Humidity can be a huge problem in bathrooms and if it isn’t addressed, mold can begin to form. This is particularly a problem in bathrooms with poor ventilation. The best way to address humidity issues is with an exhaust fan. They can be operated manually, with a timer or a built in humidistat. A humidistat is a sensor that detects humidity in the air. When connected to a bath fan, they turn the fan either on or off at a certain level of humidity. Some cities, like Palo Alto now require a humidistat fan be installed with all new bath remodels.
While manual or timer fans can take care of the humidity in your bathroom, there are several advantages to humidistats. If mould is a chronic problem, the only way to solve the problem is to run the fan until the moisture is removed from the bathroom. Running the fan all day can be expensive and most timers only run for a maximum of an hour. Also, if you are going away for a while and you need the humidity to be reduced, a humidistat is best.
The sensitivity of a humidistat can be adjusted, so if you feel that your bathroom is still too humid, you can make it more sensitive so that the fan will turn on more often. A correctly adjusted humidistat can take care of your mold, mildew and fogged-mirror problems so that you don’t have to worry.