Panasonic FV-15VQ5 WhisperCeiling 150 CFM Ceiling Mounted Fan, White

We bought this fan for our master bath and it did not disappoint. We had it professionally installed. It moves a lot of air and is extremely quiet. Condensation doesn't build up on the mirror during showering because so much air is being moved. Obviously you will hear the noise of air movement but we don't have any of the hum/whine/buzz of the typical bath fan's components moving. Thinking about changing the other fans in the house to these. Also, consider pairing with a timer switch type of light switch which lets you set how long to let the fan run after you leave the room. Highly recommended.

We just bought a house and the people who used to live there took the vent fans in the two bathrooms. So we needed to get these in and up and running as soon as possible. Luckily we have windows in both bathrooms so we were able to cover the holes in the ceiling until a vent fan could be purchased and installed. I originally bought the Nutone ones from my local Home-Depot. However upon speaking with a friend of mine who is an engineer, contractor, basically a jack of all trades, he turned me to Panasonic. Him and his company only install Panasonic vent fans. I did some of my own research and noticed that the majority of the people who own one are happy. Our two bathrooms are not very big, but figured why not go for the bigger 150CFM versus the 110 CFM rated one? Over this past weekend we put them in. The install of them was a piece of cake, we did however already have holes in the ceiling from the previous vent fans that were in there. The biggest pain was putting in the ducting, as the previous owners took everything, and our attic is not what you would call spacious. HAHA. We used a wall timer on these as well instead of an ordinary off/on light switch. This is due to that these should be running for at least 20 minutes after the shower/bath has ended (they use very little power to run). Once they were installed we turned them on. After about a second or two you can hear the air moving and the ticking of the wall timer, but no motor. I was then very "old school" about how quiet they are. I thought that there is no way these move that much air. So right then, I decided I would test it out. I took a shower with the bathroom door closed and the window shut. I made sure it was as hot of water as I could bare. I took a normal 15 min or so shower. After I got out, there was no moisture anywhere in the bathroom, the windows were not fogged up, there was no moisture even on the walls or the ceiling. I was so amazed. I have since told everyone I can about these and suggest that if you are looking into getting one, go with a Panasonic. You will not regret it!

These are as quiet and as strong-venting as promised.

We had three of these fans installed by a contractor. The team working our project reported the units went in easily from above the room, but likely would be difficult to installed from within the room due to the 6-inch ducting called for on the 150-CFM model. In most homes, 3-inch or 4-inch ducting is found. As a personal observation, the smaller ducting likely is why other Panasonic units that share common parts are louder - the fans are working against more resistance and therefore move less air with slightly more noise.

As another reviewer noted - there is a significant difference in quality and performance between these units and the "best" available at the various big-box stores. The noise factor is more significant than I thought it would be, these units run at 0.3 sones versus 1.0 sones for the big-box "best" units. Additionally, the Panasonic units have no stamped parts with flanges to bend, and, no cheap fans with rotor play and broad clearances - all indicating sloppy design and construction. Even the packaging is superior, and in my opinion that says a lot about the manufacturing.

The units are so quiet we have accidentally left them running overnight. Some of those count-down timer switches may be my next purchase.

I am confident in recommending these high-capacity, very low-noise fans for new construction and major remodels where ceilings are open from below or attic space is open for work from above. I am less confident for homeowners doing like-for-like replacement due to the duct-size issue with the 150-CFM model I noted above. For that application and would recommend looking at the 110-CFM or 80-CFM models that use the more common duct sizes.

The price differential between these units on Amazon.com and the "best" units at the big-box stores is only about $30 apiece. The quality and workmanship on these units greatly exceeds those "best" ones.