Paper
HELP , IT ’ S RUNNING AND I CAN ’ T TURN IT OFF ! AN INVESTIGATION OF HUMIDITY CONTROL AND TIMER OPERATED FANS
Published 2010 · Matthew D. Clark
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Abstract
Bathrooms at the Spencer View Apartments in Eugene, Oregon are equipped with exhaust fans controlled by timers set to run four hours per day. This study examines the relative humidity (RH) at key locations in the apartment. It is our hypothesis that the fans' run time is longer than necessary to control humidity in the apartment, and therefore wastes energy. After logging the conditions created by the timer-controlled fan, we determined that fan run time did not always correlate with humidity-causing events in the apartment. In a second phase of testing, a dehumidistat replaced the timer to control the fan, aiming to maintain the bathroom ceiling below 70% RH, the maximum RH recommended for controlling mold growth. The dehumidistat-controlled fan disproved our hypothesis by significantly increasing fan run time. In addition, bathroom RH remained above 70% for more time than with the timer-controlled fan. We also researched factors regarding fan design intent and mold growth control measures.
Timer-controlled fans in bathrooms waste energy by running longer than necessary to control humidity, while dehumidistat-controlled fans increase fan run time and may not effectively control mold growth.
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