# Leaving bathroom ventilation fan on for 2 months **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 7, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-bathroom-ventilation-fan-on-for-2-months/742447 "2016-01-07T22:08:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nelson\_Pike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Nelson\_Pike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nelson_Pike)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-bathroom-ventilation-fan-on-for-2-months/742447/21 "2016-01-08T19:56:29Z")
I once left an apartment unoccupied for at least one month (in the summer) with everything off. The place was a bit dusty when I got back, but otherwise no problems at all. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-bathroom-ventilation-fan-on-for-2-months/742447/22 "2016-01-08T20:14:16Z")
You can leave it off. A better option is to get a delay switch on a timer, plug in a regular fan to it, and set it to run for an hour or two each night. That shouldn’t burn anything out and you can get your air circulation, for whatever reason you need it. We use these delay switches to have lights go on and off in the house so it looks like we are home. They can be picked up at walmart. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-bathroom-ventilation-fan-on-for-2-months/742447/23 "2016-01-08T21:23:19Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Generally when one leaves for any significant length of time, one turns off water, electricity, and gas. Indeed your household insurance likely mandates that you do so. Actually I’ve never heard anything of the sort. Turning everything off could cause problems in and of itself. The furnace won’t work with no electricity. Neither will the air conditioning. The house might get too cold which would lead to damage e.g. frozen pipes. Turning the water off might be less of an issue but with reduced circulation, that would increase the chances of frozen pipes in outside walls or in the water main feed to the house. Our last house had a shower whose pipes were on the outside wall (BAD DESIGN!!) and we learned after the first winter to leave it trickling on nights where the temp was supposed to really plummet. Too much heat (if summer) won’t cause as much problems (I think) but uncontrolled humidity could lead to damage, mold growth, etc. Many years ago, I was living in a small HOA where we had overall insurance on all the homes. One was unoccupied, the owner had turned everything off, and something froze and caused damage. The insurance company declined coverage because of the circumstances. Now, unplugging as much unessential stuff as you can is a great idea - a lot of things pull power even when off. Set the thermostat to go no lower than 60, or no higher than 80, and that should reduce bills without exposing the house to damage. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-bathroom-ventilation-fan-on-for-2-months/742447/24 "2016-01-08T22:38:50Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Actually I’ve never heard anything of the sort. It’s SOP here. > [@](#): > > Turning the water off might be less of an issue but with reduced circulation, that would increase the chances of frozen pipes in outside walls or in the water main feed to the house. Our last house had a shower whose pipes were on the outside wall (BAD DESIGN!!) and we learned after the first winter to leave it trickling on nights where the temp was supposed to really plummet. But if you’re leaving the property for 2 months, drain it. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-bathroom-ventilation-fan-on-for-2-months/742447/25 "2016-01-08T23:25:26Z")
Just erect a Slaver Stasis Field for the property. Jeez Lou-eeze! Or even an SEP. You could travel via time machine, come back right after you leave. Clones! ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-bathroom-ventilation-fan-on-for-2-months/742447/26 "2016-01-08T23:54:20Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yeah, I’m trying unsuccessfully to imagine how the _blades_ could wear out. I know this one! I was once at a kids’ science museum and they had a display with a fan in a big flat cylinder about an inch deep with sand. you could aim the fan to blow the sand to simulate dune formation, ripples, and other wind/fluid formations. Unfortunately the fan had literally sandblasted itself such that barely a whisp of air was being displaced even though the fan motor was clearly spinning something- presumably, the last remaining hint of the fan blades. So if Velocity lives in a cylinder full of sand, those blades could be no more by March! Or perhaps Velocity lives near a desert, rock quarry (many dopers do), or just a really dirty construction site. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-bathroom-ventilation-fan-on-for-2-months/742447/27 "2016-01-09T00:18:14Z")
When I was young and dumb, the first flat I owned had a bathroom extractor fan that got stuck on the on position for, ahem, about two years before I got around to fixing it. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-bathroom-ventilation-fan-on-for-2-months/742447/28 "2016-01-09T00:34:54Z")
This reminds me of the time a few years back when we stupidly ran the dishwasher just before leaving for a two week vacation. Of course that was the time the old school mechanical buttons got stuck, and it dutifully cleaned the dishes for two weeks straight with hot water. It was still running when we got back. I actually noticed _something_ was wrong while still on vacation when the online utility bill posted. I was scared someone had burgled the place and left a door to the cold open Very clean dishes though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-bathroom-ventilation-fan-on-for-2-months/742447.md?page=1)