20 Best Exhaust Fans For Kitchen (2023 Updated)

Good product but I cant understand why. 1. They clearly label it as Model 509C on the unit, but if you look it up on their site, Model 509C doesn’t exist. 2. When I opened it to clean it today everything was coated with grease and oil, including an accumulation in the wiring box.

This made me think there should be a filter for this. I went online for Model 509C. It’s not on the manufacturer’s website!!! And it’s not on any retail store website. After wasting ten minutes, I made an assumption that the info for the Mod 509, 509S or 509MSX would probably be the same.

So then I searched for FILTERS in the manuals. Not a single mention of the word FILTER. I went on retail store sites to find a 509 with a filter. Nada! I finally found it in a review on the Broan website.

My question is why do they label their own product with a model number that doesn’t exist and why in the world don’t they say a single word in their descriptions or installation instructions about a filter that is obviously needed.

Truly amazing!! And a waste of a lot of time.

I did a lot of research before purchasing a fan for our small bathroom. The one we had didn’t work very well, was loud as a jet turbine, and took forever to dissipate steam. I looked at all sizes, price ranges, sone levels but decided on this one based on reviews.

It was relatively inexpensive and simple–the fan, a flexible round metal duct, and the outside flap/grill. At first my father (who was helping with the install) thought it wouldn’t fit the stud wall space, but after cutting the metal duct considerably and taking into account the thickness of the siding, it fit just fine.

All we have to do is caulk around the flap/grill outside. For us, installation was easy since we are ripping our bathroom down to the studs, so cutting the opening to be a little larger (as our old fan ducting was smaller) was really not a problem.

However if we had tile on the wall already and we wanted the fan to vent the same way through the wall, it would’ve been a nightmare. if that were the case we may have decided to vent through the ceiling.

But since the slope of our roof is so severe, we would’ve needed a different kind of flap for the outside. See the pics for reference (disregard the brown streak on the flaps outside– we had a torrential downpour and our gutters overflowed.

that will wipe right off). All in all, this was a great buy. We have used it many times now and NO steam stays in the bathroom during a shower at all! Very happy!! We paid full price for this item and would highly recommend to others.

Great instructions to install, very powerful fan, somewhat noisy but really clears the room. I installed it in our 10×15 bathroom to exhaust the shower humitty. This fan really does a great job for only runiing 20 minuites using the Broan-NuTone® Sensaire™ Humidity Sensing Wall Control.

I prefer quiet bathroom fans but this is a basic unit, so noisy. But with that said, it’s one of the only through-the-wall fans I could fine and it does the job. Install is simply: cut the hole, wire it to a switch, install inside unit, install baffle/vent outside.

I caulked that outside vent unit to keep the water from getting into the hole.

I purchased this for my PT room. There is a pool so venting moisture is #1. I also purchased a switch for this fan that allows the fan to operate by sensor as well as manually. My electrician for the project installed both the fan & the switch.

I wish that my house had the same ones. The ones that electrician installed do not vent outside and it’s a problem. 7-13-20 I just added pictures. Still works great, This fan set up is exactly what I was looking for.

This is a pain to install as a replacement fan. It is designed to be installed before the ceiling drywall is installed. You can do it, but it takes patients, and some engineering. I do have an issue with how the cover fits onto the housing.

It merely slides on with some pinching springs and does not keep tight contact with the ceiling, so there is light that “leaks” out the seam where the cap meets the ceiling. I’ll need to put some sort of foam tape on the inside to block this.

The performance is incredible. Steaming showers (30+ minutes) with the bathroom door closed could not even fog the vanity mirror. I can barely hear it, just a faint hum. This replaced a 60 CFM, 2. 5 sones fan and blows it out of the water.

Note that it is a 6″ duct so you might need a new roof cap and plan the placement carefully so as to not have too many sharp bends in the ducting.

I don’t understand how they call this a Quiet fan – it’s a normal loud fan. We also have a Panosonic Whisper series and it is absolutely silent – definitely recommend that series over this if you want a quiet fan.

Sucker, this product is purportedly made in USA, but not good enough to have been made in China. The accompanying photo shows the unbelievably cheap, easily broken baffle, The little dot you see is the part of the baffle that broke off instantly.

