Off topic, sort of. Any SILENT "window" fan recom

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Scott J
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Off topic, sort of. Any SILENT "window" fan recom

Post by Scott J » Sun May 30, 2010 3:44 pm

Does anyone recommend a brand of window fan that runs silent at the higher speeds? Yes, I mean the kind of fan that goes in a window of your house or apartment, NOT in a computer :D

We don't have central air conditioning, and the fan I have for the window sounds like a leaf-blower, even at low speed. Kind of defeats the purpose of having a quiet computer. Before I go shopping to test window fans, it occurred to me that somebody around here might have a brand/make/model recommendation.

Thanks very much,

Scott

Jay_S
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Post by Jay_S » Wed Jun 02, 2010 7:40 am

I'm interested in this as well.

I bought two Honeywell HW-628 window fans around X-mas time last year (appears to be discontinued now), based on reviews at Amazon.com that praised its quietness. Well, they're really loud. Louder than the generic window fans they replaced. They were on sale then for around $30 each, which is why i bit. I wish I hadn't - now that it's time to use them, and they suck, I'm beyond the return window.

We have two similar Honeywell twin fans at work - I can't find a model# on them - they are very quiet.

[Edit]
I'm going to try the Bionaire BW2300. Here's a copy/paste review from Amazon comparing 3 fans:
Triple Comparison Review - Bionaire BW2300 - Holmes HAWF2043 - Honeywell HW-628

This is a direct comparison review between the three most popular currently available twin window fans:

Bionaire BW2300 Twin Window Fan with Remote Control
Holmes HAWF2043 Twin Window Fan
Honeywell HW-628 Enviracaire Twin Window Fan

If you are interested in purchasing any of those widow fans, read on...

I didn't intend to have to do this review because I didn't intend to purchase more than one of these fans. I can tell you now that all of these fans are super cheaply designed and built and none of these fans are perfect, but some are far worse than the others.

Holmes HAWF2043 Twin Window Fan: my rating - 3 of 5 stars

I first purchased the Holmes HAWF2043 unit. It was lightweight and fit the window nicely although I had trouble with the extender which is located on the right side. The locks for the extender are located on the right side along the top and bottom edge of the fan, which is supremely stupid because as soon as you place the fan in your window frame and put weight on it, the bottom lock locks and you can not move the extender. I mean, what rocket scientist thought of this? So you have to unlock the locks before you place the unit in the window AND keep weight off the bottom lock until you have the extender adjusted to where you want it. This is not easy. And the lock mechanisms can be difficult to move. At the time, I could not imagine anything worse, but I was wrong as I found out with the extenders on the Honeywell unit, which I will go into in the next paragraph. This Holmes unit has the best placement of the power cord which is in the lower left corner... the location is high enough as not to interfere with the bottom of the window frame. This unit has two speeds, high and low. The controls are easy to operate. In fact, there is only one button and two switches. The button cycles through the high and low manual speed settings and then though the automatic temperature presets which are at 60, 65, 70, 75 & 80 degrees fahrenheit. If you set it at one of the temperature presets, the unit will turn off once the room reaches that temperature. It seemed to work although I did not have the opportunity to see how accurate that function is. The two switches set the direction of the fans to either intake or exhaust which can be done on each fan independently, so you could have one fan on intake and the other on exhaust for quickly exchanging room air with fresh air. This unit has 8.5 inch fans and they are relatively quiet at both speeds, naturally high is louder than low, but don't expect silence. I own a Kill-A-Watt P3 energy meter and this unit used 46 watts on low and 63 watts on high. I would have been happy with this unit except that two days into using it, the right fan started working intermittently. Of course, that is unacceptable. Returning. I give this fan 3 out of 5 stars because I feel that if you get a good one you'll be happy with it, but don't expect anything great. FYI: Holmes is a division of Sunbeam.

