Anyone recommend a bath fan?

[Spook50]

The 50CFM fan in our bathroom just can't cut it, and after doing the math (courtesy of some tips from my dad, who designs HVAC systems) came out with needing a 100CFM bath fan. Can any of you guys recommend one that's 1) not loud as all hell, and 2) will actually last more than a year? I've been looking on Lowe's and Home Depot's sites and haven't seen any that really look like very good solutions, so I'm keeping my eyes open for anywhere else that'd have other fans that the big box stores won't necessarily have.

 

[TomH]

I put a Fantech in my bathroom. It's so quiet my wife didn't even think it was hooked up. Probably only work if you have an attic above the bathroom.

 

[KLF]

We put Panasonic Whisper-Lites in all our Habitat homes. 2 speed motors. We get a controller that runs the fan for 2-3 hours a day automatically in low speed. If you are careful and run smooth metal ducting (not that crappy flex stuff) it is absolutely quiet. Most of them come with CFL lighting. Very nice product, but not cheap ($200+). Homey Depot and Lowes don't sell them, people that shop there are usually buying for the cheapest, and they end up with those Nutones.

 

[90FJ]

^this. Panasonic maks great stuff, they run at like .5 sones (real fxxxing quiet) Put it on a timer while you're at it, should be run for another 10 minutes after showering.

You might also just ask your dad the HVAC designer....

 

[Spook50]

^this. Panasonic maks great stuff, they run at like .5 sones (real fxxxing quiet) Put it on a timer while you're at it, should be run for another 10 minutes after showering.

You might also just ask your dad the HVAC designer....

I did, but he doesn't do any residential (primarily hospitals) so all he could tell me was the equation to figure out what CFM rating would be best for our size bathroom.

Looking at the Panasonics I'm tempted to go with Ken's suggestion. Bummer is they are more than we can afford with as tight as our budget is, and we're forced to go cheap at this point. I'm bookmarking the Panasonic site for them though so hopefully we can use funds from the next deployment or next year's tax return to get one.

 

[Cruiser Jimmy]

We put Panasonic Whisper-Lites in all our Habitat homes. 2 speed motors. We get a controller that runs the fan for 2-3 hours a day automatically in low speed. If you are careful and run smooth metal ducting (not that crappy flex stuff) it is absolutely quiet. Most of them come with CFL lighting. Very nice product, but not cheap ($200+). Homey Depot and Lowes don't sell them, people that shop there are usually buying for the cheapest, and they end up with those Nutones.

X2!!

After looking at the supply in the box stores I was not impressed. I went to a plumbing supply house and they had one on display. Ultra quiet and high CFM.
This will be in the next bath remodel that I did.

 

[Spook50]

Well, this is just super. Went up into the attic to see what condition the vent ducting was in, and saw this:

FML

 

[KLF]

Holy chit.

Is that 2x4 structural? Or just a brace across the ceiling joists?

You need to get those wires in a box.

(in addition to the obvious missing ductwork)

 

[Spook50]

Holy chit.

Is that 2x4 structural? Or just a brace across the ceiling joists?

You need to get those wires in a box.

(in addition to the obvious missing ductwork)

Surprisingly (given the other shoddy work I've found and had to correct in this house) the 2x4 is just bracing the joists. There's a whole spiderweb of fxxxed up wiring all over the attic too, so with some help from my dad it looks like completely redoing the attic (wiring, relaying insulation, putting in floor boards so we can use it for storage, etc.) is going to be yet another project on the list. No budget or time to allow for it before the weather gets too hot this spring, but hopefully come fall after it cools off again we can tackle it.

Meantime, yeah getting those wires inside a box and installing ducting and a vent in the roof are high priority items. I have multiple pics as evidence so if we can track down the contractor that did that install when the house was renovated before we bought it, we can either force them to make it right or see if we have any legal basis to go after them. I shudder to think of what would've happened if there had been a short up there to ignite any of the tons of sawdust that somehow got into the attic. Especially if it would've happened while I (or all of us) were out of town.

 

[climber8483]

Didn't you get the house inspected? How could the inspector have passed the wiring? It's blatantly wrong in a lot of easily visible places.