I would be ashamed to sell anything this poorly made, but I’m stuck with it. I found a replacement part for $16. 00, but the supplier has now cancelled the order. If replacements are not available, I’ll have to throw it out.

The build quality totally surprised me. It is built with quality components and will perform as well as any washing machine. The warranty is 2 full years, the manufacturer know you have a quality product and stand behind it with a 2 year warranty.

I fell in love with this after the first use. It puts your clothes clean and they spin drier than can be squeezed by hand. The tub is stainless steel and has a very powerful engine. Is very quiet, even when spinning.

Do not hesitate to buy this, I carefully compared this to many other portable washers, I have serious doubts that you can find a better machine at this price. Some of the others have only a couple of months warranty! Feel free to investigate for himself.

I can update here from time to time, I am 100% satisfied with mine and buy another if necessary.

My machine is working perfectly. I’m very happy. Now I do not have to spend so much money on laundromet trips. Update: hoose Drainage shoud be placed in a higher position than a tab. For example, should be placed to drain in the sink insted.

Otherwise, gravity keeps pulling water without stopping. Bisides that have not encountered any problems with orher it. Update 2: You need water hose attached to something expulsion because the force of the water, the hose can move all over the place and get all wet or flood your place.

Some customers complain about the noise of machine marks, which also happened to me, but they have discovered by reading the instructions manual you need to make sure that the machine is valanced to the floor and doing that is necessary to adjust the black heel Pin (low) of the machine so that the machine often wobbling when in motion.

Product works and looks great. Prompt delivery and packaged very well! The range hood was easy to install. Great pice and great purchase!

Easy to install and looks much better than our outdated yellow ceiling fans. We purchased 2 of these lights and had the same issue with both; the wide cap would not fit with the smaller cap. We just had to use the smaller cap by itself.

This is a wonderful addition to our new bathroom. It is a lovely fixture with an efficient fan. The lighting from this fixture is just the right amount of brightness.

Love this light it’s pretty and you can’t even tell it’s an exhaust fan. Perfect.

So i installed this over my kitchen island. I realized after i purchased that its not recommend for a kitchen range vent but it is still a 434 cfm fan. We placed the fan on the ceiling just behind the stove.

its not directly ove the stove but it is close. This fan is just not sucking very hard at all. for a 434 cfm i thought this thing would be moving. It barley hold a paper towel against its grill. Im thinking there is something wrong with the fan or the wiring.

Its hard wired to a 110 15 amp circuit. How hard is this thing supposed to suck?.

We installed this over our island cooktop and we have 8 ft ceilings. So far, so good. It would collect more steam if we had a bit of a hood surrounding, but it does fine for us. We have a very tight house and it has helped dissipate cooking smells much faster than when we had no exhaust.

Update: We added a timer and a variable speed button, and eve out the whole system through its paces and we love it. A great, inexpensive option to have flat-to-the-ceiling ventilation.

I’ve lost count of the number of Broan products (e. g. , vent fans, hoods, whole-house fans, etc. ) we’ve installed over the years in new construction, repair, and remodels. They’re relatively inexpensive, they’ve been around for years, they’re popular, and consequently there are a lot of them out there.

In this case my faith in the product line has dropped dramatically. I haven’t seen a new one in about two years and if this is any indication of their QA/QC, they’re in trouble. Right off the pivot bar the air baffles ride on wasn’t even installed on one side.

The keeper-cap had been shoved on, but it hadn’t managed to enclose the rod. I thought about going through the whole hassle of sending Home Essentials Direct photos and asking for a replacement, but time on a job site is money and we were at a point of having the roof off for access and couldn’t leave it open indefinitely.

I pressed on an took the until apart and discovered that whoever assembled it also didn’t have both of the the two rubber grommets that the baffles rest on; they’d stuck in an ill-fitting sheet metal screw in place of one of these.

It fell out as I was turning the unit over. Now, I also needed something to land that baffle side on and the search for a suitable replacement began and then the fitment. Time wasted, money wasted. Eventually I got it all dry-assembled (something I learned to do with vent fans 40 years ago) before I tried to fit it up in the attic above the kitchen.

Here’s where a DIYer would have gone off the rails. The electrical make-up box wiring diagram is a doozy and if you didn’t know you have to access these babies years from now to install replacement fans in the housing, you could create an access nightmare.