Honeywell HW-628 Enviracaire Twin Window Fan: my rating 2 of 5 stars

So with the right fan not working correctly on the Homes, I ordered the Honeywell HW-628. As soon as I saw it, I knew I was not going to be happy with it. For one thing, the unit has 7 inch fans compared with 8.5 inch on the Holmes. So in order to move as much air, the fans would have to run much faster and the unit will be much louder. Time to install... I previously mentioned that the extenders on the Holmes were poorly designed, but the extenders on this were MUCH worse. First of all, this unit has two shorter extenders on both the right and left sides instead of one longer extender like the Holmes has. Second, the four extender locks are, get this, located on the BACK of the unit, the side facing out the window! How are you supposed to set those? It was impossible for me. I ended up jamming the extenders into the window frame in order to keep them extended. Okay, so I finally get the unit in the window and turn it on. I found out immediately that my thoughts about the smaller fans, higher fan speed and noise were true. This thing is LOUD. Super loud. And buzzy. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it is downright unruly. There is no chance you would use this in a bedroom even on low speed. The controls were easy to use although not completely intuitive. There are three speeds available on each fan, low, high and super high. You have to set each fan separately, which is stupid. I cannot imagine a scenario where I would want one fan on high and another fan on low, etc. The temperature setting dial is also extremely stupid. There are no temperature markings. You are supposed to keep the unit on until the room reaches a temperature that you like and then turn the dial until the unit cycles off. Is this 2009? Each fan has its own direction switch for either intake or exhaust. The power cord is located on the bottom center of the front of the unit and its mounted too low so that it interferes with the bottom of my window frame. Who is designing these things? The one feature it had which I liked was that the grilles were directional and could be rotated to direct air in any direction. On the power consumption front, this unit used twice the power as the Holmes! 97 watts on low, 109 watts on high and 120 watts on super high. My unit was defective in that the switches for the right fan are wired incorrectly such that low is high and high is low, but super high is still super high... odd. Returning. I would not recommend this unit. I cannot understand how it has 4 of 5 stars and as of right now, 262 reviews. Incomprehensible.

Bionaire BW2300 Twin Window Fan with Remote Control: my rating 4 of 5 stars

So after the poor experience with the Honeywell (They put their name on that piece of junk? They are a defense contractor!), I purchased the Bionaire BW2300 hoping for better luck. First thing I noticed was the similarity between this unit and the Holmes. That is because they are both made by the same company. Bionaire, like Holmes, is Sunbeam. It has the same right side extender locks as the Holmes, but after the experience with the unusable rear locks on the Honeywell, I was happy to see them! One unwelcome difference is that the power cord is located on the bottom center of the front like it is on the Honeywell, and its also too low like it is on the Honeywell. I mounted the unit in window fairly quickly and turned it on. Its got three speeds, low, medium and high. It uses 8.5 inch fans like the Holmes and it is relatively quiet, although I think it may be ever so slightly louder than the Holmes on high. The controls are all electronic and it has an electronic temperature readout and thermostat. It is very easy to use. Simply choose a fan speed and put the unit into intake, exhaust or one fan on intake and the other on exhaust (air exchange mode). You can use it either in manual mode where there is no temperature control or you can set a temperature for the unit to reach and then turn off (automatic mode). This is easy to do using the simple up and down buttons to the right of the large temperature readout or you can use the remote. Once you set it, it will remember your settings if you turn it of as long as you don't unplug it. The remote control works well and it allows you to control all of the fan's features and functions remotely: on/off, fan speed, air direction, temperature and to toggle between automatic and manual mode. Finally, there is a button to change the brightness of the temperature readout, although you cannot completely turn it off. The power usage was similar to the Holmes. The Kill-A-Watt read 43 watts on low, 49 watts on medium and 64 watts on high. Unlike the most popular review for this unit, my temperature probe was located in its proper track and it seems to work well. I've been using it for three weeks now without issue and so this is the keeper. 4 of 5 stars for this. Its not perfect, but in my opinion, its the best of the three.

The window fan works well for me in the evenings/nights where the outside air temperature drops 10 or 15 degrees but the inside air temperature would stay high, even with all the windows open but without any significant wind or breeze. With the fan on and with the windows and doors set up correctly, the upstairs bedrooms stay within three or four degrees of the outside temp for me without having to turn the air conditioning on.

