What Is a Bathroom Exhaust Fan?
Bathroom exhaust fans areusually placednear or in the ceiling of a bathroom.
They are necessary for expelling odors and for keeping moisture levels in check.
The Spruce / Kevin Norris
Before You Buy a Bathroom Exhaust Fan
Noise and efficiency do not always equate.
The perfectbathroom fanis both quiet and has sufficient room-clearing capability.
A few bathroom fans strike a good balance between capacity, noise rating, and cost.
Sones are a subjective measurement, based on the psychological perception of a sound’s intensity.
This is the volume of air that the fan will suck out of the bathroom within one minute.
If you starve the fan of makeup air, it won’t do its job very well.
you could crack the door open after using the toilet or taking a shower.
While noise and efficiency do not perfectly equate, there is still a rough correlation between the two factors.
But it is not quite that simple.
Sometimes, a few outliers move more air with less noise.
One way to evaluate the data and better standardize CFM and noise is to bring the two numbers together.
Lower CFM-per-sone numbers are better.
For example, a fan rated at 1 sone and 1 CFM would produce a CFM-per-sone rating of 1.
Its sone-to-CFM rating is 0.0170, which is far lower than the previous bargain fan.
Mounting Mechanism
When choosing a bathroom exhaust fan, don’t forget to consider the mounting mechanism.
Is there an existing mechanism that you oughta fit a new fan to?
Or will a new mechanism fit in your bathroom?
Would you be able to install it yourself, or would you better hire labor?
These are all crucial questions.
Cost
The last dimension to consider when purchasing a quiet bathroom fan is its cost.
A super-quiet bathroom fan may not be worth purchasing if it is beyond your remodeling budget.
Yet an ultra-cheap bathroom fan might be so loud that it rarely gets used.
For example, the Broan 688 is a workhorse that contractors have been installing in bathrooms for many years.
If you are looking for an inexpensive anddependable exhaust fan, the Broan 688 might be right for you.
Its price has remained the same over the last five years.
Yet, at 4.0 sones, quiet it is not.
A quiet bathroom exhaust fan will be rated at 1.5 sones or less.
Quiet bathroom fans do not have to be expensive.
you’re able to find decent models around $150 or less.
A good rule of thumb is to replace your bathroom exhaust fan every ten years.
