A bathroom full of steam is a bad thing in our cool climate.
Why? Mildew is why. Damp cool air encourages the growth of mildew – and mildew spores are a health hazard. But you can take three steps to reduce bathroom moisture.
- Install a shower dome: This is a moulded acrylic dome installed over the top of the shower cubicle. The idea is that the “steam” (actually tiny water droplets) rising from the shower are caught by the dome and the water runs back into the shower, reducing the amount of “steam” billowing out into the bathroom.
Shower domes are more suitable for modern-style showers with a closing door. They wouldn’t work as well in a curtained shower cubicle and are not suitable for an over-the-bath shower. - Install an extractor fan: An extractor fan that’s vented outside will remove damp air from the bathroom. Use it to clear the damp air while the shower is on or a bath is running – and keep it on for a time afterwards, until the damp is cleared.
- Install a heater: As well as blowing warm air on to you, a fan heater will warm the air in the bathroom and so it’ll mop up excess moisture. An infra-red (heat lamp) heater will “shine” heat on to anything in its path (including you if you’re standing under it) but it won’t directly heat the air.
More from consumer.org.nz
- Indoor air quality - we look at simple, cost-effective ways to improve your indoor air quality at home.
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This is for Consumer : I wanted to check out ways of warming the bathroom during use. Standard bathroom fan heaters exist but I could not find any Consumer assessments of this product. Is one in the pipeline?
We had a shower dome installed in our shower after seeing them demonstrated in a home show.
Pros: They certainly dramatically reduce moisture buildup in the bathroom.
They save a considerable amount of hot water because you are not losing as much steam / air into the bathroom. As a result of this it is a lot warmer in the shower cubicle so you don't tend to run the shower so hot.
Cons: If you have a shower rose mounted on a vertical rail you may have to trim the top of the rail to accommodate the dome - we did.
They do tend to gather a lot of dust on the top of them over time and can be difficult to clean
Unless you make a habit of keeping the shower door ajar when not in use or wiping down the inside the cubicles stay continuously damp inside
Overall we are happy with our purchase
we installed a real fan, ie not one of those silly little fans. It sucks so well and we also fitted a delay time so that it runs for 7 minutes after you switch it off. no moisture, no mould. fantastic. The fan sucks so well it will suck the door shut.
what brand and type was it?
We stayed in a modern B&B with a recently installed shower dome and I found it to be surprisingly effective. There was no steam outside the shower and no problems inside with steam build up. It seemed to be 100% effective. I was so impressed that I commented to the owner who said that prior to the shower dome the whole bathroom regularly steamed up and was difficult to clear.
I had my concerns being 6'4" - I should have had one installed years ago.
A Plumbing World assistant told us that the extractor fan works more efficiently when air is able to be drawn in from outside the room. We had a gap under our door and when you turned on the fan you could feel colder air coming in across your feet. She suggested opening the window a small crack of say a centimetre as well, as soon as you do this and turn on the fan you can feel it pulling the air thru. People apparently are having grills put it the door to allow airflow. This has improved the operation of our fan at no cost and if the room is warmed first when it is cold the steam becomes minimal and the fan can keep up with extraction.
I saved a considerable amount of money by having a sheet of 4mm polycarbonate
cut to size sitting on top of the shower walls. You could use draft stop foam strips if required.
Works a treat with no droplets forming.