What is the Quietest Inline Fan for Homeowners & Businesses Alike?

You expect fresh air in the spaces you occupy daily - whether that be your home or office. Lack of ventilation can cause indoor pollution and adverse health effects. Whether you’re looking to eliminate lingering food smells, bathroom moisture, industrial fumes, cigar smoke, or any other VOC - inline fans provide a solution for all of these concerns. 

However, many of these fans are ultra-noisy, distracting, and annoying. For those growing cannabis, discretion is of the utmost importance - and a loud fan compromises your grow room’s location. 

But really for any use case, finding the quietest inline fan is a top priority. If you’re in the market for an indoor ventilation system, you may wonder - what is the quietest inline fan currently on the market? Or, if you already have a fan you may question - is there any way how to make your inline fan silent?

In this article, we’ll discuss tips for how to quiet an inline fan, and our recommendation for the most quiet inline fan on the market. First - a further evaluation of why this is so important. 

The Importance of Getting the Quietest Inline Fan

If you’re wondering how an inline duct fan works, we have a complete guide on the subject. But here are the cliff notes. They are used for moving air in a space. They pull or push the air with the primary goals of temperature and humidity control. Odors and stale air are constantly removed from the space. 

While this equipment is highly functional by itself or as part of a more extensive ventilation system, many inline fans on the market are thunderous, despite being advertised as “silent.” Does proper ventilation have to come at the price of obnoxious noises, and how do you determine which fan will be the quietest?

Fan noise is measured in decibels (dB) or in Sones. For reference, an extremely loud industrial fan averages 75+ dB, while the quietest inline fan can be nearly undetectable in the background of a home or business at 25-30 dB. 

Most fans online won’t clearly disclose these specifications, which can be frustrating. In addition to that, many online sellers who provide these metrics, try to dramatically understate the actual noise levels their equipment makes. When it comes to realistic numbers, for many customers, some video footage showing the fan and the noise meter in the frame can serve as acceptable proof of the actual noise levels produced by the equipment.  

For business customers who require precise data, proper evidence will require a lab test result of a reverberant room test method using a standardized methodology such as AMCA Standard 300-14 which should be performed on calibrated lab equipment by an independent certification entity, which can be costly and time-consuming. The bottom line is that you should only trust the fan’s sound output data posted online if it is supported by a video or lab test evidence because  the sound emission data unsupported by any evidence rarely stand up in real life.

You should know that loud noises from a fan come with more disadvantages than just the nuisance. In addition to the interruption of daily activities, a noisy fan can cause fatigue and even affect hearing over time. Getting the quietest inline fan may benefit your space in the following ways. 

Discretion for Growers

When it comes to growing cannabis, discretion is most important. Theft from humans or animals can destroy your hard work and profits. For this reason, it’s essential to keep your grow room discreet with the most quiet inline fan. 

Comfort for Homeowners

While most popular for cannabis growing and similar applications, inline fans can help improve ventilation and air quality in your home. Household use eliminates moisture and odors, but a loud unit can disturb your peace. 

Ambiance for Businesses

Inline fans are also helpful in places of business where smells are present; cigar lounges and poker rooms are great examples. Proper ventilation is necessary to eliminate lingering smoke and odors, but loud noises can drive potential customers away.  

Excess Noise Indicates Cheap Quality

In addition to the use cases explained above, a noisy inline fan indicates a bigger problem. Cheap quality fans are usually the loudest because they tend to have unbalanced blades and poor aerodynamic design. When you invest in high-quality ventilation, you get an efficient inline fan that does the job without the annoying sounds.  

Can You Learn How to Make Your Inline Fan Silent?

While some inline fans advertise complete silence online, this is not realistic. You can find the quietest fan option, but it won’t be entirely silent. Similarly, there is no solution for how to make your inline fan silent.  

Duct fans consist of evenly spaced fan blades that spin at high speeds using motors to pull and push the air in a directional pattern so that it can move over large distances through a conduit such as a duct or a pipe. Based on the RPM, or rotations per minute, acoustic waves produce noise. 

Aside from the blades, turbulent airflow creates more sound waves, along with the gears and internal components of the fan constantly moving. These noises increase with age as the fan’s parts wear down but are always present when the fan is running. 

These components together produce many different noises that you cannot eliminate. However, there are some steps you can take with additional equipment and DIY solutions to make it as quiet as possible. In the next section, we’ll go over how to quiet an inline fan. 

How to Quiet an Inline Fan: Tips for Quieter Operation

Although an inline fan will never be completely silent, you can try the following solutions to make the noise undetectable in your space if you have a loud fan. 

Use a Duct Silencer 

The most straightforward answer to the question of how to quiet an inline fan is to use a duct silencer or muffler. This equipment serves the purpose of quieting noise within ventilation systems. 

Specifically, they absorb the vibrations from the fan by creating expansion joints. Duct silencers are easy to install by sliding over your exhaust fan or attaching to your existing ductwork, and reduce sound without affecting airflow. 

