What extractor fan brand, and which really are 'silent'?
Discussion
Got some new but pretty basic extractor fans in our bathrooms. They have "AirVent" green logo on them. They work, but are very noisy. So I want to replace them with new ones which are silent. From googling, there seem to be many types which state they're silent versions, but I dont know which brands are good and which are not when it comes to extractor fans.
Also, I will be doing the refit myself, so I am hoping that its just a straight swap for the old-new units? Am I grossly mistaken?
The two I'm looking at are (both pump 21 litres per second):
Manrose QF100T - which says its noise is 27dB at 3m
Vent-Axia VASF100T - which says its noise is 26dB at 3m (although only 14dB if on slower 14l/s speed)
Also, I will be doing the refit myself, so I am hoping that its just a straight swap for the old-new units? Am I grossly mistaken?
The two I'm looking at are (both pump 21 litres per second):
Manrose QF100T - which says its noise is 27dB at 3m
Vent-Axia VASF100T - which says its noise is 26dB at 3m (although only 14dB if on slower 14l/s speed)
Edited by kryten22uk on Friday 6th January 21:37
Just to baseline expectations you will never get a silent fan in a through the wall configuration - the physics simply don't stack up. The motor may be quieter but the airflow itself will still cause noise.
However they can be greatly improved, and more effective. I installed a S&P fan:
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Manufacturers/Soler/4...
Quieter than any other fan I've experienced and good performance as well. The bigger the radius you can go the better as it'll reduce noise. For truly quiet ideally you put an online fan in the loft - but this is not necessarily practical.
However they can be greatly improved, and more effective. I installed a S&P fan:
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Manufacturers/Soler/4...
Quieter than any other fan I've experienced and good performance as well. The bigger the radius you can go the better as it'll reduce noise. For truly quiet ideally you put an online fan in the loft - but this is not necessarily practical.
I get all mine from here:
https://fans4less.co.uk
You can call them to discuss what you need etc. All mine are remotely ducted to minimise noise, but as noted they are still noisy.
https://fans4less.co.uk
You can call them to discuss what you need etc. All mine are remotely ducted to minimise noise, but as noted they are still noisy.
Pheo said:
you will never get a silent fan in a through the wall configuration - the physics simply don't stack up. The motor may be quieter but the airflow itself will still cause noise.
^^^ThisThey annoy me so I tried to buy a good one - I bought an Xpelair and it is indeed silent in your hand.
However fit it in a wall with a cover and it's noisey - add the specially designed front cover and it's even noisier !
Fit the largest you can (ie 6" over 4") and have it running as slowly as possible to get the job done combined with the least obstructive covers - but then you may get backdraft and noise from outside.
I have just swapped to the Vent Axia you mention (from Screwfix) and is much much quieter.
On the lower speed it is hardly noticeable and once the bathroom door is shut, cant hear it at all. On the higher speed, you can hear it but its not obtrusive at all.
It does have a backdraught shutter on but we found it be very noisy with the wind. The wind was causing a vacuum and pulling the flaps open, as the last fan didnt have flaps on anyway, i just took them off the new one.
On the lower speed it is hardly noticeable and once the bathroom door is shut, cant hear it at all. On the higher speed, you can hear it but its not obtrusive at all.
It does have a backdraught shutter on but we found it be very noisy with the wind. The wind was causing a vacuum and pulling the flaps open, as the last fan didnt have flaps on anyway, i just took them off the new one.
We have these installed, little to any noise in the rooms whilst operating.
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Manufacturers/Soler/S...
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Manufacturers/Soler/S...
bigdom said:
We have these installed, little to any noise in the rooms whilst operating.
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Manufacturers/Soler/S...
We fit these as our standard product when possible to fit into the loft, move huge amounts of air and are very quiet, especially if using solid ducting.https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Manufacturers/Soler/S...
Edited by Neil - YVM on Sunday 8th January 13:53
Neil - YVM said:
We fit these as our standard product https://www.gov.uk/guidance/residency-requirements... possible to fit into the loft, move huge amounts of air and are very quiet, especially if using solid ducting.
Link doesn't workCoolHands said:
I have a manrose. Obviously you can hear it, but it's not obtrusive or annoying in my opinion.
I have used several of these Manrose "in line" fans and they are great. Mounted in the loft space they are audible but not obtrusively. The first one I fitted is now over two years old and has not developed any rattles or squeaks. The sound you can hear is largely the whoosh of the air being sucked out of the room rather than motor noise or rattle. You can actually see the steam being sucked out through the grill after a shower.We used S&P in our en-suite and Manrose in the guest, both in line in the loft, the S&P was about twice the price.
