Airflow LVECOT (72684305) Centrifugal Timer Version, Two Speed, 100mm Extractor Fan, 240 V

This replaced my old one and it is very good, however my son-in-law who is an electrical engineer fitted it. I think someone qualified should do the installation or at least be competent to ensure its fitted properly. My bathroom does not have a window so I am totally reliant on the fan to extract the steam, which it does efficiently.

Early days, so this review is based very much on my reactions to the unit and fitting experience than its performance or staying power.I swapped out a noisy older (30 years and still running!) Loovent 01 and put this in yesterday. Took me maybe 45 minutes end to end (plus obligatory swearing time).First observation was that I will be VERY surprised if it lasts as long as its predecessor. Construction is sound, but for the price the plastic used is pretty flimsy (I was worried at a couple of points that I was trying to move something in "the wrong direction" and would break something (and indeed a small section of raised rim at one corner intended to keep the two case halves perfectly aligned actually did break off the first time I opened it - made no significant difference, so I didn't worry too much, but it certainly acted as an emphasis). I would happily have paid a fiver or so more for a little "solidity" - which is probably more than it would have actually cost the manufacturer to provide it. The optional anti-back draught flap also didn't operate perfectly at first; there were small tabs of mould flash centrally on the hinge pillars of the two half-doors, and according to how the doors moved the tabs were sometimes fouling each other and preventing the doors fully closing. A couple of seconds of gentle care with a sharp craft knife trimmed those off and put things right - but even so, it's not the sort of thing that I expect to have to do. Oh, and the "Philips" end of the "adjustment tool" didn't survive my first attempt to change the run-on time. In the end an actual screwdriver proved much more suite to the task (and gave much better tactile feedback to boot).Fitting. As noted by other people, whilst the profile is basically the same as older models, including fixing points, the electrical connection has been moved - meaning that you're quite likely going to need to do some cable work even if you're just trying to replace "like with like". In the end I found it easier to swap it from the portrait orientation or my old unit to landscape, and drill new fixing points, than to fiddle around extending cables; that brought the new electrical connector close enough to my old cable entry point for me to be able to wire things up (and in my case at least wasn't a big deal).A note on the instructions. Mine weren't physically clear. They look as though they've been reprinted from a scan of a larger document print (PDF, maybe?), rather than a first-generation print - meaning that several things I could really have done to be able to read clearly were rather blurred and hard to read. Oh, and if you're past, say, your 50s and long-sighted - don't bother. The lettering is TINY. Go to the Airflow site and grab a copy of the instructions from there. All the actual information I needed was on the printed sheet, but I missed a couple of things along the line by consequence. Again - could have been a little better.In operation, it extracts well, and is way quieter than my old model. It seems to have a bit of a mid/high-pitched whine as it operates; only time will tell whether that drives me mad or not.Would I buy again? Probably - but only if it was going to be sited somewhere where it was unlikely to take physical knocks.

works well

This does not fit easily into the space left by the older design, especially the electrical connections, which are in a different place on the new fan. The older design was sturdy and well built but this one feels cheap and nasty. What should be a simple job turns into a nightmare. Not recommended.

Overall this is a fairly good unit, but it does have a couple of flaws which could be very simple to fix.Firstly it's very fiddly to route mains cable through the rear channel and into the accompanying terminal block. The terminal block itself is held in place by a very fiddly, plasticky clip and constantly pops out making aligning the motor and the rear housing a chore.After a lot of messing about we finally got the unit up only to find it completely unresponsive. Took us a while to realize that the fascia has a tiny magnet on it which prevents the unit from running unless the fascia is in place. It's a nice feature but I do wish Airflow mentioned this fact - it would have saved us a lot of time!In operation the unit is fairly quiet in low mode. It really pushes a lot of air in high mode so very effective for damp showers. It also has a delay start and boost mode although the manual isn't particularly clear on how they operate.Compared to the older model (which is still for sale) the Loovent 01, the older model is *much* easier to cable and also has a far more robust power connector (a very solid spade type rather than a tiny terminal block). In addition this unit feels light and a bit plasticky compared to the older model which ships with a very weighty fan motor. On the plus side the new model does use the exact same mounting holes as the previous 01 which is great for upgrading.

As K Burton says :- "The rear entry wiring connections have been moved, but a channelled recess is thoughtfully provided in the rear casing to re-route the cable, but note that a little additional cable slack may be required if replacing an existing Loovent". I did not have that slack as cable buried in the wall. Had to cut hole in rear of casing and feed existing cable through then join extra cable and feed that back through hole into channel and connect to the new fan connection point. There is enough room in the housing to do this. Fan quieter than old loovent. The surface mounted fan is about the same size as the old loovent. The picture of the new fan shows it as a recessed fan so looks smaller.