I finally finished it up after about 4 hours. I’d expected 1-1/2 hours tops. The owner told me that fan we replaced had been in this house since 1939; we think it too was a Broan. They’d considered just a motor replacement, but went for a new one.

It was the old style 8″ with a pull chain. I don’t know how long this one will last, but I’m doubting they get 80 years out of it. The truth is, they don’t make ’em like they used to. For an additional $3-$5 they could produce a fan I’d give 5 stars; this isn’t it.

I’d pay more for better quality.

This product was everything I ever wanted for my bathroom. ?? I no longer have to deal with disgusting smells ??from my teenager???????? teenage boys stink?????? I no longer have to deal with steam or smells ??in the hallway either.

This fan absolutely takes care of everything. I’m absolutely please how dry my bathroom is now. I feel like I have a built-in plane propeller in my bathroom. It even muffles noises that drive me crazy when someone’s in the bathroom.

?? If you’re thinking about buying this product. Remember what my daddy says,Go big or go home?? I went big and I’m absolutely happy about it??.

The fan motor is fine, will probably last for many years but the install is difficult and requires extensive attic access. The metal parts which secure to studs in the attic are poor quality, flimsy and do not stretch long enough.

I had to cut them to fit into an existing installation (existing 6” exhaust fan space). This should have been a slam dunk install but it took me 3 hours! Even the electrical junction box it came with had issues.

To top it off, the screw which secures the plastic grill cover feel too short for just 1/2” dry wall. Stay away from this, too much trouble. In terms of noise, we wanted a louder fan so this one does fine there :).

Bought this to augment the microwave/vent fan that just doesn’t get the job done with removing odors when cooking. My wife has a very sensitive nose, and has complained that she does not like the house smelling like whatever she is cooking.

Bought this fan and installed it this month (May 2021) and was pleasantly surprised at how straight forward the installation process was. I needed a fan that would be able to use through the wall that has an attic access above a patio next to the exterior wall of the kitchen.

The kitchen has a vaulted ceiling, and I did not want to cut a hole in the roof. This fan has the ability to change the duct exit from top to rear, which was perfect for my application. Some minor framing to fill the gap between the trusses/wall framing and was able to quickly install the fan.

I used flexible insulated ducting and ran it to the existing soffit vent with an Elbow Boot Duct Fitting that directed the exhaust out of the attic. The noise level was much quieter that I expected, and I add a Broan SC100W speed control in case we ever want to slow it down.

All in all I am very happy with this fan and my wife is also very happy that she can remove all the cooking odors!.

I noted that the rated amperage of the L100 motor on Broan’s website, printed materials, packaging and even on the ventilator shroud itself is 1. 1 Amps. But is that really true? NOPE! And I’ve got the photos to prove it.

Upon inspection of the motor, I found it to be only 0. 4 Amps–less than HALF of the motor’s stated rating and all of the claims and advertising of Broan/Nutone for the L100 (and I suspect all of their 1.

1A rated models if you look at their spec sheets). This is false advertising! You are not getting what you are paying for, which, in this case, is a higher amperage-rated motor that dissipates heat better and will have a longer lifespan.

This motor will last less than half as long! So, while you might enjoy the CFM and sones values of this product, get ready to replace it in a few years! Broan has cut costs by sneaking an inferior motor into their 100L series ventilators and fans but is still labeling them and advertising them as 1.

1A-rated motors! Shame on you Broan/Nutone for these deceptive practices. You’ve lost a customer, and all of my customers!.

This product does not require venting to the outside of the home, whether it be an exterior wall or the roof. I was able to install it without concern regarding this issue. This was the only “ductless” fan I could find.

I installed it in my kitchen, but made sure not to install it right over the stove. It works like a charm! I use it briefly after cooking for discarding overpowering food smells, also for circulation of the warm air cooking creates.

I could not be more happy with this product.

I’m sorry this is a bad idea and can’t work properly. An exhaust fan has to have a place to exhaust it’s discharging air. Inside a wall or joist area isn’t the answer and for sure not one if the air is rich with moisture you are attempting to exhaust.

