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myladyfae

attractive but quiet bathroom fans?

myladyfae
13 years ago

I'm not sure if such a thing even exists!

My husband insists that we need an attractive light/fan combo...he hates the plastic ones and wants something that hides that it is a fan. He doesn't like the ones that look like recessed lighting either for that matter. But I am really concerned about the noise level of a fan that is more than 2.0 sones in our tiny 8x5 bathroom. It's right in the middle of the house and near the bedroom too!

Has anyone found a nice looking but *quiet* fan they can recommend? ideally i'd find one i can use a timer switch or humidity sensor with.

thanks!!! I know I've had a million questions as we get this reno off the ground...I apreciate everyone here so much!

Rebecca

Comments (20)

  • susanelewis
    13 years ago

    Avoid anything Nutone. They start out quiet and within a few years sound like a train. We are going with the inline type fan. There is Fantech and in our case, we are combining it with a solar tube and going with Solatube. Natural light plus a quiet fan all in one.

  • myladyfae
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    hmm...anyone have experience with Hunter? they seem to be the best I can find. since this is our only bath, an inline would probably be overkill for us :)

  • kmarie4
    13 years ago

    My husband and I actually just installed a Hunter bathroom fan in our small bathroom that we are remodeling because everything in it was so old. The fan seems to be pretty quiet so far, but it has only been about a month and a half.

  • barb59
    13 years ago

    I don't know if it will pass your attractiveness test, but the Panasonic WisperVent fans are super quiet. My electrician swears by the Panasonics.

  • busybee3
    13 years ago

    there are broan fans/lights that look just like a recessed light.

  • sevrm
    13 years ago

    Susanelewis, I'm curious if you had any trouble finding someone to install your Solatube. I went to three roofing suppliers who sold Solatubes. I was given the names of three different installers. One never returned my call. Two came to the house, looked at the job, and we never heard from them again. One of them said that he would charge $450 to install the Solatube plus fan. I thought that seemed high since it is supposed to only take two hours, but I didn't let him know that. After three strikes, we had kind of lost interest, but since our power was out for a few hours this afternoon, my interest has returned. Would you mind telling me what you paid for installation, if it was a separate charge?

  • brickton
    13 years ago

    I have a Hunter Saturn (I think) that is bronze rings with a center alabster like glass, it's nice looking, reasonably quiet and it was very reasonable ($75ish I think) but it doesn't perform well at all. We have it only a few feet from the shower and we might as well have no fan at all for all the moisture we get. As much as I like the look, I wouldn't necessarily buy it again.

  • susanelewis
    13 years ago

    Suellen, we haven't installed one quite yet but we are seriously looking at it for this summer. I talked to this district's Solatube rep and he told me exactly which one to go with due to customer satisfaction. We haven't had them out yet for an estimate.

    Try contacting Solatube direct, tell them exactly what happened to you and by whom and I'm sure they will steer you in the right direction. BTW, $450 for a Solatube plus fan is a STEAL. He must not have bid a ventilation add-on kit but is using existing exhaust pipe. I am really questioning whether they bid a genuine Solatube and not some Lowe's or HD knock-off.

    Talk directly to Solatube. They are very responsive.

  • susanelewis
    13 years ago

    Barb59, which Panasonic fan do you have in the Whisper series? There are several and some of them are in-line.

  • sevrm
    13 years ago

    Susanelewis, The $450 was just for the labor. I think the actual Solatube with fan will be approximately another $450. Around $900 total.

  • susanelewis
    13 years ago

    Suellen...that makes more sense... That doesn't surprise me, though. Many people charge the same for labor as for parts. Not necessarily fair, but it happens.

    We are probably going to call in June for an estimate. I will certainly let you know what we find out. I wish they had a messages option here.

  • sevrm
    13 years ago

    Thanks, Susan. I'll look forward to seeing your post in the future.

  • susanelewis
    13 years ago

    Suellen...we are getting our bid tonight. Freel free to email me from my page. I didn't see you had that option enabled.

  • User
    13 years ago

    I have the link to it somewhere but am too tired to look now. However, what I am interested in is a remote fan motor, which will serve two vents. In our case, now one really large bathroom, but two side-by-side baths. At the place I found them, they also had the Panasonics.

    I think it was MongoCT who pointed me in their direction.

  • jacobse
    13 years ago

    You're referring to Fantech's remote (inline) fan. It was recommended here on the forum, and I bought one for our first bathroom remodel. We're very happy with it, so I just bought one for our second bathroom remodel, now in progress. (We could have used one of their larger units connected to a vent in both bathrooms. I decided I didn't want to have the one fan wired in both rooms because I thought we'd accidentally leave it on -- and it's so quiet that is actually easy to do! I decided I wanted to put in timer switches in both bathrooms, each controlling its own fan.) I was originally going to get one of the Panasonic units because they have a good reputation for being quiet and reliable, but I was put off by the rather large size of unit on the ceiling; the Fantech units have a very simple, small grill (with or without a small light).

    -- Eric

    Here is a link that might be useful: Fantech Inline Bathroom Fans

  • nkkp
    13 years ago

    Fuuny, I must be the odd-man-out. I didn't buy the quietest fan; I searched and bought one that was a bit noisy. I would much rather hear the white-noise of a fan than all of the other sounds that can come from a bathroom! Plus fan noise provides a bit of privacy for guests using the restroom. Also, the white noise helps mask the annoying normal sounds of someone getting ready for work or bed while others are sleeping. Just a thought!

  • User
    13 years ago

    Jacobse, yes, that is the one I mean. The Fantech.
    So glad to know that you have it installed and operating nicely. Later this summer, we will be buying the one I mentioned to serve two vents. In separate baths.

  • Jm_seattle
    13 years ago

    My suggestion is to buy the quietest fan possible, then ditch their cheesy plastic cover and use an antique style register cover instead. I found this idea in some house book years ago, and remembered it. It worked out well for us- we love it and get many comments on it:

    As for the noise, I agree. In an older bathroom remodel, I did the research and ended up with some Broan model (the quietest I could find at the time). For the one pictured above, we trusted our contractor and went with his "quietest" model, which was a Panasonic something or other. But it's not quite as quiet as our old one, so I wish I would've done the research again.

  • genab55
    13 years ago

    I love your idea of adding a decorative grill to your exhaust fan. How did you attach it to the fan or the ceiling?

  • Jm_seattle
    13 years ago

    I don't know exactly, because our GC did it :)

    I do know that the grill came with screw holes, and the grill we ordered was slightly larger than the fan so it could be attached directly to the ceiling and not the fan. Our remodel was down to the studs, and the GC knew about this plan from the beginning, so he may have put some 2x4s in appropriate locations before he put the drywall on the ceiling. Also, I do remember that the grill was heavy, as it is solid metal (not any heavier than you would expect for a solid metal object of its size; I just didn't really think about the weight of it above my head every day until I actually lifted it up).

    I suppose the question could be re-stated as "how do I secure something heavy to my ceiling?" and other folks with more experience might be able to chime in.