Use an Insulated Duct 

Similar to the silencers above, the ducting, which has a layer of insulation on the outside, will muffle the noise from the airflow and turbulence inside. Even a regular duct when connected to the fan on both the intake and exhaust sides will provide some reduction of the noise output as it will help the air to travel further from the fan without collapsing and swirling and leaving the exhaust flange side, however, insulated ducts work even better for such purpose. 

The big disadvantage of insulated ducting is its size and volume it takes, which translates into high shipping costs which oftentimes exceed the cost of the actual ducting. Therefore, such insulated ducting is better sourced locally via your local home improvement store.

Put It In a Box

Alternatively, you can use sound-absorbing materials, such as acoustic foam and or insulation panels to create a barrier around your fan. Wood planks, foam panels, or cardboard boxes work well to enclose sound waves. 

Avoid putting materials in direct contact with the fan, or it will create more vibration noises and defeat the purpose. You will also want to have access to the fan for cleaning and maintenance purposes, so it is never OK to use foam or cellulose insulation which permanently coats the fan.

Use a Speed Controller 

Inline fans come with varying noise levels, depending on how much power is generated. The RPM (rounds per minute) determines how many times a fan blade rotates each minute. 

Both of these factors contribute to how loud the fan will be. Faster fans working harder to ventilate a space will naturally produce more noise than an efficient, compact option. The best way to cut back on noise is to buy a higher-powered fan than you need and use a speed controller to run it at a lower setting. This will allow moving the same amount of air as using a smaller fan, but with lower speed and over a larger area of a duct, which will translate into lower noise.

We strongly advise our customers to consider EC motor based fans, such as TerraBloom’s ECMF series as they offer two major advantages over older AC motor-based fans. First, EC motors have a much better range of speed adjustment and do not emit any humming background noise at a lower speed. 

Second, EC motors save a proportional amount of power at lower speeds, while AC motors tend to waste electricity at lower speeds through heat emission. AC motor based fans can cost up to 30-40% less but they are not as efficient as the newer EC motors. These savings will quickly translate into higher energy expenses and the AC fans will end up costing the customer 3-4 times more over their lifespan if the power costs are involved, this is especially true for the larger fans with duct diameters of 8” and more. 

Install It Correctly 

How you install your inline fan will primarily affect the amount of noise it creates later. In addition to following directions for how to install inline duct fan, use an additional material between the stud and fan, such as a rope ratchet, to absorb vibration. 

When installing the ducts, ensure they are as short as possible. Also, pay attention to their length - if you allow them to run too long, your fan will have to work harder to ventilate the space and will create more noise.  

What is the Quietest Inline Fan for Your Home or Business?

If you have a noisy fan, there are measures you can take to minimize the sounds echoing through your space. However, at a certain point, you can only do so much before it’s time to invest in the quietest inline fan possible. 

And that’s where we come in.

At TerraBloom, we offer the best industrial inline duct fans. More specifically, our fans are ultra-quiet - and will prove an invaluable investment in your home, office, or commercial building. Here’s how we developed the most silent inline fan in the industry…

How We Developed the Quietest Inline Fan in the Industry

Our silenced inline fan is one of our newest products, gaining overwhelmingly positive feedback from the customers who have tried it. It’s the quietest inline fan on the market, with noise control that can only be achieved using our innovative housing construction. 

Each fan is built with special housing that consists of a 2-inch layer of sound-insulated foam. This material works together with vibration-dampening springs to keep the motor suspended inside.

Unlike our competitors who falsely advertise silent fans, we are transparent with the exact noise level you can expect when you purchase our products. We share an extensive library of video content with our customers online, clearly displaying the decibel measurements of our fans while they’re running at different speeds, using a dB meter. As part of our low-noise series, the silenced inline fans start at 25 dB(A), depending on the size you choose for your space. 

Our inline fans are ideal for air filtration applications in permanently occupied rooms. Many of our commercial customers find this product most useful for lounges and other spaces where people want to socialize amongst an activity that generates smell. 

The Different Sizes We Offer

When purchasing an inline fan, choosing the right size for your room is essential. Calculating your CFM requirements allows you to select the product that will best suit your space. 

We offer a variety of sizes for all your ventilation needs. Visit our website to browse our large inventory of 4 inch inline fans, 6 inch inline fans, 8 inch inline fans, 10 inch inline fans, and 12 inch inline fans.

Final Thoughts on How to Quiet an Inline Fan

There are several methods for how to quiet an inline fan, but you will not find a solution for how to make your inline fan silent. Fans have too many sources of noise that are impossible to eliminate. At a certain point, purchasing a high-quality fan designed to be undetectable in a space becomes necessary. 

In addition to purchasing the best inline duct fan, selecting the most quiet inline fan is vital for many reasons. A loud fan can interfere with relaxation, productivity, and even hearing. Whether you’re ventilating a cannabis grow room or place of business, selecting the quietest inline fan for discretion and minimal interruptions to daily activities is essential. 

If you’re wondering what the quietest inline fan is, you now have your answer. Visit TerraBloom to browse our silenced fan products today. We’ve developed the most silent inline fan on the market that will improve the ventilation in your household or commercial space without inconvenience.