Healthy Homes - Ventilation

Bathroom Fans  [10 Feb 2020]

Many bathrooms have extractor fans already, and the good news is that existing fans are “grandfathered” in. We will take photos of fans to show they have been there prior to 2019. If you do have to put in a new fan be aware that the standard is a 12cm vent or over 25ls extraction power. The good news is that almost all 10 cm fan are over 25ls so you can pick nearly any fan. The bad news is that the most popular and hard wearing fan is Manrose and it is 23ls. So do not put a 10cm Manrose in! Fans are $50-$150 including an external covering and installation should cost around $250-300 as an electrician needs to do the connection. You may also have to pay for repainting if holes in the wall were needed to bring power to the fan.

Many New homes have combined ceiling/fan units which will normally comply. But, in some cases the fans simply vent into the ceiling which is expressly forbidden. In this case we need a builder or handyman to run a vent to the outside of the building. We have to confirm in our records where the internal fans vents to. Costs will vary depending on the distance required, but the materials are cheap.

Kitchen Extractor Fans

Again, many kitchens already have range-hoods and as long as they vent outside they are “grandfathered” in. However many landlords installed the cheap $100 internal range-hoods which do not comply as they don't vent outside, and these must be replaced. A new rental quality range-hood costs about $150-$300 (but you can spend much more), and all 15cm vent models (which is the standard) will comply. Even if you need to have a 10cm hole all range-hoods will have more than the 50ls power required. If there is an existing wall plug then this is a fairly simple builder task, costing around $250-$450 for installation.

If there is no existing range-hood then an electrician will be required so this will cost a bit more on top of the builders costs. We are trying to train up some electricians to do the whole installation job, as this should save some travel time costs. In many cases the reason there is no existing extractor is that the stove is next to a window or internally stationed where there is no external wall nearby. We have seen some cases where landlords have gone to rather expensive and impractical lengths to install a new range-hood. But.... the legislation only requires an 15cm extractor fan in the room. If the kitchen didn't need a range-hood before, then we can just install an extractor fan on any external wall of the room to comply. It doesn't have to be used or be practical, it just have to be in the room! The cost would then be about the same as for installing a new bathroom extractor.