Residential bathroom exhaust fan energy performance evaluations conducted in a well-instrumented laboratory environment
Conference Paper
Overview
Additional Document Info
View All
Overview
abstract
The objective of this study is to experimentally evaluate the airflow and efficacy of a broad range of typical residential bathroom exhaust fans found in the U.S. market. A population of 97 units from 20 manufacturers was studied. Twenty one of the fans were equipped with DC motors, and the rest were designed with AC motors. All units were tested according to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 51/AMCA 210 and HVI Standard 916. Results showed that at an external static pressure (ESP) of 25 Pa, the median efficacy was 3.97 L/s per Watt for DC units and 1.53 L/s per Watt for AC units. When the ESP was increased to 62.5 Pa, up to 60% reductions in both airflow and efficacy were observed. Units with DC motors had medians of 19.1% in airflow reductions and 28.7% in efficacy reductions. The Corresponding airflow and efficacy reductions for units with AC motors were 19.4% and 16.5%, respectively. The measured data indicated that DC units had better performance at 25 Pa in terms of efficacy compared with AC units. Moreover, increasing ESPs would result in a greater efficacy loss to DC units than AC units.
