Table of Contents
Defining the Sones Rating A sone is defined as a unit of sound or loudness. Sones are used to measure noise, such as fans, which includes kitchen fans, bathroom fans, and those found in your range hood. One sone is equal to about 1,000 Hz with a sound level about 40 decibels above a normal reference level.
How many sones is a quiet bathroom fan?
Bathroom fan sound levels are measured in sones: 4.0 sones is the sound of standard television operation; 3.0 sones is typical office noise; 1.0 sones is the sound of a refrigerator; and 0.5 sones is the sound of rustling leaves. For quiet bathroom ventilation the fan should be rated at 1.0 sones or less.
Is 3 sones loud for a bathroom fan?
Choose your fan based on how quiet you want it. 4.0 sones is the sound of normal television (which would be ridiculously loud for a normal bathroom fan, though I’ve heard some this loud!) 3.0 sones is office noise (still very loud for a fan) 1.0 sone is the sound of a quiet refrigerator (about as good as it gets!!).
What is the best sones for a bathroom fan?
Typical bath fans range anywhere from <0.3 sones to 6.0 sones. Below is a chart detailing what sound level you can expect out of a certain sone level: <0.3 sones: This is the lowest possible sone rating for a ventilation fan. At <0.3 sones, you won’t even know the fan is running (maybe like my hotel experience?).
How loud should a bathroom exhaust fan be?
Most bathroom ceiling fans rate 1.5 to 5-sones. That means reducing the noise starts when you buy the bathroom fan. The smaller the sone number, the quieter the fan. You want a low sone number so the bathroom fan is quiet, but you want to make sure it’s going to move the air.
Is higher or lower sones better?
The lower the sone rating, the quieter the fan will be. One sone is equivalent to the sound of a quiet refrigerator, so a quiet bathroom exhaust fan will be rated at about 1 1/2 sones or less. Many energy efficient fans will also have low sone ratings, so you can expect them to be quiet.
How many sones is considered quiet?
That said, most consider a sone rating of 1.5-2 to be soft enough to be considered “quiet.” This is still louder than that quiet refrigerator, but it will be very acceptable to most people. If you have your eye on a fan with a higher rating on the sone scale, you might wonder just how loud it really is.
What is the difference between sones and decibels?
One sone is equal to about 1,000 Hz with a sound level about 40 decibels above a normal reference level.Defining the Sones Rating. Sones Decibels 2 37.99 3 43.84 4 47.99 5 51.21.
How do I calculate CFM for exhaust fan?
You measure the velocity at a points in the duct and find the average velocity in the exhaust duct is 400 FPM. Multiply 400 Feet per Minute times the area of the duct, which is . 35 square feet, to find 140 CFM exhaust fan airflow. Each fan manufacturer publishes fan performance tables for each fan.
What are CFM and sones?
CFM, which is the measurement unit for exhausting air flow, stands for cubic feet per minute. A sone is an internationally recognized measurement unit for loudness that can provide an accurate indication of what humans can hear.
How much CFM do I need?
How do you calculate CFM for a range hood? Determine the volume of your kitchen. Multiply that number by 15, the standard number of times a range hood should exchange all the air in your kitchen per hour. Divide that number by 60 to get the minimum cubic feet per minute for your hood.
What does sones mean for range hoods?
The sound that a range hood makes is measured in sones. One sone is roughly equal to the sound of a refrigerator running. Normal conversations take place at about 4 sones and light traffic rates up to around 8.
What is the sone scale?
The sone scale is a third scale associated with the loudness of a sound. The sone scale is based on the observation that a 10 phon increase in a sound level is most often perceived as a doubling of loudness. According to the sone scale, a 1 sone sound is defined as a sound whose loudness is equal to 40 phons.
Why is my exhaust fan so loud?
A loud extractor fan can be caused by many things: Overtime, dirt and grime build up on the fan blades can cause the fan to become noisy. Make sure that the fan blades are clean. If the fan is worn out or damaged, it may begin to make noise as it spins.
What is the best CFM for bathroom fans?
The rule of thumb is that you need at least 1 CFM per square foot of room area. To determine the square footage of your bathroom, multiply the length times the width. For example, if your bathroom is 6 feet wide and 9 feet long, its square footage is 54. Therefore, it should have a fan rated for at least 54 CFM.
How many sones is 65 decibels?
From the dB conversion chart above, 65 dB is about 13 sones, while most vent hoods are between 6 to 8 sones.
Which range hood is quietest?
The PLFW 520 is the perfect range hood for your new kitchen. It’s one of the quietest hoods in the industry, at 4.5 sones at max power. It’s incredibly quiet, but doesn’t lack power! It features an impressive four-speed 600 CFM blower that keeps heavy smoke and harmful contaminants out of your cooking space.
