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We're all happy to see the summer months arrive so we can finally get outside, enjoy some fresh air and leave our raincoats behind without fear. But then, it gets into heatwave territory.
A new fear descends upon us as we panic about how we'll survive inside our homes when it's too darn hot. And that's when the bathroom exhaust fan hack comes into play.
The people of Reddit are suggesting if you turn your bathroom exhaust fan on, the hot air will get pulled from the room, which should leave it cooler.
But, while having a plumber for a husband has a lot of perks all-year round, from boiler issues to tap problems, it turns out I have a live-in expert who can also tell me if this heatwave hack's really a good idea.
Turns out, it's not.
How it works
It's easy to understand where the hack comes from given that your bathroom exhaust fan works to remove heat from the room and that should, in turn, cool the room down.
But, only if the outside air is cooler, which during a heatwave, it most likely isn't.
When I asked my plumber husband if turning on the bathroom exhaust fan would actually help, he said: "It seems pretty unlikely it would work".
And, he explains why: "The air has to be replaced with something else and it's not taking it from a store of cold air. It's used specifically to get smells and moisture out.
"You'd be expelling unnecessary electricity, which would actually end up costing you"
"Instead, you'd be expelling unnecessary electricity, which would actually end up costing you".
Exhaust fans also work within the rooms they're located in, primarily your bathroom and kitchen, so even if it did work with cooler air outside, you'd only feel the benefit in those rooms as it doesn't have the power to work throughout your home.
So, if you're looking to banish hot air from your home, you might want to think about other options that won't cost you to try out and are far more effective.
Here's what to do instead
We've been eagerly hunting down heatwave hacks that do work as we get deeper into the summer months – and fortunately, we've had great success!
The tried-and-tested 'caveman method' is one of my personal favorites, which advises you to treat your home like a cave.
For this, you keep your windows and doors shut, blinds down and curtains closed to keep the hot air away from the house. If you open up the windows, you're only inviting that hot air from outside, in.
Then, there's the concept of using aluminum foil on your windows to beat the heat. With this, I found three common mistakes you want to avoid. Simply put, you'll want to place it on the outside, use strong foil and use a protective layer.
Then, you'll reflect the heat away from your home and keep it as cool as possible inside.
English (US) ·