The bathroom extractor, a key piece of the ventilation system

Do you know the components of your ventilation system? According to the CTE DB HS 3, Indoor air quality, residential buildings must be designed considering a whole family of openings to ensure that the air in our homes is clean and healthy. The bathroom extractor, like that of the kitchen, is a ventilation opening, specifically, an extraction opening. Let us clarify the different concepts.

Ventilation openings: classification

Each ventilation opening is a vital element of the ventilation system. They are classified as follows:

• Ventilation opening: any gap made in one of the structural elements that delimit a room to allow the transfer of air between it and another adjacent one or between it and the outside space.

• Supply opening: any ventilation opening that serves to admit air inside. They connect the room with the outside space (directly or through a supply duct).

• Extraction opening: any ventilation opening that serves to extract air from the interior to the exterior. They connect the room with the outside space (directly or through an extraction duct).

• Pass-through opening: any ventilation opening that allows air to pass from one room to another adjacent one.

• Ventilation opening: any gap made in one of the structural elements that delimit a room to allow the transfer of air between it and another adjacent one or between it and the outside space.

• Mixed opening: any ventilation opening that serves to ventilate a room naturally. It connects the room directly with the outside. Depending on the circumstances, it acts as a supply opening or as an extraction opening.

(To delve deeper into the requirements of the CTE regarding the ventilation system and extractors: Single-family home and CTE requirements in terms of ventilation.)

Maintenance requirements

According to the CTE DB HS 3, maintenance actions must be carried out on all elements of the system. Thus, ducts, openings, fans (both hybrid and mechanical), and extractors must be cleaned once a year. Filters must also be cleaned (or replaced if necessary) annually. A review of all components must be conducted every five years, except for filters, which must be reviewed once a year to check if they need cleaning or if they need to be replaced with new filters.

The bathroom extractor in the current market

The purpose of a bathroom extractor is to ensure the correct extraction of stale air from the interior of the room. In the market, there are extractors to be mounted on the ceiling or on the wall. When choosing an extractor for our home, we must choose the one that offers us maximum comfort and guarantees a variable airflow according to the ambient relative humidity of the room and a complementary timer airflow (half an hour), regulated through presence detectors. Hygro-regulated extraction openings, which are part of the simple flow mechanical ventilation, meet these requirements. It is a ventilation system designed to extract contaminated air individually and renew the air in homes according to the detected humidity levels. It works on the principle of sweeping and is completely independent between treated homes.