The S&P is barely perceptible, so much so that before we installed the shower we weren't sure it was working.
The Manrose inline is fine, you can hear it but it's not intrusive. The S&P clears the steam much better as well, I don't think we would need the heated mirror in that room.
Think about using one with a humidostat if wall mounted, and heated mirrors are great too.
The S&P is barely perceptible, so much so that before we installed the shower we weren't sure it was working.
The Manrose inline is fine, you can hear it but it's not intrusive. The S&P clears the steam much better as well, I don't think we would need the heated mirror in that room.
Think about using one with a humidostat if wall mounted, and heated mirrors are great too.
Regarding the ability to clear the steam, we have a 32 l/min rainshower in an enclosure with the vent above in the en-suite, and even after a long hot shower there is no steam in the room. On a cool day you can see plumes of steam coming out the vent tile.
I'd say it works pretty well, we never need to open the window to clear steam...
I'd say it works pretty well, we never need to open the window to clear steam...
A lot of this stuff could be much better than it is but given the cost pressures and need for ease of installation and limited number of suppliers what is there is 'good enough'.
The noisy flap valves could be improved by using a silicone valve or with damping or probably a couple of other ways but it would add cost to something most people don't know enough about for the noise to get them to spend money to fix it or for installers to spec something different. Might be a market there though? Cheapish simple retrofit for something that annoys a lot of people? Hmm...
The noisy flap valves could be improved by using a silicone valve or with damping or probably a couple of other ways but it would add cost to something most people don't know enough about for the noise to get them to spend money to fix it or for installers to spec something different. Might be a market there though? Cheapish simple retrofit for something that annoys a lot of people? Hmm...
kryten22uk said:
Got some new but pretty basic extractor fans in our bathrooms. They have "AirVent" green logo on them. They work, but are very noisy. So I want to replace them with new ones which are silent. From googling, there seem to be many types which state they're silent versions, but I dont know which brands are good and which are not when it comes to extractor fans.
Also, I will be doing the refit myself, so I am hoping that its just a straight swap for the old-new units? Am I grossly mistaken?
The two I'm looking at are (both pump 21 litres per second):
Manrose QF100T - which says its noise is 27dB at 3m
Vent-Axia VASF100T - which says its noise is 26dB at 3m (although only 14dB if on slower 14l/s speed)
Don't know about Manrose, but we have replaced all five of ours with Vent-Axia ones. Also, I will be doing the refit myself, so I am hoping that its just a straight swap for the old-new units? Am I grossly mistaken?
The two I'm looking at are (both pump 21 litres per second):
Manrose QF100T - which says its noise is 27dB at 3m
Vent-Axia VASF100T - which says its noise is 26dB at 3m (although only 14dB if on slower 14l/s speed)
Edited by kryten22uk on Friday 6th January 21:37
- They are a straight replacement. Easy diy job.
- They are very quiet. Saying that my reference point was previous no-name brand cheapos probably installed when the house was built, which were ridiculously loud.
- Front panel makes them really easy on the eye (you can even carefully remove vent axia logo, so they are just white plastic. (with some skill you can paint them on, so they blend into surroundings (I know, I know).
- The non-return (?) flaps are really flimsy.
We went with the Manrose one I listed. Very easy diy job to refit. It's one of the quietest on the market and it is markedly quieter than the one it replaces, but to call these things 'silent' is nothing short of false advertising.
Edited by kryten22uk on Wednesday 11th January 14:36
jmsgld said:
We used S&P in our en-suite and Manrose in the guest, both in line in the loft, the S&P was about twice the price.
The S&P is barely perceptible, so much so that before we installed the shower we weren't sure it was working.
The Manrose inline is fine, you can hear it but it's not intrusive. The S&P clears the steam much better as well, I don't think we would need the heated mirror in that room.
Think about using one with a humidostat if wall mounted, and heated mirrors are great too.
Thank you, pretty much what I wanted to know The S&P is barely perceptible, so much so that before we installed the shower we weren't sure it was working.
The Manrose inline is fine, you can hear it but it's not intrusive. The S&P clears the steam much better as well, I don't think we would need the heated mirror in that room.
Think about using one with a humidostat if wall mounted, and heated mirrors are great too.
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