99. 9% of all wall or joist areas are more or less dead airspaces leading to nowhere. If on an outside wall it will be full of insulation and inclined to really trap any and all moisture. This IMHO is a great way to create a black mold issue in your casa that could greatly affect your health.

As a previous reviewer noted, to mount in existing sheet rock, the hole which must be cut to angle the unit up into place requires so much clearance that the plastic grill will not cover the hole. I knew this was a potential problem so kept cutting the hole just a little bit larger three times, in an effort to not get the hole too large.

However, the hole must be about 1/8 inch larger than the grill can cover. Everything would be perfect and a pretty easy install if the grill was about 1/2 inch larger all the way around. The only fix is to go back and fill the one side of the hole with sheet rock and plaster.

It would be nice if Broan had a similar ductless fan that was designed for re-work, or if they offered an oversize grill that would fit this fan.

We got this as a replacement for a very old version of the same fan. We had an electrician install it. The instructions for installation were very poor at best. It took an unreasonable time to install due to the poor instructions.

The worst of the instructions involved attaching the chain. The illustrations were non-existent for showing proper installation of the chain. Calling technical support we were told to crimp the chain to secure it to the door clip.

This caused the clip to break making it impossible to attach the as designed. Better illustrations would make the whole process faster and easier.

The extractor works as stated, I did not have the problem with the blades as others stated and was able to adjust the position of the motor in seconds so the blades do not touch. This is a pull chain style I bring this up because the pull chain turns it on and off as well as locks the exhaust flap on the unit (see picture).

I ended up removing the chain altogether and direct wiring the unit to a wall switch, which left me with the problem of not being able to lock the back flap that is made surprisingly well out of metal with a heavy-duty spring that keeps the flap open.

I ended up removing the spring, the motor has enough power to open the rear flap to remove air and smoke, and added a cheap magnet to the inside of the flap to keep it closed snugly when not in use or on windy days.

Again, this is a pull chain model and the chain makes it look cheap.

I don’t usually write reviews but I just had to express my disappointment of this product. I bought the original fan back in the 70’s and it’s still going strong today. Naturally when it came time to buy another exhaust fan for my workshop/garage I didn’y think twice about ordering the same one.

Well, was I shocked by I got in comparison to the old model. First of all it’s now made in China and that should tell you something. The FAN blades hit the shroud when first turned on so I had to make a modification so that I wouldn’t break the plastic blades, that used to be metal as on the original.

Then when I got that fixed the if the chain had any slack in it, it would hit the blades so I added washers to push the motor forward and this fixed this issue. The biggest issue though was when I finally got this installed and working correctly, I tried it out by painting a restored Ariens lawn tractor, which is orange.

I mention this cause after re shingling the side of my garage and after the painting was done, I found orange paint from the exhaust on my brand new shingles. This was caused because this new fan cover only opens half of what the old fan open, causing the air to hit the cover and then reflecting back against the house.

Now I have to get a longer rod and compression spring so the cover will open like the old fan did. Incredibly bad engineering. I should have sent it back, but I spent forty years at work fixing machines so I knew I could make this work but for someone that’s not handy, good luck.

I recently received a derelict property that I’m basically rebuilding. It was a 1995 Redman 42×24 manufactured home placed on a foundation. The old bathroom fan was not operational. I thought perhaps this would be a huge pain to install but boy was I wrong.

I unscrewed and removed the old one. Screwed the new one into the old bracket, and bam! It works! Picture shows new fan in old housing. At the time of the picture it was hard wired but I put an outlet/plug in.

I have to assume that code requires it that way. It was still very easy. And it moves a lot of air compared to most bathroom fans I’ve seen.

I bought this fan to replace the original Nutone 8210 that was installed when my house was built in 1960. I must say, I was quite surprised that this model is still being manufactured. I’m no Bob Vila, so it only made sense to make this as painless as possible.

That is why i replaced it with the same model so that minimal modifications needed to be made. I can’t really comment too much on installation, since it was for the most part a “plug-n-play” installation.

Unlike other users, I couldn’t just swap the motor and fan out since mine was the very original design with a different motor mount and bracket design. The installation instructions were fairly straight forward.

The only difficulty I ran into was the mounting brackets for the housing. I couldn’t use the one supplied due to the placement of the original fan. I managed to very carefully nail the original brackets to the ceiling after outlining the housing placement.

