The laundry room requires a ventilation space and an exhaust fan because the laundry room contains washing machines, ironing boards, etc which are used to go through the process of washing clothes. These machines diffuse heat nonstop during their usage and as such should carry an exhaust fan where it can help dispose of the heat.
A laundry room is a section in the house where clothes are taken to for washing purposes. The instance a laundry room is mentioned, all that comes to my mind is a supposed stuffy room. Except of course an exhaust fan is put in place.
So the question is, should laundry room have an exhaust fan?
The laundry room should carry an exhaust fan because it is where clothes are washed and because of washing machines, the iron boards are found in this space. An exhaust fan helps fan out the heat, thus, eliminating stuffiness.
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Laundry Room: an Overview
The laundry room is a section in the house where clothes are washed, dried, and ironed. It is mostly structured in the basement and garage of some houses because it is in the lower structure of the house.
The basement is a supposed cozy space with little sunlight and little ventilation as well. The laundry room is structured here also because it is the decking of the house, usually a cold floor.
Everything carried out on the laundry floor causes heat because there are a lot of machines that disperse heat. Washing machines, clothes dryers, and ironing boards generate heat and moisture. Because of all this, the laundry has been recommended to be installed alongside its exhaust fans that can disperse the heat and restore air back in.
In other cases, the laundry room is structured in a way that exterior windows are cut out alongside it, so the room will not be deprived of ventilation. One cannot be washing and having to deal with the high celsius degree of heat not fit for a human. So, having it with an exhaust fan or exterior windows has always been practiced.
Importance of Exhaust Fan in Laundry Room
One of the best ways to exhaust heat in the home is to build huge cut-out exterior windows, to install exhaust fans that would disperse the carbon monoxide and regulate proper and fasten ventilation for relaxing purposes. As far as the room is a section in the house where human functions, like the laundry room, ventilation is inevitable.
1. To Vent the Heat Out
If there is an exhaust fan in your laundry room, be rest assured that your laundry room is deliberately exposed to cool air. Yes, you will not experience heat during work hours and there will no opportunity for stuffiness. After exhausting your laundry room of heat using an exhaust fan, there will no need for worries. There is nothing like working with water vaporizing machines in a room and still have a breathable experience.
2. To Prevent Moisture/Mildew and Mold
Another importance of having an exhaust fan in a laundry room is to devoid this section of any form of moisture, that will eventuality turn to mildew and mold. One doesn’t need to be told about the maladies that come with such chemicals. Exhaust fans prevent moisture from developing in the first place. Here is you, not getting to experience such unhealthy conditions at all. Developed moisture can help deteriorate the paints, wallpapers, and even make rust of any fiber of steel in the laundry room.
3. To Avoid Stale and Fusty Odour
In this case, one will never have to experience any or unpleasant smell because the laundry room has been properly ventilated with an exhaust fan. It is better to be safe than sorry. Sometimes running renovations can be extremely tasking and expensive.
There will be no need for any of that if the rooms being designed and structured are properly ventilated by installing an exhaust fan at the topmost ceiling of the laundry room.
Does California Require Exhaust Fan in Laundry Room?
California did not directly require an exhaust fan for the laundry room except there are no exterior windows that are at least 4% of the occupied floor. This means that if your indoor laundry room was structured without windows that take up to 4% of the occupied floor or no windows at all, mechanical ventilation which is an exhaust fan will be made compulsory for the laundry room in order to enhance the rated supply of fresh air and purity of air.
The state of California requires any property designed and structured for occupation must be naturally ventilated by windows, doors, louvers, and other openings to the outside according to section 1203 of California’s building code. Exteriors openings in such as building must be at least 4% of the occupied floor.
The state of California has set out to do what is healthy for its masses by ensuring by this code that the ventilation system is managed and healthy.
However, ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.2 is the national consensus standard on residential ventilation in the United States. Ventilation codes are regulations with the force of law. But the United States has no right to make or adjust laws in relating to ventilation for each state. It is up to each state to make its ventilation laws. This right and authority will be given to the municipal to carry out.
California Title 24 Part 6 references ASHARA Standard 62.2-2007 as California’s state ventilation code. The code is a standard meant to be operable in California as relates to ventilation.
There was a need for the California state government to manage the ventilation standard because many buildings in California were discovered to be under polluted or over-polluted due to architectural negligence. Under polluted is when there are little or no windows in a building. Over or ill polluted is when too much-unregulated air flourishes in a building. None is clearly unhealthy.
So, mechanical ventilation was developed to become a standard in California. Certain codes were put in place to make all these possible. Buildings with 1000square feet and above were required to carry compulsory mechanical ventilation which is the installation of an exhaust fan.
Does A Laundry Room Need Ventilation
A laundry room needs excessive ventilation because a laundry room is a place where excessive heat is generated due to the washing machines that disperse water vapors, the clothes dryers, and ironing boards. There is always a must when we talk about the health of people. It isn’t negotiable. It is needed to prevent any form of heat, staleness, musty, mold, and mildew in the laundry space.
In every which way, a laundry room should not exist without one or more than one ventilation system. During the structuring of a laundry room, there should be first and foremost cut-outs for windows and a space at the ceiling for an exhaust fan.
Mostly all the equipment and machines used in the laundry room cause heat and thus produce moisture in every surface of the room which can damage some of the equipment and deteriorate most parts of the room if not properly ventilated.
The atmosphere of the laundry room becomes stuffy and damaging to equipment and especially the health of individuals who carry out laundry activities in the laundry room if it is not properly ventilated. Yes, the Laundry room needs ventilation and should never be devoid of it.
Laundry Ventilation Requirements
Every part of the laundry room is required to carry proper ventilation. Proper ventilation is when the air that enters or goes out from the laundry room is regulated in a way that it is filtered. A less ventilated room can cause an outbreak of fire because it requires air to function.
Even the least requirement is for the laundry room is that there is enough regulation of air, in and out the laundry room. The rate of supply of fresh air and purity of air should be carried out by an exhaust fan which should be installed on the roof of the ceiling room.
After it is installed, it is expected to provide accurate cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air volume to ventilate the square footage of the laundry room. The exhaust fan should be connected to a hose that takes the hot air to the exterior of the building. This way, the exhaust fan can take the hot air out and sips in the same proportion of cool air it took out, thus, regulating and purifying the air in the laundry room.
In all these, it is required that the supply of fresh air is regulated and that the clothes dryers are properly vented in the space.
Conclusion
These ventilating symbols are very much important to the home or anywhere a living thing exists and functions otherwise growth will become impossible. Humans exist and function for long hours in the laundry room, so, ventilation of this space is inevitable.
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