Ensuring good bathroom ventilation is a very important task. The lack of proper air exchange in this room will not allow for a comfortable stay of a person here. The bathroom exhaust fan timer is an incredibly handy feature. It will turn on the operation of the hood along with the inclusion of the light in the room and turn it off after a certain time after it is turned off.
In residential and public buildings, a ventilation system is necessarily provided, which functions due to the natural flow of air, but the ventilation ducts tend to become dirty over time and can no longer fully fulfill their main function. You can determine this in the bathroom by such simple signs:
- an unpleasant smell lasts for a long time;
- mirror surfaces sweat;
- condensate accumulates on walls and plumbing.
If one of these signs is present, care should be taken to install an exhaust fan. A timer for the fan can be purchased and installed by yourself, or you can buy a fan with a built-in timer.
How does the device work?
If the bathroom lighting is off, the extractor fan will also be off. In this case, the current consumption will be minimal, which will not even be recorded by electricity meters. This is the so-called standby mode.
When you turn on the lighting in the bathroom, the timer starts counting the period of time until the hood is turned on, which lasts approximately 15 seconds (deviations of 1-2 seconds are possible). If you have time to turn off the light before this time has passed, the fan will not turn on at all. For example, a person went into the bathroom to put or take some thing, which took a few seconds, while the hood will not turn on. This is very convenient, because there is no need for the hood to work. When the light is on for more than 15 seconds, the timer will turn on the hood fan, and it will work as long as the light is on and after it is turned off for 5 minutes. In addition, for every 2 minutes the light is turned on, the fan operation time after turning off is extended by another 1 minute. After turning off the light, the hood can operate for a maximum of 30 minutes. For example, if a person went into the bathroom and turned on the light, after which he was there for 15 minutes (took a shower or bath), then the time of the hood after turning off the light will be 13 minutes (5 minutes + 15 minutes / 2 = 13 minutes).
The fan timer also provides such a program: after turning off the light, the fan will run the same time as it worked when the light was on. Different models of fans with a timer may have different operating intervals.
If the fan is running and the light in the bathroom has been turned on again, then the duration of the fan operation will be determined as the sum of the remaining time that has not yet ended and the new period of time, which can be calculated by the method described.
The fact that the device is working properly and ready for operation is signaled by a flashing LED every second.
Design and operating rules
The timer is a single-sided printed circuit board on which the elements are mounted. The DD1 component is connected from the side of the conductors, the remaining components are installed from the other side.
To protect the printed circuit board from moisture, it is recommended to open it with a varnish that is resistant to moisture.
The most common type of timers is connected to a 220 V network and has a signal wire input from a lighting lamp. In other words, the timer is always connected to power, and the fan is already connected to it. When you turn on the light in the bathroom, a signal is sent to the timer and the countdown begins, after which the hood turns on.When the light is turned off, the power on the signal wire disappears and the countdown begins - until the shutdown.
Devices with light sensors
There are also timers with light sensors that react specifically to the presence of lighting. They no longer need a command wire from the lamp.
As a rule, an exhaust fan is mounted under the ceiling in the wall of the bathroom, so that when the lighting is turned on, it is as brightly lit as possible. For the timer to work correctly, there should be a significant difference when the bathroom lighting is on and off. If the bathroom is so light that the hood does not stop working, you need to varnish the LED to reduce the amount of light, or to deepen it.
It should be remembered that the timer elements are energized, which is why you need to be extremely careful when installing the device or when checking it. The danger is increased because the installation is carried out in a room where the probability of electric shock is high due to humidity.
