Your bathroom fan is on more due to COVID-19—here’s what to do

It might sound weird, but you’re running your bathroom fan more right now. How do I know that? Because most everyone is stuck at home due to COVID-19. Here’s why that’s a problem and what to do about it:

When the toilet paper shortage hit, I spoke with a friend and grumbled about not being able to find any toilet paper. He explained that it’s not necessarily about panic buying, it’s because we are going through more consumer toilet paper.

There were still lots of commercial one-ply toilet paper to be found but not at local stores. The business supply companies had warehouses full of it, but with buildings closing, companies weren’t buying that stock.

I know some people won’t let deuces play away games but if I’ve got to go, I’m going to use the facilities that are closest to me.

So, when the stay at home recommendation came through and places started closing their doors, we had no choice but to use our own bathrooms. That extra usage meant increased consumption of Charmin, or whatever toilet paper you use.

Now, many of us only use our private porcelain thrones to play Candy Crush.  Alongside unrolling more toilet paper, we are running our bathroom fans more, too.

The bath fan’s main purpose, of course, is to remove excess humidity during and after a shower.  The other benefit of a bath fan is for noise cancellation.

Sometimes, you need a little audio privacy. I really don’t understand why someone wants a fan that is marketed as “silent.”  If I need to relieve myself, I want that thing to sound like a space shuttle leaving the launch pad.

Anyway, you’re using your own bathroom more which means that the fan is going to be used more which in turn means more dust is going to be caught in the fan’s vent cover.

Problems from  a dirty bath fan vent:

Excessive humidity left in the bathroom
Too much humidity will increase the probability of mold and mildew growth and dust mites flourish in high humidity environments.

Shortened life span of the fan motor
To a handy person, it’s not terribly difficult to replace a bath fan but do you really want to spend $50-$100 sooner than you have to?

There could even be a potential for fire if you have an older fan (earlier than the 1990’s).  Often they don’t have thermal protection which is a measure to ensure the fan shuts down when overheated, preventing a fire danger.

Here’s an article regarding this concern:

Firefighters warn of bathroom fan fire danger

The good news is: there’s an easy fix.  Just get a vacuum attachment and clean the bath fan vent when it gets dirty.  I don’t show it in the video, but it’s a good idea to remove the grill cover and vacuum out the motor itself.  And don’t forget to wash the cover itself.

Stay safe everyone and take this extra time we are spending in our homes during COVID to keep our homes healthy.

Thanks for reading!  Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to see more content and let me know if you have any house-related questions.