How can I quieten my noisy bathroom air vent?
October 9, 2021 10:27 PM Subscribe
I recently made the mistake of wiping the dust off the cover that goes over the air vent in my bathroom. Now there is a loud whooshing noise caused by the air passing through the cover. It's really irritating. If I remove the cover the sound is gone, but there's an unsightly hole in my bathroom wall instead. How can I dampen the sound the cover makes while keeping the vent functional?
Here are pictures of the vent with and without the cover. You can see that the shelves below have been partially installed over the vent, and that the vent cover has actually been cut at the bottom so that it can fit.
I detached the grille from the cover to test whether it was causing all the noise (which is why it doesn't appear properly attached in the first photo). Turns out that although the grille does add a substantial amount of noise, just having the cover without the grille itself makes an annoying amount of noise, probably because it isn't attached to the wall or shelves below and so air leaks through where it touches those surfaces.
The vent does an exceptionally good job of removing steam from the bathroom, which is windowless. Any fix could probably sacrifice a bit of its performance without issue.
I'm renting, so I would like any fix to be as easily reversible as possible.
Here are pictures of the vent with and without the cover. You can see that the shelves below have been partially installed over the vent, and that the vent cover has actually been cut at the bottom so that it can fit.
I detached the grille from the cover to test whether it was causing all the noise (which is why it doesn't appear properly attached in the first photo). Turns out that although the grille does add a substantial amount of noise, just having the cover without the grille itself makes an annoying amount of noise, probably because it isn't attached to the wall or shelves below and so air leaks through where it touches those surfaces.
The vent does an exceptionally good job of removing steam from the bathroom, which is windowless. Any fix could probably sacrifice a bit of its performance without issue.
I'm renting, so I would like any fix to be as easily reversible as possible.
I agree on felt, or maybe a weatherstripping material might be more moisture resistant. And tighten everything a lot. That makes a huge difference with my fan- that little 1/8 turn is everything.
posted by kerf at 11:11 PM on October 9, 2021
posted by kerf at 11:11 PM on October 9, 2021
Response by poster: Just to clarify, the cover is actually not screwed into the wall in any way. It's plastic and very light, so it essentially sits on top of the shelves below and is held in place by the force of the air passing into the vent.
posted by Panthalassa at 11:40 PM on October 9, 2021
posted by Panthalassa at 11:40 PM on October 9, 2021
Response by poster: Also, a further clarification: the grille, which causes most of the noise, isn't vibrating or anything. I think the whooshing noise is simply caused by the air passing quickly through its closely-spaced fins, similar to the effect you get by putting your lips close together and blowing. I could buy a different model of grille but I would have to cut it up to make it fit, so I would prefer to modify the current one if possible.
posted by Panthalassa at 11:47 PM on October 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Panthalassa at 11:47 PM on October 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
Try putting the grille on upside down.
posted by Cranberry at 1:44 AM on October 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Cranberry at 1:44 AM on October 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
If you don't need the shelf space for anything else, why not keep the grille off and put something tall on the shelf that blocks your view of the hole?
posted by Sublimity at 4:20 AM on October 10, 2021
posted by Sublimity at 4:20 AM on October 10, 2021
There is no logical way merely wiping dirt off this grill would suddenly cause noise to happen when there wasn't any before. If I had to guess, you want less contact with the wall, not more so air goes around it. In other words, lean the cover instead of pushing it right up to the wall.
posted by O9scar at 8:22 AM on October 10, 2021
posted by O9scar at 8:22 AM on October 10, 2021
Could the grill be intentionally loud to hide biological noises?
posted by nickggully at 8:40 AM on October 10, 2021
posted by nickggully at 8:40 AM on October 10, 2021
It would be odd for such a grille to cause a significant amount of noise just from air passing through it. Similar grilles are installed in many millions of homes. Does the noise change if you press the grille forcefully against the wall?
Or maybe the sound is due to air passing through the space between the last fin of the grille and the shelf. Does it change if you block that area off or push the grille upwards?
I think you need to identify the exact cause of the noise before you can deal with it. In general, I would try moving things around and applying pressure in different areas to see if you can narrow down the issue.
posted by ssg at 10:33 AM on October 10, 2021
Or maybe the sound is due to air passing through the space between the last fin of the grille and the shelf. Does it change if you block that area off or push the grille upwards?
I think you need to identify the exact cause of the noise before you can deal with it. In general, I would try moving things around and applying pressure in different areas to see if you can narrow down the issue.
posted by ssg at 10:33 AM on October 10, 2021
Can the fan be lubricated? Find the model # and google it.
Is the cover rattling? Get blue-tac or that sticky foam tape and secure it.
Is it loud if the cover's off? You could replace the cover with a frame & screen glued in place, ss if that change would work.
posted by theora55 at 5:29 PM on October 10, 2021
Is the cover rattling? Get blue-tac or that sticky foam tape and secure it.
Is it loud if the cover's off? You could replace the cover with a frame & screen glued in place, ss if that change would work.
posted by theora55 at 5:29 PM on October 10, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by nickggully at 10:48 PM on October 9, 2021 [1 favorite]