Vent Fan Dilemma

9 years ago

Looking for a very quiet fan for our 5x5 powder room. Panasonic seems to be the top brand, especially for low noise levels. I wanted a 50 CFM fan since the space is so small. BUT, the 50 CFM model only comes with a 4" duct and ours is 3". Some other models come with a 3" adapter, but they are min 80 CFM's which I fear could be too high for the space, and they are also not as quiet.

I read that you should not try to use a smaller duct than the fan was designed for or it will not work properly. I alos read that you should not use an oversized fan for the space - not sure why.

Would it be better to go with and 80 CFM that comes with a 3 inch adapter (and also has a higher noise rating of .8 vs .3 for the 50 CFM with 4" vent and no optional adapter?

Still hoping DH will try to replace the vent but its between first and second floor so that may not be so easy.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

Babka NorCal 9b
9 years ago
The Panasonic Whisper Fans are unbelievably quiet. Unless you have a mini sauna in that 5x5 space, I wouldn't worry about a larger capacity fan not being able to move the air out as fast as it could A noisy fan rarely gets used, and all things considered with just a toilet and sink, you probably could get by with an air freshener.

-Babka
jerzeegirl
9 years ago
When you have company is that the room that they use? If so, then I would consider the 80CFM fan. Some fan noise would conceal stray sounds that might come from the powder room when it is in use.
Related Discussions
Replacing attic fan with power vent fan
Q
Comments (4)
This is not a duct. You are simply replacing the fan/motor assembly. The shroud (cap) keeps the weather out but is not a duct. After replacing the assembly make sure the screen surrounding the top of the shroud is in place to keep the critters out. The louvers you are talking about are the gable vents. These are meant to be an exit for air coming into the attic from the sofit vents. They have fallen out of favor with newer construction as ridge vents, which go all the way across the peak of the roof are more eficient. These setups normally provide all the passive ventilation needed for an attic but I suspect a previous owner installed the power vent because of insufficient ventilation. Make sure your soffit vents (located in the flat area underneath your gutters are not blocked.
...See More
Replacing vent fan with fan/heater unit
Q
Comments (10)
I have had two Broan/Nutone heater/vent/light/nightlight units since 2005. The first one had the heater burn out, which hubby and the contractor who was here for something else replaced. Then the light on it went POP and flamed out, so we decided to replace the whole thing because DH, who was in the bathroom at the time, said that sparks flew. When the contractor was back for something else again, I gave him the new unit (same model because we had blown-in insulation and did not want him crawling around in the attic to change the larger vent pipe that we needed to downsize if we switched to Panasonic) and he installed the different parts into the old housing because it was easier and the big metal boxes were the same. The heater on this one has now quit working. Now I will admit that we sometimes forgot and left the heater running for hours. The heater burning out was likely our fault. So I second (third?) the call for putting the heater on a timer. We are planning a remodel of this room and so the old aluminum slider window is still not replaced. We can't use window film in the winter anymore because we need to open this window to get the attention of our elderly dog when he gets "lost" in the yard and is barking during late-night potty breaks. So it is darn cold in this bathroom sometimes! We need something for additional heat. I don't know if I will go for the radiant light bulbs (remember the red heater bulbs?) or electric cove heating or just electric -in-floor heating. I used electric cove heating in my father-in-law's room when he was an invalid, and it worked very well giving his room the extra few degrees he needed. Here is a link: Comfort Cove We just had a thermostat in his room to run the cove heater, and it kept his room toasty. My DH reminded me the other day that when you get out of the shower wet, the heater fan blowing on you does make you feel cold. Its heat is not nearly as warm as you are after the shower. The cove heat is silent, another plus. I bet it will help dry and warm the towels hanging across from it, too. I had forgotten about the Comfort Cove heater because we had to disconnect it back in 2010 when we remodeled the kitchen. We ran out of circuits and I had to steal the Comfort Cover circuit for the stove top's down draft fan! I need to get a new service panel.
...See More
Powder room fan - replace vent cover or replace fan
Q
Comments (3)
I would check with an electrical supply house. I would be amazed if a replacement was not available as this should be a still common type and size fan.
...See More
Downdraft vent dilemma
Q
Comments (25)
For a ceiling hood to be effective requires excessive aperture size, containment volume, internal baffling and CFM's. Otherwise they are only slightly better than downdraft. They are nirvana for open plan commercial kitchens but the install cost is about 5-7x the cost of a standard hood and operational cost about 3x (in cold climates) so are very rarely installed. The effluent plum at the ceiling is quite different than at 3' above the range. It is cooler and much less dense which works against good capture and containment. Closer to the range the heat of the effluent helps to contain it in the hood (hot air rises) until it can be exhausted. Even just 3' higher the byproducts that you need to exhaust are less dense by a factor of about 4 (so you have to exhaust 4x as much volume to exhaust the same amount of particulates) and it has cooled resulting in the need of nearly twice the containment volume.
...See More
numbersjunkie
Original Author
9 years ago
Interesting observation Babka about a noisy fan not being used. The fan we have now isn't used but cant be sure why. I think its just because it requires another switch to be flipped. And Jerzeesgirls suggestion that a little noise might not be a bad thing could be valid- this is the bathroom guests use. So now I'm thinking we should not worry about a little noise and am also considering a sensor switch that turns it on and off automatically. Or put if on the same switch as the lights if we don't need to use a dimmer. Dimmer might be used because we will have only recessed lights and they may be too dim in some cases and too bright in others.
monicakm_gw
9 years ago
We have an 80cfm Panasonic Whisper fan in DH's 5x8 bathroom. No way is there enough noise to "mask" any other sounds. I'm the only person that can here the thing and that's only if I'm trying to hear it and it's totally silent in the rest of the house. It's a great fan and superbly does what it's intended to do. As we did in my bathroom, we put it on a timer because you'll forget to turn it off since you can't hear it. I have Toto Washlet and don't need a ventilation except for removing steam/moisture.
Babka NorCal 9b
9 years ago
Just curious...whenever we stay at a motel that has the fan go on when the light does, that ROAR makes me not want to turn on the light! Very Annoying. For the few times a person uses the bathroom near our livingroom with guests present the conversation isn't usually silent enough to hear any noises. If we do we just all look embarrassed ( sometimes snicker) and then continue talking.

A sensor???? a stink or noise sensor? Methinks not.

In ladies rooms that I frequent, if we think we are going to make noise, we flush to cover the sound. What do men do?...if they are like my husband, they probably smile, proudly.

Don't over think this one.

-Babka
Gracie
9 years ago
Is a fan required by code in a powder room? We never use ours because we poo in other bathrooms. Guests usually aren't here long enough to poo in the powder room, and overnight guests use the guest bath. Maybe one of the new Kohler stink seats would be a solution.
numbersjunkie
Original Author
9 years ago
Interesting comment that maybe a fan isn't needed. I'm not sure I would be comfortable with that - just in case someone leaves a smell, I would definitely want something to help remove it, and keep it from wandering into the family room. As far as guests not being there long enough to poo, all I can say is that you must not have any elderly relatives. They need to go when they need to go, and they often have digestive problems that result in smells.

Vent Fan Dilemma

Comments (7)

Babka NorCal 9b

jerzeegirl

Related Discussions

numbersjunkie
Original Author

monicakm_gw

Babka NorCal 9b

Gracie

numbersjunkie
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Vent Fan Dilemma

Comments (7)

Babka NorCal 9b

jerzeegirl

Related Discussions

numbersjunkieOriginal Author

monicakm_gw

Babka NorCal 9b

Gracie

numbersjunkieOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

numbersjunkie
Original Author

numbersjunkie
Original Author