The flaps stop the cold outside air from leaking directly into your bathroom and house.
Cold air coming out of bathroom exhaust fan.
This simple device can be purchased at any hardware store and will keep all unwanted cold drafts out of your bathroom.
The back draft flapper may be stuck in a shut position.
How to stop cold air from a bathroom vent step 1.
If this is the case in your bathroom you can get an exhaust fan draft blocker.
This is a device to close off the vent for air flow trying to come in from the vent pipe.
Sometimes they are built right into fan housing where the vent pipe attaches.
It just restricts a large air flow back into the house.
While the energy in the air that is exhaust air is lost it is critical to continue to operate bath fans to remove excess moisture odors.
Clear any insulation away from the unit and use metal tape to cover areas where air may enter the bathroom.
Yes any time you operate a bathroom exhaust vent fan you are removing stale conditioned air from inside and replacing it with outdoor air.
Maybe the flapper is binding and held open or maybe you have a really strong exhaust somewhere else in the house that sucks air in through the bath fan.
Some of the fancy fans have lights in them and i am told that the fans vary in quality.
The purpose of the bathroom exhaust fan is to remove excess moisture and odors from the bathroom.
If you want to stop cold air you need to have a great damper or double damper at the exhaust hood where the air leaves your home.
The flapper isn t an air tight seal.
If this has always been a problem you can a help it some by installing about 4 of flexiable hose and mount it with curves like an inverted j or maybe reconnect origional one b replace it with a better fan and add a hose if the present fan is loud.
Other times the flapper will be part of the roof or wall vent where the vent pipe exhausts to the outside.
This will only allow air to flow out and will restrict cold air from coming in.
I guess they are supposed to have flaps in them too.
Heat recovery is not a function of the bath fan.