As far as these fans are concerned, I would say either get the Holmes HAWF2043 or the Bionaire BW2300, but stay far away from the Honeywell HW-628. Good luck!
I can confirm the 95W power consumption of the Honeywell - I measured that with my Kill-a-Watt. Crazy.
Last edited by Jay_S on Wed Jun 02, 2010 8:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

Scott J
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Post by Scott J » Wed Jun 02, 2010 8:05 am

Jay_S wrote:I'm interested in this as well.
Hi Jay,

I was almost POSITIVE I couldn't be the only person on this Forum who was interested in this when I started the Thread... I was beginning to wonder, though... :D

Jay_S wrote:I bought two Honeywell HW-628 window fans around X-mas time last year (appears to be discontinued now), based on reviews at Amazon.com that praised its quietness. Well, they're really loud. Louder than the generic window fans they replaced.

We have two similar Honeywell twin fans at work - I can't find a model# on them - they are very quiet.

That sounds like manufacturing ingenuity... make a good product that people actually want, and then make it impossible to get another one!

Jay_S
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Post by Jay_S » Wed Jun 02, 2010 8:13 am

Hi Scott,

I just threw a HUGE edit above your post - I was trying to get it in before you replied. I just ordered the Bionaire - I'll let you know how it performs.

This is for a 2nd floor bedroom. A little 'white noise' is OK, but I find it really difficult to sleep with the Honeywells - even on low.

Scott J
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Location: Ohio

Post by Scott J » Wed Jun 02, 2010 9:44 am

Jay_S wrote:Hi Scott,

I just threw a HUGE edit above your post - I was trying to get it in before you replied. I just ordered the Bionaire - I'll let you know how it performs.

This is for a 2nd floor bedroom. A little 'white noise' is OK, but I find it really difficult to sleep with the Honeywells - even on low.
Thanks for the reply, and the follow-up!

It seems counter-intuitive that a twin-fan set-up (two smaller fans in one housing) would be quieter than one large fan-blade, at least based on the comparison to PC fans which seem to get quieter as they get larger, but as I have learned since finding this Forum, that's also (at least in part) a function of being able to move more air at a slower rpm.

It would seem the best way to compare a LOT of window-size fans quickly would be to go to a Walmart or someplace similar with a wide selection and actual models on display. The trick may be finding somewhere that has a large variety of display models plugged in and working as 'floor models'.

Thanks again, I look forward to your review of the Bionaire,

Scott

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Post by xan_user » Wed Jun 02, 2010 3:46 pm


Jay_S
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Post by Jay_S » Mon Jun 07, 2010 3:22 pm

Scott J wrote:...I look forward to your review of the Bionaire
Got the Bionaire today. Immediately came home and plugged it in - MUCH MUCH quieter than the Honeywell. Even on 'high' the Bionaire is quieter than the Honeywell on 'low'. Just white noise "whoosh" - no buzzing like the Honeywell. The digital thermostat is nice - fans can auto on/off based on whatever temp you set. And the remote control is convenient (includes batteries). I'll miss the Honeywell's aim-able vents, but since I couldn't sleep with the damn thing running, I won't miss them that much. My kill-a-watt reads 42W in "low", 62W in "high". So far I like it. Just in time too - we're supposed to break into the 90's this weekend. Finally summer hits Wisconsin.

Other good news: Amazon made an exception and allowed me to return the two Honeywell fans :D.

corrion
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Post by corrion » Mon Jun 07, 2010 3:33 pm

Thanks for sharing! I was looking to replace my broken window fan which I bought at Costco years ago, but it somehow fixed itself, and I stopped searching. I'll definitely look into this product if I'm in the market again.

blue_angel
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Re: Off topic, sort of. Any SILENT "window" fan recom

Post by blue_angel » Wed Nov 17, 2010 7:50 pm

Well, try the Honeywell twin fan I think that is suit to you. However that is depend in your budget you have try to look in the internet there are site that you can look some fan that good in your room apartment. Or maybe go in some store that near in your location ask to some people that has experience in choosing some fan.

waleeedijaz
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Re: Off topic, sort of. Any SILENT "window" fan recom

Post by waleeedijaz » Wed Mar 02, 2016 4:54 am

I was looking to replace my broken window fan which I bought at Costco years ago, but it somehow fixed itself, and I stopped searching. I'll definitely look into this product if I'm in the market again.

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