I've given the problem some though (turning on the bathroom fan, not
detecting farts) and since I can't seem to come up with a reliable way
to detect farts, I figured it's simply easier/better to detect the use
of the toilet and turn on the fan during and shortly after its use.

Even better would be a vented toilet which would actually take the air
from the toilet bowl and vent it outside.  It wouldn't have to take as
much as a regular bathroom fan does, but it would take some getting used to.

I'm sure, however, that sensors currently exist which could detect some
of the components of a fart (methane or similar, I suspect).  It would
likely need to be very sensitive, and close to the affected area.  But I
doubt many of these sensors are up to handling the rigors of the
bathroom.  Might be easier (and cheaper to maintain) to train a small
dog with a switch.

I now imagine someone rolling their eyes and going, "Weeeeird!" as they
go to the next message...

-Adam

Bob Blick wrote:

>I was thinking the other day how nice it would be to turn on the exhaust
>fan in my bathroom, but the switch was temporarily out of reach. That
>immediately got me to thinking about how hard it would be to implement an
>"electronic nose" that could activate the fan automatically. I have a
>feeling it wouldn't be a trivial thing, but perhaps something already on
>the market has a sensor that could be modified to suit the purpose.
>
>Any ideas?
>
>Cheerful regards,
>
>Bob
>
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