Bathroom: Ventilation Fans that are the most efficient
April 4, 2008
It is time to buy a new bathroom ceiling ventilation fan for our hall bath, and so I am going to take you through my thought process, and review of the products GetWithGreen.com found. It wasn?t an easy task sifting through the myriad of models. Light, no light, heat, no heat - the Energy Star site boasts 140+ manufacturers of ventilation fans!
Energy Star qualified ventilation fans that include lighting use 70% less energy on average than standard models, saving $120 in electricity costs over the life of the fan. Further the fans are more than 50% quieter than standard models according to Energy Star.
The first thing that I did was write down my needs in priority order:
- Efficient: Yes
- Noise: Low
- Warranty: 3+ yrs
- Light: No
- Heat: No
I then used one of the many online tools out there to measure how much airflow my bathroom needed. I didn’t want to buy an over-sized fan. A couple very easy to use tools to size up your fan can be found at: Pansonic and RE Williams. Simply input your room dimensions, and the calculators tell you the size of fan you should be targeting. In my case, the calculators returned a fan size slightly smaller than 80 CFM.
A little technical talk now, because efficiency is important. CFM stands for the cubic feet of air moved per minute. To be Energy Star qualified, an 80 CFM fan must pump at least 1.4 CFM/watt of electricity used. Side Note: if a fan is at 1.4 CFM or less it is not that efficient.
Opening up the Energy Star Ventilating Fan Product List (just updated on March 1, 2008), I sorted the fans from highest CFM to lowest, and then sorted for 80 CFM fans. Here are the Top 10:
1. Panasonic WhisperGreen (FV-08VKS1): 30-80CFM (7.1 CFM/watt), 6-yr warranty, $189.75
2. Panasonic WhisperGreen (FV-08VKM1): 30-80CFM (7.1 CFM/watt), 6 yr warranty, $209.25 online
3. Honeywell QuietFan (BF80Q): 80.1 CFM (3.96 CFM/watt), 5-yr warranty, (Could not find the product online to purchase)
4. Panasonic WhisperCeiling (FV-08VQ3): 80CFM (3.5 CFM/watt), 3-yr warranty, $95.52
5. Panasonic WhisperValue (FV-08VS1): 80 CFM (3.4 CFM/watt), 3-yr warranty, $147.15
6. Air-King Ltd (AK80-1): 80CFM (3.3 CFM/watt), 5-yr warranty, (Could not find the product online to purchase)
7. Air-King Ltd (AK80LS-1): 80CFM (3.3 CFM/watt), 5-yr warranty, $101.25
8. Air-King Ltd (FRAK80): 80 CFM (3.3 CFM/watt), 3-yr warranty, $127.50
9. Reversomatic (QCF80ES): 80CFM (3.33 CFM/watt), 1-yr warranty, (Could not find the product online to purchase)
10. GE (BF100S): 80 CFM (3.3 CFM/watt), 5-yr warranty, (Could not find the product online to purchase)
Amazing how some of the companies above will go through the marketing effort to get their products Energy Star approved, but will not market them to the homeowner who is looking to remodel, or replace. We had to go to #15 on the list to find the next product we could actually purchase! The well marketed Broan/NuTone brand placed their first fan (S80UE) at #15 with a 3.2 CFM/watt, with only a 1-yr warranty. In some cases, the Broan/NuTone fans were very inefficient, so please check if you are looking at one of their models!!
As far as noise level. The Panasonic fans test extremely well according to the data we read, so that was not an issue. Air-King fans we 3-5X louder than Panasonic. The Broan/NuTone fans were very close in line with the Panasonic for noise level.
The Panasonic WhisperGreen FV-08VMK1 offers a SmartAction motion sensor control that turns the fan on with motion in the room. Both #1 and #2 on the list from Panasonic also include Panasonic’s ‘WhisperCeiling’ feature, where the motor is incased to reduce noise even further. The ‘green’ in WhisperGreen is a dynamic airflow mechanism that adjusts the fan?s output based on how your piping exits the fan - NOT green as in eco-friendly 
All-in-all we really like the Panasonic brands. Not only are they the most efficient, quiet, warrantied the longest, but they are also so easy to find and purchase!! I am going to go for the top-o-the-line FV-08VKM1. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Check out the update to this article on GetWithGreen.com…
- We Got Green: This Pansonic Ceiling Fan is Silent and Efficient!
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I’m looking to do the same job though not sure how this will go. Curious to hear how easy it is to pull the old fan out and put the new on in without damaging the ceiling. This fan of mine is about 20 feet off the floor mounted on an angled, stippled ceiling.
Perfect timing! Thanks for doing my homework!
My house was built in the 70’s, and the exhaust fans vent to the attic, not to the outside. I’ll have to add ductwork and roof/wall caps to remodel my 2 bathrooms properly. Are there any special considerations in this instance, such as balancing airflow in the house, or exhausting both bathrooms through a single fan/roof vent?
Hey, GetGreen, any update on how your Panasonic fan worked? It has been 6 mo since your first blog.
Hi Mike,
The install went well, and the product is EXCELLENT. We followed up the above article with this one which has all the details:
http://www.getwithgreen.com/2008/05/03/we-got-green-this-panasonic-ceiling-fan-is-silent-and-efficient/
I will be purchasing another for a Mstr Bath!
David
need to know how to change a celing ventilator. ours has been in the bathroom since 1988 and we need to replace it. we can’t figure out how to take it down. we realize that the ceiling has to be cut some. we live in a townhouse and we have upstairs we are gonna have to go through the bathroom ceiling so we need some help