Simple fan delay switch can avoid bathroom mold

Too much moisture will cause mold – $33 switch helps to keep it away and save energy

By Stephen Pate – A simple $33 Air King AKDT60 Delay Timer Switch, White got rid of excess moisture in a bathroom without having to train a teenager.

Hour long showers listening to music create more moisture in a bathroom than a fan can easily remove.

Last month I discovered the paint peeling in the downstairs bathroom for that very reason.

I thought it was mold but the Service Master rep said it was “teenage shower syndrome”. Apparently, teenage girls like to take hour long hot showers while listening to their favourite rock music.

The cure was a time delay switch that keeps the fan running for 15 or 30 minutes after the light is turned off, since you can’t train a teenager to do anything.

It’s no use getting a timer switch that forces the teenager to help with the problem. It has to be automatic.

There is another solution which is a whole-house ERV or HRV controlled by a humidistat. That should work although the bathroom fan solution is cheaper.  Some fans come with humidistats to turn themselves off.

Local electrical suppliers didn’t carry the switch so I ordered it from Conservation Mart, who don’t carry it anymore. Amazon.com has the same switch Air King AKDT60 Delay Timer Switch, White.

The switch is a single-pole, double throw switch with a user set timer on the second wire for the fan.

Complications installing it should be limited to only one white wire controlling the light and the fan. I hired an electrician and he fished the second wire.

I installed the switches in two bathrooms. The downstairs one spooked the first teen who used the washroom when the fan wouldn’t go off. Adults are allowed their own subtle pranks.

The second fan upstairs works great except the older style fan is too noisy when left on for 15 minutes. Oh well, replacing it with a modern quiet fan is another project.