mydogspot said:
dave11 said:
I don't follow you. I have one, and the fan is only loud when I turn it up full blast. I can turn it off, or low enough that no one can hear it. Is yours not the same?
A loud fan means it's moving a lot of air, which is what you want. Are you comparing CFM of the two different models?
With the fan at it's lowest setting, there is a loud buzzing sound that seems to be from the fan motor. The installers tried taking things apart and tightening things up (they put some cement backerboard under the unit to try to keep it from vibrating) but the hum is still very loud. Louder than the tv. My kids are cranking the tv up almost as high as it will go so they can hear it over the blower, although the blower itself isn't that loud. If we cranked up the blower to its highest setting then that would drown out the hum.
I have EXACTLY this VERY FRUSTRATING problem with my Empire Innsbrook insert. I am on my 3rd fan replacement -- earlier fans had vibration which varied with fan speed, but ALL have had the loud BUZZ, like a huge outdoor power transformer, which starts as soon as the fan speed controller is switched above "off" and changes little with fan speed. I can feel the floor of the insert vibrating, and slightly reduce the sound by damping, though removing the legs and putting the insert on mortarboard only helped a little.
I suspect the fan speed controller is putting a nasty waveform into the fan motor's laminations, creating a magnetic field which makes the surrounding metal vibrate. I wonder whether my control is defective, and so replacing it can cure the problem? My dealer does not know of this noise issue and apparently discussed it with Empire. Maybe it is worth buying an external speed control to try, and install if it fixes the problem?