
Current building regulations state that adequate ventilation is a requirement for all bathrooms including internal bathrooms. So here’s a look at the options that are available to ensure any bathrooms whi
ch lack windows remain compliant, not to mention nice environments to spend time in.
Definition Of Ventilation
Ventilation is a two-way process. That’s because ventilation involves the removal of humid or moist air, as well as polluted air. However, ventilation also requires a supply of dry, cool and fresh air back into the room to replace the air that has been removed.
Only when both of these aspects work in tandem can a room be classed as ventilated. A lack of either can soon cause problems for any indoor environment, especially for changing rooms, wet rooms and washrooms.
Why Is The Ventilation Of Bathrooms Important?
Odours
Bathrooms are subjected to all manner of odours. Apart from the obvious odours created by toilets, even the cleaning products used in bathrooms can generate odours. This can include bleach and other potentially harmful chemicals that should not be breathed in. If any building or maintenance work is carried out in a bathroom, then additional odours or even stronger fumes may also be generated. Whatever the odour happens to be, there must be a way of extracting this odour from the air so that fresh air can replace it.
Mould
Damp and mould are terrible issues seen in British homes and commercial buildings. When left to fester, mould can lead to breathing difficulties, skin irritations, lifelong health conditions and even damage to the building itself.
Humid or moist air generated from showers, or simply a lack of ventilation in any capacity can be the reason behind mould due to a build-up of bathroom condensation. However, the removal of this air and a constant supply of fresh air can stop the further growth of any mould, and drastically reduce the chances of it returning once dealt with.
Find out how to reduce window condensation here.
How to Ventilate a Bathroom
The two main types of ventilation are natural ventilation and mechanical ventilation. Ideally, a bathroom would have both in the form of windows as well as an extractor fan.
The first step would be to determine whether a window can be installed, as this would allow for a flow of fresh air into the room. However, for bathrooms with no windows, this isn’t going to be possible. Installing an extractor fan is therefore the next best option, and also happens to be a building regulations requirement regardless of whether a bathroom has a window or not.
Several types of extractor fans may be suitable for a bathroom. For commercial spaces, the extractor fan should be programmed so that it will immediately start operating as soon as any lights are turned on so that it cannot be possible for moisture and humidity to build up in the room.
Consider Relocating Bathrooms That Don't Have Any Windows
Although a more dramatic option, if you are considering refurbishing any washrooms, then now could be a good time to relocate any bathroom or washroom which currently doesn’t have any ventilation to areas that do.
Relocation is certainly not the only option as noted above. Although, where the space and project budget permits, it would ensure your bathrooms never suffer from any potential pitfalls due to a lack of natural ventilation. For instance, if your extractor fan breaks, malfunctions or doesn’t work due to a power cut a window could at least provide natural ventilation.
Plus having windows would also allow natural light into the space. For larger commercial bathrooms this can hugely transform the appeal of the room while reducing energy bills during daylight hours.
Commercial Bathroom Installation UK - Inspired Washrooms
Are you wanting to improve the ventilation of your bathroom? Inspired Washrooms installs commercial bathrooms of all types right across the UK.
Some of the environments we install include:
Interested in starting a project with us? Download our Inspired Washrooms Brochure to view our full range of products and services. For help and advice with anything we've mentioned above, please get in touch on 0115 811 4242, and our friendly team will get back to you.