Broan-NuToneXB80 ULTRA GREEN™ Series Single-Speed Fan, Ceiling Room-Side Installation Bathroom Exhaust Fan, ENERGY STAR® Certified, <0.3 Sones, 80 CFM

First of all, whatever sound you hear, after installing this fan, is the sound of the air flowing through the duct, not the fan itself. When the fan was first installed, before the duct was attached, I turned it on and could not even hear it running! With 6" ductwork, it's still very quiet.The installation, replacing an old fan, was fairly easy; and everything fit together perfectly. The grill fits up to and stays snug to the ceiling.This fan, with a DC motor, is also very economical to operate, using less than 6W with a 6" duct. That's much less than any fan with an AC motor.The DC motor design also means that the output is constant even with a fair amount of static pressure. Your ductwork, with a long run and/or a number of bends, can create up to 0.4" of static pressure and the fan will still move 80 CFM.The only thing I don't know yet is how long it will last. But, the 3-year warranty that it comes with gives me a lot of confidence regarding that.

Finally got an electrician to cut a larger hole and install. Home was built with a 3" and two previous fans quit working. After realizing cheap fans aren't going to work, I purchased this on line knowing it was going to have the ceiling cut larger. It is extremely quiet. It's installed in a tub/shower w/commode closed door, and outside are the two double sinks/Jack and Jill bathroom. Seems to eliminate the steam fine. Cost me $400 to get installed, but worth it. Wish we had these in all our bathrooms. Hopefully, newer homes will have all Broan Eco 4-6" at a minimum; otherwise you will be replacing your fans!

As far as functionality - it works; it moves air from the bathroom to the outside. But the cover is held on by two springs that require the dexterity of a magician to get in place. Each spring has a loop that you stick into a plastic grab in the cover that wasn't really designed to hold it. Then when you have both springs like that, each one is spread to about 6" and you have to somehow hold them in place, squeeze them together, and then slip them into plastic catches in the fan casing. By the time you're done, the springs have lost some of their 'springiness' and now the cover won't pull tight to the ceiling. The 1/4" gap will lead you to buy extra springs; you're going to want to clean the dust out or paint the ceiling eventually, and the springs wear out each time you take the cover off and put it back on. Bad engineering.

I purchased three of these fans - the XB80 for a smaller full bathroom as well as the XB110 for our master bath and the XB50 for a half bath. With the 6" pipe, both the XB80 and XB110 are so quiet that I had to buy a timer switch to avoid forgetting to turn the fan off. Unfortunately the half bath is on the first floor of a 2 story house, and the exhaust duct installed was only 3" dia, causing the XB50 fan to put out a lot more noise ... but it's still quieter than the one it replaced.All three models have the same mounting hardware, and can supposedly be installed without attic access. I'd agree with that until it comes time to hook up the exhaust duct. If you're going to use a 6" pipe, you'll find that very difficult to do without destroying the pipe. Just bite the bullet, brave the insulation mess, climb into the attic, and attach it from the top side. If you're using a reducing fitting to 4" or 3" pipe, it is doable without attic access.

This unit is not much quieter than my old one. My daughter installed one of these a few years back and you can hardly hear it operating. This is why we bought this particular model but dissapointed.

I installed 3 of these fans. The best thing about these fans is that they are specifically designed for "retrofit" meaning you can install them from below and you do not have to go into your attic. This was especially important for me because two of the fans were being installed downstairs and I had no ability to get above them. I replaced the fans in the downstairs bathroom and laundry rooms because we have 3 cats and their litter boxes are located there. The idea was that these fans would be quieter and would pull more air out of the room than the standard vents that came with our house. I also replaced the vent over our master shower because we frequently use it. Overall I am somewhat unimpressed because these fans are only a little quieter than the previous fans. I don't know exactly how much quieter, but I would estimate 30% quieter. Some reviewers have said that these fans are so quiet they cannot hear that they are on, but I can definitely hear they are on, even from a room or so away. I still gave the product 4 stars, however, because our home has 3" ductwork running to the vents and that is probably reducing its performance and increasing the noise output. I had to use an adapter to install them to the smaller ductwork. Replacing the ductwork would be a difficult and expensive project.Overall they are nicer than our last fans, but it is hard to say they are $145 better. These fans are best suited to a person with 4" or 6" ductwork already running to their previous fans. Unfortunately, not many homes will have that. They are also the best fans for "retrofit" as few fans are specifically designed for that.

This unit works well and it's DC motor if really efficient; the biggest challenges are...1. If you have an existing 4-in duct there is a bit more noise from the reducer2. Installing and removing the plastic grate is tougher compared to the Nutone.

Wow, this is one quiet fan. You cannot hear it. I ran tests and itreally removes the bathroom air fast. However, you must have aflow path, or it will be like trying to suck air from a rubber glove.I cut 1/2 inch from the bottom of the bathroom door, you could opena window. There is one big concern with this fan, it has an electronicallycontrolled motor. Your on/off switch MUST be mechanical, period.