After that blip, it was a fairly easy process to install. Only a few F-bombs were dropped due in part to dropping tools or screws. Total time: 45 minutes. Once installed, the fan does have an elevated noise level.

It’s not loud and obtrusive in my opinion, but it’s not the quietest either. The fan moves a lot of air in a short amount of time. Since I use it in the bathroom, I’m more concerned about airflow as opposed to noise.

I’m very pleased with the performance. My only reservation is it’s long term reliability. I consider myself lucky the original lasted 58 years before finally giving up the ghost. I don’t expect the new model to.

Comparing the old one from 1960 to the new model, it’s evident “they don’t make them like they used too. ” I installed the original metal grille as opposed to the new plastic one. It adds a nostalgic touch and looks better than the white plastic one supplied with the new fan.

:).

Read other reviews about this product that indicated that they had a very old NuTone 8210 where the motor had died or was on its way out. Similar to other buyers, I could not find a replacement motor and fan but came across this product.

I was hoping to just use the motor, blade and motor bracket on this unit to replace my old unit. Based on other feedback I took a chance on this unit since it was not too expensive. Turns out it met the needs exactly as I hoped.

The cover that faces down on my original 25+ year old unit was silver/crhome. This one comes with an “off white” color that if you have soft white lights in your kitchen, which I do, will be fine. If you want to keep your old cover, it will also work In conclusion, if you have an old 8210 and simply want to replace the motor/fan.

assembly. This is your product. Time to replace the motor/assembly bracket was about 5 minutes. You can simply keep or throw away the outside metal housing that came with the new unit. For a person that has lived with the loud sound that comes with the 8210, this new unit is a little less but not much less.

The reason being is that it moves a lot of air. We don’t use this fan often but when we do, we want to move as much air out as fas as possible. This actually does that.

This old house fell into disrepair as mom fell ill and my stepfather passed away. For about 15 years the bathroom fan didn’t work. I chose this because it was through the wall. I didn’t like the way the old fan vented into the attic.

This fan comes with an electrical junction box attached. My application didn’t allow me to use it. I was able to modify the case to “clock” the fan motor housing so the connections were facing up so I could use a conventional junction box.

This worked great. I purchased the optional “grease screen” filter as would be used in a kitchen. Dirt build up (this house is dusty) is what killed the old fan. This filter catches some of that and will extend the life of the fan.

Only issue is that the first few times I used the fan the backflow flap didn’t open. I forgot to remove the piece of tape that holds it closed from the factory so be aware of that.

This is not what the fan was made for. I believe this fan was made for through wall installation and I’m certain it would be fine. Broan is the deal and they are built well. Mine does not go to the outside.

It is in my bathroom. Some people might be tempted to use a fan to remove ‘mist’ from a shower room. I wouldn’t–unless it goes to the outside and your condensation is handled properly there. It came with a steel outlet hood to mount outside.

Water might still collect on the lip of the hood and drop down to whatever. Maybe not. My bathroom has a high ceiling and not far from my bedroom, open between the rooms by a foyer. I put this exhaust fan at a high position above the entrance, and it exhausts into my attic.

Never, never ever, use such a fan to pull out that steamy shower mist into a closed space like an attic. Damp wood, and damp insulation–hell no! Never. This fan is for one thing. It is for when someone (LIKE MY WIFE, not me) uses the toilet.

I don’t care how the attic smells. This fan moves a lot of air, much more than a typical bathroom exhaust. Is it loud? Not terribly but think of it as a car engine noise you like. It’s powerful. It’s loud enough to neutralize most “bathroom sounds” and scare the hell out of anything that is sneaking around or playing (squirrels) in your attic.

I put mine on the end of a timer switch with increments from polite visit climbing 5 steps to squirrel tornado alert.

This Broan replaces a Nautilus 509 we bought 20 years ago. ( It is the same, so I think Broan took over the Nautilus product line. ) The Nautilus worked great and except for the knob to turn it off and on-which after 18 years wore out, we made a new one.

We replaced THE Nautilus as the bearings were starting to make noise and the gasket in the hood for the exhaust lever had begun to disintegrate. But after 20 years??!! It was the only fan we could find that included the exhaust hood and direct vented outside and was pretty much a ‘plug and play’ with the set up for the Nautilus.

