Hi all,
It's great finally to be able to respond to a question!
I looked at the various standard manufacturers: Broan, Panasonic,
NuTone, etc. I just wasn't happy with the idea of a fan motor in the
ceiling of a bathroom both from the noise and life perspectives. Yes, I
know you can get exceptionally quiet fans and the life issues may not be as
bad as I was projecting but - my in-laws gave us a Christmas gift of cash
with the proviso that we vent our two unvented bathrooms and keep the
leftover money for whatever else we wanted. I seized on this opportunity to
put in the system that I wanted.
I found all the parts for my system from a company called American Aldes
at www.americanaldes.com . Many of the parts are Fantech (www.fantech.net)
parts. I made a system that vents the master bath and the main bath as the
same time. I figured that it wouldn't significantly hurt to vent both
bathrooms at the same time - a little more cost for energy (heat or cool)
but a lot less humidity in two room both adversely affected by the same.
I liked dealing with American Aldes as the phone sales gentleman I
talked with was quite knowledgable and gave me some good tips. The parts I
got were: Fantech FR series 6" in-line fan (listed on the Aldes site as
their "P-Series Duct fan"), Aldes 2000 series wall hood (stainless steel),
two LVG (light/vent/grill) units which I mounted directly over the shower
(master bath) and tub (main bath), an extra backdraft damper (mounted at
the wall hood), a 6" wye with a valve in one leg for balancing airflow, a
couple of timer switches, and insulated flexible ducting.
I mounted the in-line fan on a roof rafter for noise supression. This
system is really quiet! In the bathrooms you hear wind noise through the
grill and the ticking noise of the the timer switch. In the master bedroom
if you listen carefully you can hear that a fan motor is running in the
attic but it is a distant noise - the kids playing at the other end of the
house are noiser than the fan.
The lights in the LVG are halogen. I bought several spare bulbs but I
haven't had to replace a bulb yet and it's been almost a year. The main
bathroom light is on a lot - my 8 year old son hasn't caught on to turning
the d&^% thing off when he leaves the room.
Cost - I spent about $600 of the gift. I had already decided to install
this system and was going to spring for it anyway so the gift money really
was a gift and not the only reason that I bought this fairly expensive
system.
No financial interest in either company.
Mark Watson
1956 Daimler Regency Mk II '104' - undergoing a slow restoration,
1965 Ford Falcon - formerly daily driver - now undergoing some repairs,
1987 Dodge 150 pick-up "new" daily driver,
various other transportation devices
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