Does using your kitchen extractor fan less in winter keep your home warmer? I asked the pros about the sweet spot between retaining heat and getting rid of moisture

Now that we've all reached the season where our energy bills are likely the highest they will be all year, it's no wonder that we can't get enough of hacks that promise to keep our home warmer and our bills lower.

While it's always a good idea to look for ways to save energy at home, it's important to research any popular methods or hacks that claim to reduce your usage and costs to make sure they don't inadvertently cause other more costly problems.

One such tip is to use your extractor fan less in winter to prevent it from extracting warm air from your home, which in turn causes you heating to work longer and harder to keep you cosy. I put this method to the experts to see whether it actually works, or if it could potentially do more harm than good.

Does using your extractor fan less in winter keep your home warmer?

Technically, if you use your extractor fan less in the winter, you minimise the chance of your extractor pulling warm air out of your home. However, in practical terms, the answer is more complicated.

'There is a common belief that switching off your bathroom or kitchen extractor fan in winter helps keep your home warmer and reduces energy bills,' explains Samantha McDermid, Brand Manager from Nôsa Bathrooms. 'Technically, there is a small element of truth to this - extractor fans do remove warm indoor air and replace it with colder outside air. However, the impact on overall home heat loss and energy costs is extremely small.

'In winter, your heating system is already working harder, and while extractor fans do remove warm air slightly faster due to the increased temperature difference, the increase in heating demand is minimal.'

While there may be a small impact on how warm your home feels, any slight increase in your energy bills shouldn't dissuade you from using your kitchen or bathroom extractor fan.

'Extractor fans are crucial for removing moisture to prevent condensation and mould,' adds Katie Lillywhite AO’s air treatment expert. 'Cooking or showering can release a lot of moisture into the air so if this moisture isn’t extracted, it can lead to condensation, damp and even mould.' And as anyone who has had to get rid of damp can attest, it'll be more expensive than the small amount of heat lost while using your extractor fan.

Is there a sweet spot between extracting odours and moisture while retaining heat?

Energy bills are highest at this time of year, thanks to shorter, colder days meaning we all need our lights and heating on more. And so for those concerned about using more energy than they need to, it will be important to strike the ideal balance between extracting moisture and odours while retaining as much heat as possible.

'The ‘sweet spot’ is to use the fan only when necessary for example, only during cooking and for 10 minutes afterwards, depending on what you’re cooking explains Katie. 'This will be enough to clear moisture and odours without losing unnecessary warmth.'

Keeping internal doors closed while your extractor fan is running can help prevent moisture from travelling to other areas of your home while also ensuring the fan works most efficiently.

As a longer term solution and what you should look for in a cooker hood, Sophie Lane from Miele GB says: 'If heat retention is a priority, a recirculating cooker hood is ideal because it cleans and returns air to the kitchen rather than venting it outside, meaning there’s no heat loss.'

FAQs

If you are worried about heat loss in your home, there are budget-friendly draught-proofing measures you can try to keep the heat in, while allowing your extractor fans to expel moisture as they need.