Quiet bathroom extractors

[John Carlyle-Clarke]

The builders fitted a standard extractor to our new shower-room, but it is really noisy! So noisy that my wife keeps turning it off, which is a shame as it is quite useful.

Given all the effort put into making quiet/silent PC's, I'm sure it would be possible to make quiet versions of these too, but all my asking around has drawn a blank. Can anyone help?

Part of the problem I think is that it is mounted in a hollow wood/plasterboard wall (the shower-room is in a kind of dormer window type area), so the noise is amplified by the wall. Has anyone found a way to damp down the vibrations, or accoustically isolate the fan from the wall?

[BigWallop]

It might be possible to squirt some expanding foam in between the plasterboard and the outer brick skin, if that's the way it's made up, to introduce some sort of bulk that will stop the shake and vibrations when the fan is running.

What size fan is installed ? Does it have pipework through the wall taking the air to the outside from an internally fitted fan ?

There are fans, called sila-fan I think, that are around 110 mm (4'') in diameter that will sit easily inside a piece of standard drain pipe. They have quite a large air extraction ratio for their size and may just do the job for you. They are fitted with a ball bearing around the shaft and this makes them very quiet. They're not any more expensive than a normal fan so it might be worth a search on the web for one.

[Grunff]

I really wouldn't recommend this - it will cause the PB to bulge.

However, the principle is sound - squirt some filler of your choice (no-nails type acrylic filler works well) to dampen the vibration.

In addition, it's worth noting that there are *huge* differences in the noise level generated by different makes. I initially fitted a fan in the bathroom which was so noisy I had to replace it within a week. Ended up with a Marley, which was much quieter.

[Alex]

From what I've heard from others, and my own limited experience of them, Xpelair fans are regarded as some of the best available - certainly a couple I fitted were very quiet and seemed well made. I still have one from the

60's in my kitchen!

Alex

[John Carlyle-Clarke]

"BigWallop" wrote in news:DREzc.708$ [e-mail]:

The wall is wood frame, plasterboard on the inside, insulation, and then wood slats on the outside (it's in kind of dormer window upstairs in a chalet bungalow). I guess your suggestion will still work though?

It must be about 3 or 4". It has an integral pipe/duct going to a vent on the outside. I'd say it's one of those telescoping ones.

I'll investigate those... thanks!

[John Carlyle-Clarke]

Grunff wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Interesting. I notice that Screwfix seem to quote decibel levels for their fans, too.

[Stephen Gower]

How's it controlled? Changing it to a humidistat control means it would only come on when it was needed, and your wife might not feel the need to turn it off.

[Ian Middleton]

In my last house I fitted a £30 humidistat controlled 100mm fan (from Jayhard) in bathroom. Bit of a waste of money as

1. Very loud despite trying various things to quieten it.
2. In winter would often not turn off (or sometime just turn on by itself in middle of night when the temperature dropped) as humidistat was not temperature compensated, despite much fiddling with the humidity setting. Wouldn't of minded if it had been quiet.

In the end replaced it with an expensive Xpelair humidistat controlled fan which did have a temperature compensated sensor. Cost over £100 from Jayhard I think, and as a bonus was very very much quieter. Worked fine in both summer and winter.

One other thing I fitted a pull switch override, pull cord to turn on fan for 5 mins, for those times when the bathroom needs to be ventilated when not having a shower !!!!!