and ideas? the panasonic lines seem good. very quiet and efficient, but i want a METAL intake grill. man there sure are lots of crappy bulbous cheap looking plastic grills! one is for the bathroom so i figure 80 cfm and less then 1 sone. the other fans is for a larger room so about 40 cfm and around 2 sones.
Bathrooms are damp. Metal grills are steel and rust readily (ugly!). Be happy with the plastic and by next year you won't even notice it. IIRC, Consumer Reports had an article on range hoods that might have some clues as to which manufacturers are building the good stuff. Good luck.
Joe
haha. well maybe you are right about me forgetting in a year. but we do have a broan fan in our other bathroom. the grill is metal, but painted so maybe its protected. it looks spotless after almost 2 years. trouble is, its a bit too loud and i can't seem to find the model anyway.
as far as consumer reports go...i'm not sure i trust them. something about how long they're been around and how large they are makes me think they've been gotten to. :D.
I just put in a Broan that had a plastic grill and it looks very nice to me. I'd prefer the plastic over metal, which, as others have pointed out, can rust in a bathroom environment. I think it was 2 Sones, and it seems quiet enough for a bathroom to me. One advantage to having some noise is you can tell it's on from nearby, so it won't be ase easy to leave it on and forget about it. Of course you could use a timer to prevent this too.
I had a problem with Air King. Bought one of their fans online based on the data provided on the spec sheet. The rough in dimensions are wrong, off by about a 1/2", which screwed me, because in this case, it was critical and it would not fit.
i know it sounds funny, but i think i actually do trust unknwon people on the internet more then consumer report. some of these people are in the industry and there knwoledge is an accumulation of years of first hand experience. first hand experience is the big winner for me. not to mention thier livlihood depends on knowing the truth/value of products. but i'm really just guessing about consumer reports.i don't read them.
as far as my fan sago goes, and i admitt i'm way too exacting about it, i'm thinking about keeping the panasonics. fyi the stats are:
80 CFM, 0.4 Sones, 23 watts, 4" duct $98 290 CFM, 2.0 Sones, 64 watts, 6" duct $166the cfm ratings are funny i think though. an 8x8x8 or 512sqft bathroom would get turned over once every 5-6 minutes by an 80 cfm fan. seems it would be higher. oh well.
anyway it looks to me they are a good product if the numbers are right. they also have a low profile grill. i hate those bulbous ones.
thanks everyone.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.