 

[Spook50]

Didn't you get the house inspected? How could the inspector have passed the wiring? It's blatantly wrong in a lot of easily visible places.

Yeah, and supposedly the guy had a good reputation locally. I have never even had any formal electrician's training and even I can see tons of half-assed band-aid fixes and installs throughout this house that make me just want to pummel whoever did it.

I'm very tempted to go after the inspector too and ask him how the fxxx he could've missed so much s***. He even went up into the attic too when he did the inspection.

 

[AJP]

since you are working in the attic anyway and will need to run a vent etc ... you could also look at an "inline" fan ... that puts the motor (and the noise) in the attic (OOPS >>> THATS WHAT TOM H already Recommended ... x2). ... They can be pretty strong and if you are using gas (or oil) for hot water/or central heating you need to make sure you are not creating a "negative" pressure situation in the house when you run these... again .. would ask the HVAC specialist in the family

... incidentally if you went with TomH suggestion you may be able to pull the motor/fan assembly out of the existing unit and plumb right into the exhaust pipe we can see in the attic shot with an insulated hose (or metal duct if you prefer) and install the inline fan from there.. just a thought

... BTW if that insulation is vermiculite it could/"MAY" contain asbestos ... if so:
a) dont disturb it when you are up there... and take precautions
b) dont run the existing fan till you exhaust the fan to the outside
c) make sure there are no other penetrations into the ceiling that could spread the dust

(I can think of another several don'ts but common sense will dictate ... "IF" it is vermiculite and "IF" it contains asbestos ... could also be why the inspector didnt spend a lot of time poking around in your attic)

see this link..
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/prod/insulation-isolant-eng.php


Incidentally .. I assume you are in Washington State ... are there any regulations regarding home sales and mandatory declarations about asbestos etc? I would see if there are any old scraps of paper left up there that say "Zonolite"


(will add ... I see an old box peaking out of the insulation ... wonder whether the original electrician was on the ball ... and a DIY'er later decided to forego the "formalities" when they put the fan in.... did they replaced the original ceiling light with a fan/light combo - and didnt know WTF they were doing??)

 

[alia176]

My house came with Broan fans from the 80's and they're still working great. Brone does make 0.9 sonns ultra quiet fan that may go into the same hole, if you want to avoid doing ceiling work. Not sure if the big box stores carry the super quiet Broan fans though, but the price should be up your alley.

 

[Spook50]

since you are working in the attic anyway and will need to run a vent etc ... you could also look at an "inline" fan ... that puts the motor (and the noise) in the attic (OOPS >>> THATS WHAT TOM H already Recommended ... x2). ... They can be pretty strong and if you are using gas (or oil) for hot water/or central heating you need to make sure you are not creating a "negative" pressure situation in the house when you run these... again .. would ask the HVAC specialist in the family

... incidentally if you went with TomH suggestion you may be able to pull the motor/fan assembly out of the existing unit and plumb right into the exhaust pipe we can see in the attic shot with an insulated hose (or metal duct if you prefer) and install the inline fan from there.. just a thought

... BTW if that insulation is vermiculite it could/"MAY" contain asbestos ... if so:
a) dont disturb it when you are up there... and take precautions
b) dont run the existing fan till you exhaust the fan to the outside
c) make sure there are no other penetrations into the ceiling that could spread the dust

(I can think of another several don'ts but common sense will dictate ... "IF" it is vermiculite and "IF" it contains asbestos ... could also be why the inspector didnt spend a lot of time poking around in your attic)

see this link..
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/prod/insulation-isolant-eng.php


Incidentally .. I assume you are in Washington State ... are there any regulations regarding home sales and mandatory declarations about asbestos etc? I would see if there are any old scraps of paper left up there that say "Zonolite"


(will add ... I see an old box peaking out of the insulation ... wonder whether the original electrician was on the ball ... and a DIY'er later decided to forego the "formalities" when they put the fan in.... did they replaced the original ceiling light with a fan/light combo - and didnt know WTF they were doing??)

Not sure what exactly resulted in that mess up there, but that's going to be a prioritized project; fixing that mess of wires and installing a proper duct and roof flashing.

I like the idea of an inline fan. If the price is on par with the ceiling mounted units, having a quieter fan would be great, seeing as how our bathroom is right next to the baby's room.