We did however, take out the whole Nautilus product and completely installed the NEW Broan which wouldn’t have been hard if the directions were followed. (READ THE DIRECTIONS-IT MAKES IT SO MUCH BETTER) If this product holds up like the old Nautilus, when it needs to be replaced in the future, it will be someone else’s decision.

How loud is 5 sones? Get your standard 20″ square box fan and put it on medium speed. That’s roughly how loud 5 sones will be. 5 sones is 51. 21db according to CaptivAire. Download a decibel app for your phone and turn on your box fan so that it’s registering around 51db.

Then take it to your bathroom and turn it on. The more glass and tile you have in your bathroom the louder it will seem. I have this mounted in a wall. My contractor got an adapter to go from the rectangular opening to a 3″ hole.

There was too much restriction in the air outlet so you could feel some blowback if you put your hand up to it. I have no doubt that this would make a great ventilation fan somewhere. just not sure where.

maybe a smoking room or somewhere that you would be more forgiving about the noise. Good thing I didn’t bother to try the 502 model. It looks great though. A bit big? An employee bathroom would be a great idea for this.

It would be approaching a noise level that is too annoying to contemplate the meaning of life, while sitting on the throne of bone. Summary: If you want a relaxing moment in the bathroom get a slim Panasonic vent.

If you want guests not to linger in the bathroom get this.

This is the only one I could buy to retrofit into the housing that was already installed when I bought the house. The thing is so noisy that you can’t hold a conversation while it’s running. When it first ran I was upstairs and the whole house was vibrating.

I thought there was a truck or something parked outside.

Had to replace the fan & motor in a 60 year old Nutone, with minor adjustments this works. It is a kitchen fan for my use. Others have complained about noise, but this fan is so quiet to what had been in the kitchen.

This bathroom light and fan kit looked perfect and were delivered quickly, but it turned out I chose a fan for a smaller room. My bathroom is much larger and needs a stronger fan. Unfortunately I will have to return, but its probably great for a small bathroom.

I like the shape of this fanlight combo. So many of them are round but I was replacing a square fixture in an existing bath and needed another square fixture. So glad I found this one. The glass is frosted and the fixture is very attractive.

Received the fan but just finally got it installed! It looks great, the fan does the job and performance is great. Also the fan is very quite. Sometimes I forget to turn it off!

I wanted to use this to move hot air from one room to another. This motor slots correctly onto a pipe and extracts the air from a warm room into a colder room really well. I took off the electronic part which measures the humidity so that I’d only have one switch to buy.

The fan’s very quiet. this product is very good value for money.

TranslateShow in original languageBadkamerventilator is bij mij als ventilator in de woonkamer in gebruik. Het oorspronkelijke rooster is vervangen door deze mechanische ventilator. De printplaat met timer is niet in gebruik.

Een snoer met stekker is direct op de motor van de ventilator aangesloten. Bij het koken in de winter wil er soms veel condens aan raam aan de voorzijde ontstaan. Er is geen klepraam om ventilatie in het raamkozijn aanwezig.

Nu zet ik voor het koken de ventilator aan en dat helpt aanzienlijk. Ondanks gebruik van de afzuigkap ontstaat er toch nog steeds condensvorming maar wel een heel stuk minder. Dat deze ventilator stil is klopt inderdaad.

Het is in ieder geval een verbetering ten opzichte van de oorspronkelijke situatie. Ventilator is snel geleverd en was netjes verpakt. Ben zeker een tevreden klant.

TranslateShow in original languageSemplice e facile da utilizzare, leggera, maneggevole e molto silenziosa. I prodotti per la pulizia sono abbastanza cari, ma danno veramente il meglio di loro nelle superfici da pulire.

Unico difetto, ma risolvibile molto facilmente, bisogna acquistare a parte i ricambi per la pulizia, con quelli in dotazione, rischiate di portare lo sporco in giro per casa. Avendo dei dischi di ricambio, riuscirete sempre ad avere il massimo delle prestazioni.

Ottimo prodotto, consiglio vivamente l’acquisto.

I bought this to move warm air from above a LP space heater in my living room, to my adjacent bedroom. It seemed to rate among the lowest noise levels. Its still noisy at full speed however I added a motor speed control in-line.

