Is a Dirty Exhaust Fan a Good Thing?

It might seem like an odd question, but is a dirty exhaust fan actually a good thing? The simple answer is no, but to answer the question fully, we need to look at it a little differently.

What is the Purpose of an Exhaust Fan?

The main purpose of an exhaust fan is to improve the indoor air quality of the room by removing moisture, odors and contaminates from the living space. This means that particles are going to be traveling through the exhaust fan and ducting.

How is a Dirty Exhaust Fan a Good Thing?

A dirty exhaust fan, or one that has a build-up of dirt on it is a good thing in the sense the fan is operating correctly and effectively. As contaminates travel through the fan, they are inevitably going to build up on the inner workings on the fan. Most commonly on the fan blade and the fan grill. In its simplest form, this means the exhaust fan is doing its job and removing the unwanted contaminates from the living space. If you exhaust fan runs for any length of time (months/years) and you never need to clean it, it means one of two things. One, you live in a home that has no dust, no contaminates, no pets, and probably no people. Second, the fan is not being used as much as you think it is or should be.

How is a Dirty Exhaust Fan a Bad Thing?

Before the screaming, yelling and rebuttals start pouring in – yes, we agree that a dirty exhaust fan is not a good thing for the overall function of the fan. As dirt and debris builds up in and on the exhaust fan as well as the ducting, the performance of the fan is going to reduce. You will typically see a decrease in the amount of airflow the fan is able to produce and an increase in the sound level. As we mentioned before, the most common place for dirt build-up is on the fan blade in the form of what is going to look like lint. This build-up on the fan blade adds weight and causes the motor to have to work harder. This not only can reduce the effectiveness of the exhaust fan; it can also shorten the motor life. The same holds true with build-up in the other areas such as the grill and especially the ducting. The narrower the openings become, the less effective the exhaust fan will be.

What Should I Do?

The best way to combat a dirty exhaust fan is to have a regular cleaning schedule. Most maintenance can be done by the average homeowner. There are however a few steps to take to reduce the chance of injury or damaging your fan.

First and foremost, consult the cleaning instructions for your particular model. While most cleaning instructions for exhaust fans are similar, there are differences. Fans with a light will have slightly different instructions than one without. In general, never use water or liquid cleaning products directly on the fan motor. For parts you can use a liquid cleaner or soap/water to clean, always makes sure they are completely dry before reinstalling and restoring power.

Second, always make sure to turn the power off to your exhaust fan before starting any cleaning or maintenance.

Third, if you are unsure of how to clean your exhaust fan, consult a HVAC or Electrical professional. Duct cleaning service can also be another resource to consult.

While we will admit, asking the question – Is a Dirty Exhaust Fan a Good Thing, is a bit of a leading or trick question, it does prove that it is doing what it is supposed to be doing. As we outlined, taking a few steps to ensure your fan is clean and properly maintained will benefit your home’s indoor air quality as well as the life of your fan.

Learn More

To access Air King user manuals, including maintenance instructions, visit the User Manuals section of the Air King website. To learn more about Air King exhaust fans, visit the exhaust fan section of the Air King website.

You have probably heard it said one way or another that the first step in fixing a problem is identifying the problem. The same holds true with our home’s indoor air quality (IAQ). Home contaminate identification is the first step on the path to improving it. Here is a list of our top 5 contaminates:

