The noise level of the blower that came with the stove is starting to annoy me so I've been looking around for something much quieter. The current model is an 8 inch in-line centrifugal blower with speed control. On high, I can hear the air moving over the fins of the blower causing a resonance. On low, that sound is drowned out by motor hum. The blower is an elicent AXC 200B purported to be 60 DBa and 650 CFM.
I've been searching for specs on a replacement and heard that Fantech is noted to be quieter but they don't publish noise specs so I'd be buying a pig in a poke. The model that caught my interest is the FG12EC with DC motor. Given that it is DC, there would be no motor hum when speed reduced. Not sure though how noisy the blower vanes might be. It is speed controlled with an internal pot so I'd have to retrofit a remote pot if I wanted variable speed. I haven't seen any street pricing on it yet or Canadian dealers.
Research suggests that the quietest fan on the market is the Panasonic Whisperline of which the model FV-40NLF1 is 8 inch with 440 CFM. Fewer CFM than what the elicient purports to be but way quieter. I emailed Panasonic to see if they have a compatible speed control but they said no. Not sure if that means I cannot use a 3rd party speed control.
I think my safest bet is the Panasonic. Even if I cannot slow it down, given that it has less CFM, the sound of air movement should be tolerable. I found a Canadian dealer that would sell me one for about $280.
What say you?
I've been searching for specs on a replacement and heard that Fantech is noted to be quieter but they don't publish noise specs so I'd be buying a pig in a poke. The model that caught my interest is the FG12EC with DC motor. Given that it is DC, there would be no motor hum when speed reduced. Not sure though how noisy the blower vanes might be. It is speed controlled with an internal pot so I'd have to retrofit a remote pot if I wanted variable speed. I haven't seen any street pricing on it yet or Canadian dealers.
Research suggests that the quietest fan on the market is the Panasonic Whisperline of which the model FV-40NLF1 is 8 inch with 440 CFM. Fewer CFM than what the elicient purports to be but way quieter. I emailed Panasonic to see if they have a compatible speed control but they said no. Not sure if that means I cannot use a 3rd party speed control.
I think my safest bet is the Panasonic. Even if I cannot slow it down, given that it has less CFM, the sound of air movement should be tolerable. I found a Canadian dealer that would sell me one for about $280.
What say you?