Barely audible at 50% speed. Inaudible at 35% speed and still moves enough air to keep a 12×15 bedroom at a comfortable 70F. I have since added a 110V inline thermostat with remote (purchased on Home Essentials Direct) to turn the fan on @68F and off at 71F.

With these two mods, I am calling it a success I cant hear it while sleeping. Installation: Conventional 2×4 framing with 1/2 drywall both sides. I picked a spot between studs and drilled a 1/4 pilot hole through both walls , from one side, as close to horizontal/vertical as I could get it.

Then used a compass to mark a 6 cutout on both sides referenced to pilot hole. I used a Dremmel tool with a zip tool drywall bit to minimize drywall dust. The fan covers will cover up to 3/4 error. Best to not have the fan housing contacting drywall, wither side; Noise resonance issue.

I had to cut in a junction box opening in the bedroom side, to accommodate the rotary speed control switch-gizmo. Before I did this upgrade, My bedroom would get down to 59-60F at night (MIchigan). No air circulation between the heated living room and bedroom.

This fixed that issue. Well worth the cost and 2-3hrs of my time to fix this. Im a procrastinator but.

I bought two of these over the past few months to keep ventilation air moving in my finished basement. Both fans move a sufficient amount of air and the speed adjustment works well. If you know just a little about working around the house the instructions are sufficient.

The only issue is that one of the fans has a very loud and persistent electrical hum. It’s so loud I plan on replacing it since I waited too long to return it. I don’t recommend avoiding this product because one fan does work pretty much perfectly.

But I do recommend testing your new fan as soon as you receive it to make sure it works well.

I bought this to replace an old (circa 1969) fan prior to adding additional attic insulation. Overall the job was fairly easy and uneventful, except as noted. I was lucky though because the electrical connection position and exhaust vent direction both were exactly what I needed.

The first issue was that it requires a 2×6 to mount to, and my house has 2x4s, but that was an easy remedy to just mount a new board next to the existing board. And luckily, that made the spacing nearly perfect for lining up with the old hole.

I only had to cut one side of the drywall and slightly trim another. It did help to have someone below when attaching to the framing, to ensure it was exactly flush to the ceiling. Other than that, the entire install is a one person job.

The next issue is they do not include anything to protect the electric wire running through the sheet metal case, so I had to go buy something. I don’t understand why they don’t include a two bit part, when it’s a safety/code issue.

The final issue was the connector to the exhaust pipe has nearly no taper and wouldn’t fit into the 4″ rigid pipe I had bought, so I had to do some minor trimming to get it to connect together. The device I bought was the 80 cfm unit.

I would have preferred the larger one, but Home Essentials Direct was out of stock and the room I have my shower in is only about 40 square feet, so it should suffice. The 80 cfm model is fairly quiet.

There’s some noise of the air moving and a low rumble of the motor. Much quieter than the old fan, or most other fans I’ve seen, but I suspect you can get ones that make even less noise.

Great fan. Works as expected and was fairly easy to install. It generates a moderate amount of noise which I wanted for privacy. Definitely pulls a lot of air out of the room and fixed my issues of moisture build up.

Keeps the mirrors fog free unless you run the shower really hot for a long period of time. Even then they will not fog up completely. I have been using this product for 3 months at the time of this review.

This fan is extremely easy to install, and I had it up and running in 30 mins. This was a new install so that time included cutting the hole and jumping the fan to a shower light. I wouldn’t say this is a quiet fan at all, but the noise it does make is worth the incredible air moving capacity.

After installing and running the fan, I held my hand at the end of the vent tube and felt a power consistent gust of air. We used to have a Fan King at our old house and this one blows it away. The whole body is metal.

I expect this unit to last a long time.

Pulls a lot of air, but noisy and the draft flapper tends to bang a bit on high. Get the electronic speed control, and it becomes a great fan. I run it mostly about half speed, and that makes it pretty quiet.

Fan was brushing against the metal until I adjusted it, but was obviously not set correctly from the factory. Sheet metal box seems flimsy, but once installed seems solid. At this price point I would expect a little better quality control.

That being said, most cheaper fans make a lot of noise and don’t pull enough air to bother with. This one pulls more air at half speed than most fans can at full speed. Can really clear out a room.