Bathrooms are commonly despised by many due to their repellant reputation caused by unpleasant odors. Deodorizers, air fresheners, aromatic candles, and matches are often used to deal with such kinds of bathroom odor. However, they are not often the best solutions. Bathroom exhaust fans are.
Exhaust fans are an effective option to remove the air particles in the bathroom that cause the rancid smell in a particular area, especially bathrooms. Instead of using air fresheners that can only worsen the case, bathroom exhaust fans can promote the perfect ventilation leading to continuous and good airflow.
This is why you’ll want to take a look at the five bathroom exhaust fans that are featured here. Scrutinized by our team of experts, we ranked them based on their efficiency, durability, and overall value to assure you that you’ll get the best one that would suit your needs.
Best Bathroom Exhaust Fans Comparison & Rating
1. Broan-Nutone 512M Through-the-Wall Ventilation Fan
Dimensions | 10 x 9 x 9 inches |
Weight | 3 pounds |
Color | White |
Material | Metal and Plastic |
This is a powerful, efficient, and highly effective bathroom exhaust fan. It can suck in smoke, odors, mist, and even chemical fumes. This makes it perfect for keeping your bathroom odor-free for a refreshing use every time. Installing this fan is super easy too and it doesn’t take up a lot of space. As for power costs, it doesn’t eat a lot of electricity, so you can rest easy on that front.
2. Homewerks 7141-110 Bathroom Fan
Dimensions | 12.6 x 10.4 x 7.8 inches |
Weight | 9.84 pounds |
Color | White |
Material | Metal, Plastic, and Glass |
This exhaust fan is bright, powerful, and highly energy-efficient. It can double as both your bathroom’s light source and expelling odors that might build up. Once it is installed, preferably by a professional, you would hardly even notice that it is also a fan. Even so, the motor and propellers can suck in an incredible amount of air. Even the smell of cigarette smoke is quickly eliminated by this fan.
3. BV Ultra-Quiet 90 CFM, 0.8 Sone Bathroom Ventilation
Dimensions | 9 x 7.5 x 9.25 inches |
Weight | 12 pounds |
Color | White |
Material | Metal |
This is an efficient fan that will get you favorable results. The extremely powerful motor that is also energy-efficient sucks in the air with ease. As long as you can get to both sides of the area where you will mount the fan, installation is actually quite easy. If done right, you will enjoy a quiet, refreshing bathroom without odors of any kind. This fan will expel all fumes, smoke, humidity, and smell while it is on.
4. Broan-NuTone AE110 Invent Ventilation Fan
Dimensions | 10 x 5.75 x 9.25 inches |
Weight | 8 pounds |
Color | White |
Material | Galvanized Steel |
You are going to absolutely love this exhaust fan if you are planning on using it for your bathroom. It will easily deal with any kind of smell or fume that you might be worried about. Even the harsh chemical odor from bleach will quickly dissipate in a matter of minutes. Despite the substantial power of the motor, the fan itself is exceptionally quiet. For areas where humidity in bathrooms is a problem, this is a great solution.
5. Hunter 83002 Bathroom Exhaust Fan
Dimensions | 16.7 x 16.5 x 15 inches |
Weight | 20 pounds |
Color | Imperial Bronze |
Material | Glass and Metal |
Would like some class and style to go along with eliminating odors in your bathroom? This gorgeous bathroom exhaust fan is perfect for you. It casts a soft, relaxing light that helps set the tone of a calming bathroom. On top of that, the exhaust prevents things like incense and scented candles from becoming too intense. Considering the power of its motor, this fan is actually not that loud.
Best Bathroom Exhaust Fans - Product Buyer's Guide
A bathroom is almost treated as a sanctuary by a lot of people. The isolation, coupled with the silence just gives them a place to think and relax. To that end, you need to choose a bathroom exhaust fan that won’t be too noisy when it works. This will mitigate the impact that it can have on the peace that you experience in the bathroom.
Bathroom exhaust fans can be chosen based on form and function. You can base your choice on your style while also making sure that it will suit your purpose. Some fans will be round with soft edges while others will be square and sharp. There are also options with basic lighting and ventilation functions, but others can include heating and detecting humidity.
While the power of the fan’s motor will have an impact on how well it can do its job, the size can often have a much bigger effect. This is due to the amount of space that air can flow through and the size of the fan that will suck in odor before blowing it outside. If the fan is too small for the bathroom, it won’t work as well as it should.
Whether you are planning on installing the bathroom exhaust fan yourself or having someone else do it, you must choose one that is easy to affix. This will help avoid the necessity of buying additional hardware like screws, bolts, nuts, and the like. With some fans, an additional platform might even be needed to accommodate the screws. So be sure to keep that in mind.
The final point of consideration is how efficient your bathroom exhaust fan will be. You can tell when a product is energy-efficient when it has the Energy Star symbol on it. This means that it is officially recognized by the US government that it “meets strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the US Environmental Protection Agency." There will still be some variations, but this is a good place to start.
Best Bathroom Exhaust Fans - FAQs
While air fresheners, deodorants, and windows might help with the smell, exhaust fans are simply among the most effective methods of doing so. While you are in the bathroom, these machines would actively remove the bad smell and expel it so that you won’t have to deal with it at all. If the exhaust fan is good enough, it will be like there was never even any bad odor, to begin with.
Some bathroom lighting and exhaust fan combo are actually quite powerful and they can be worth your time. However, there are also those that are not as good as they could be, especially give their prices. More importantly, their sizes should always correspond with the amount of space in the bathroom. If the fans are small and the bathroom is too big, they won’t be as effective.
Bathroom exhaust fans are typically placed on the ceiling or the wall. In some cases, instead of a window, there would only be an exhaust fan to provide ventilation. As for where exactly on the wall or ceiling you will place the fan, though, this would depend entirely on how the bathroom is structured. Most of the time, however, they are placed near or directly above where the toilet is.
If you are skilled at carpentry or if there is already a hole in which the bathroom fan can be affixed, then you should be able to do it yourself. Bathroom exhaust fans are typically lightweight and are easy to install. With that said, you do have to keep several things in mind, including the position of the fan, the size of the hole, the placement of the fan, and how safely you can install it.