1. It sounds a little silly but one of the largest sources of contaminates in our homes is us. We breath, we bring in contaminates from the outside on our clothing (pollen, dirt, dust, etc.), viruses and so forth. Other than never leaving the house and stopping breathing (not really an option), there isn’t much we can reduce. Maybe leave the dirty shoes outside before coming in the home but not much more. What we need to look at is how to mitigate. A regular cleaning schedule is a good start. Using natural cleaning agents that do not give off harmful gasses is a must, otherwise you might be doing more harm than good. Also a good vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter will prevent you from putting all the “bad” stuff right back into the room. Lastly, having a good system in place to ventilate the home as well as bring in fresh air is a must. The ventilation fans will help remove contaminates replacing them with fresh air coming in.
2. The kitchen and cooking. While there might be some out there that never use their kitchen, our guess is the vast majority do. Cooking is one of the top contributors to bad indoor air quality. You have steam, grease, smoke (some of us more than others) and all kinds of other contaminates generated during the cooking process. If these are not mitigated it cannot only be bad for the indoor air quality, it could also be dangerous. The good news is there is a simple answer – your range hood. Ideally, your range hood should vent to the outdoors rather than return the air to the kitchen after going through a filter. In previous blog posts we listed a lot of reasons why people do not use their range hoods. Moral of the story – USE YOUR RANGE HOOD!
3. You might say – wait, you just told us to clean our homes in the first point. You are correct, but we need to focus on the way to properly clean. Cleaning agents are some powerful things. If you have ever used toilet bowl cleaner, the smell can knock you back a bit. It does its job but it is also giving off more bad gases than you probably want to know about. The same holds true with a lot of the other items we use to clean – furniture polish, bleach, laundry detergent and the list goes on. So we know we need to clean but how do we do it without negatively affecting the IAQ of the home. There are a lot of “natural” cleaners on the market today. We are not necessarily endorsing these as so many make claims but after a little investigating are not as advertised. What we do advocate is utilizing the exhaust fans of the home when cleaning. Do you turn the bathroom exhaust fan on when you clean? If not you should. Even turning the kitchen range hood when you are cleaning in or around the kitchen will help. Slightly opening a window when you can is another easy and effective way to bring fresh air in, diluting the concentration of cleaners.
4. The bathroom. This is another area of the home that is a necessity but can also have a negative effect on your indoor air quality. When we shower it produces moisture. Moisture leads to mildew which leads to mold, which is bad. For the sake of those around you, please continue to shower but lets look at ways to reduce the moisture generated. The number one thing you can do is to properly utilize the exhaust fan. A properly sized and functioning exhaust fan will greatly reduce the amount of moisture in the room. Without moisture it is very hard for mold and mildew to grow. The key is making sure your fan is powerful enough and runs long enough. Exhaust fans have progressed a lot in the past few decades and now you can get them with integrated humidity sensors that automatically turn the fan on when the humidity rises and then turns off when the humidity drops. A mistake many people make is not running the exhaust fan long enough after a shower or bath. In some cases it might take more than an hour to clear out all the humidity that has built up. Air King has a full line of effective and affordable humidity sensing exhaust fans. Opening windows is another solution but you need to be careful. Not sure if you live in a northern state you want to open windows in the middle of winter, same holds true for southern states in the middle of summer.
5. Candles, incense, diffusers. This is probably the one that gets the most push back. We are writing this blog at the beginning of November right in the heart of pumpkin spice season. We enjoy a nice smelling candle as much as the next person but we need to stop and think about what is happening. When we light a candle, or more accurately, burn a candle it is releasing all types of contaminates as well as scents. At its root, we are burning something that releases carcinogens into the air. You might see “Clean burning candles” but generally all that means is the wax gets burned up with the candle instead of dripping all over everything. Another one is “naturally made”. This is great, but it still needs to be burnt. Wood is “naturally” made but if you light a bonfire in your living room, you’re going to have some problems (okay, maybe a little extreme but you get our point). Now if you still want to light candles, a way to lessen the impact on your indoor air quality is to utilize them in well-ventilated areas. Taking a bath? Make sure the exhaust fan is on. If using in the main living area, is there a way to have a flow of fresh air coming in to dilute it?

BONUS: Pets. Yes we love them as they are part of the family but they can be a menace to the indoor air quality of the home. There is the dander, the hair, what they bring in on their fur (pollen, dirt, etc.). Don’t get us wrong, we love pets but it is important to have a strategy to keep their impact on the indoor air quality of the home as little as possible. Oh and guess what, pets benefit from good IAQ as well. The good news is the strategy with pets is mostly the same as the other items we have been talking about, cleaning, proper ventilation and good airflow.

Now, if you have been paying attention, you probably noticed a common theme through all of these points on home contaminate identification – ventilation and fresh air. If you can properly ventilate your home while replacing the stale “bad” air with fresh, your indoor air quality will be the best it can. Now also add in regularly changing your air filters if you have central heating/cooling, you’re really going to see a noticeable difference.

For more information about Air King’s line of indoor air quality solution including exhaust fans, range hoods and fresh air intake, visit airkinglimited.com. Also check out our other posts about indoor air quality.