The air we breathe can contain unwanted contaminates such as smoke, odors, moisture, dust and other particulates; ventilation exhaust fans are used to control the environment in which we live by removing these contaminates and venting them outdoors. Although exhaust fans are often stand alone devices they can also be integrated into heating and cooling systems. In a home the most common location for exhaust fans is the bathroom, kitchen and perhaps the laundry area and these fans are either included with a new home or reasonably easy to install in an existing home.
The classic installation area for ventilation exhaust fans are in kitchens and bathrooms. These areas, along with the laundry room have the tendency of getting very steamed up and odorous. Steam is something that promotes the rapid development of mold and mildew in a house as it can form on any damp surface. The exhaust fan can be run during bathing, cooking and doing the laundry to vent the air in the area to the outside, once there it simply disperses. The kitchen exhaust fan not only eliminates the steam from cooking, it rids the kitchen of cooking odors as well as smoke should the stove be equipped with an indoor grill.
Although the exhaust fans are primarily used to eliminate humidity and odors, they can also be used for climate control. During the warm summer months the fan can be used to push the warm air out, this creates a slight negative internal pressure which draws cooler air in from outside. Of course a lot has to do with the temperature of the day but in many cases ventilation exhaust fans can be used instead of costly air conditioning.
People have a tendency to think about their home when it comes to air quality but the situation is just as bad if not worse in factories, garages and other workshop spaces. In the home the issue is oriented to eliminate moisture and cooking odors, in a factory environment it is more than that. Factory areas can often have vapors which are potentially harmful to the employees. In cases like this industrial duty ventilation exhaust fans are used as part of a total pollution control system.
Any space can be vented with an exhaust fan; they are found in restaurants, storage warehouses as well as commercial spaces such as delicatessens, meat and fish markets and even hospital operating rooms.