Have you ever heard how irritating a loud bathroom fan sounds? The buying decision you make will determine whether the fan will be very loud or quiet depending on the sone level. This is the measure of the loudness of a bathroom exhaust fan. By looking at the sone level number, you can tell how noisy or quiet a bathroom fan will sound. A general rule is that the larger the Sones number, the louder the fan.
If you are looking for the very best quiet bathroom fan on the market in 2025, the highly rated Broan-NuTone QTXE080 Very Quiet Ceiling Bathroom Exhaust Fan is the quietest with only 0.3 Sones and 80 CMF which is virtually silent. Another more powerful yet quiet bath fan is the Panasonic FV-0811VF5 WhisperFit EZ Retrofit Ventilation Fan with sones level of 0.8 and 110 CFM. If you prefer an exhaust fan with an LED light, then the KAZE APPLIANCE Ultra Quiet Bathroom Exhaust Fan is perfect for you. It’s rated 90 CFM with 0.5 Sones.
How Many Sones Is A Quiet Bathroom Fan
A quiet fan is subjective since the noise level is measured mostly by the loudness of the fan and depends on your tolerance to noise. This leads to different views regarding the number of sones that make a quiet bathroom fan.
Since many modern bathroom fans are almost unnoticeable when turned on, it can become quite difficult to point out the loudness of the exhaust fan.
In most cases, a bathroom fan is considered quiet when it is around one sone and less. And the quietest bathroom fan exhaust is below 0.5 sones. For instance, the quietest fan on the market in 2025 is 0.3 sones (Broan-NuTone QTXE080) which runs calmly and is unnoticeable. If you need a more powerful fan, 0.8 sones is still quiet and good for even large bathrooms (Panasonic FV-0811VF5 WhisperFit).
What Is Considered A Quiet Bathroom Fan
Bathroom fans are different, and depending on the manufacturer; you’ll get different features that make the bathroom fan quiet. For this case, a bathroom fan is considered quiet when the loudness is impossible to hear. With this, you can set it in the bathroom and run it silently.
The magnitude of loudness is rated on a system called sones, and the smaller the number of sones, the quieter it is. In most cases, quiet bathroom fans are 0.5 sones and below.
These are almost silent, and users might doubt whether it is working or not. A working fridge will have one sone, and when compared to the fan at 0.5 sones, you can imagine the low noise levels.
Bathroom Fan Sone Scale
The loudness of fan noise is measured in sones, and a sone scale will help get the correct loudness for your specific fan. Commonly, the sones scale system has numbers indicated on the fan box.
The numbers might be larger or smaller depending on the fan and the size of the exhaust. Commonly, a large number indicates a loud fan.
For example, a fan on a scale system of 4 sones and beyond means it is loud, and when in a hallway, you can hear its sound.
Fans under one sone on the sone scale are considered quiet. The lower the number, the quieter the fan.
What Are Sones In Bath Fans?
Bath fans are rated in sones, and this sound is based on how an individual’s average listener perceives it. Most home appliances like fridges, range hoods and washing machines will have different ratings on how loud they function.
These are also measured in sones. To compare the sone bathroom fan, we can take the average noise of a refrigerator estimated at one sone.
If you double that noise to two sones, then the sound becomes louder. Therefore, the loudness in the bath fan is measured using the sones rating system. Read also: Best Quiet Bathroom Exhaust Fans With LED Light, Heater & Both and Best Most Quiet Or Silent Battery Operated Toothbrushes 2025
Conclusion
Finally, sones are key when buying a bathroom fan. They measure the loudness of the fan, and this more people year after year prefer the ones that have a lower ones rating.
It’s understandable that pretty much everyone prefers a calm environment, and the smaller the sone rating, the quieter the bathroom fan will be when in use. It is up to you to pick a fan that meets your demands based on a sones scale rating as well as performance.
Your best options in 2025 are the Broan-NuTone QTXE080 Very Quiet Ceiling Bathroom Exhaust Fan (0.3 sones) Panasonic FV-0811VF5 WhisperFit EZ Retrofit Ventilation Fan (0.8 sones) and KAZE APPLIANCE Ultra Quiet Bathroom Exhaust Fan (0.5 sones).
Dave Pearson is a Canadian musician, sound editor, and audiophile. He is also the founder and owner of the website SoundProofGeek. On SoundProofGeek, Pearson offers advice and resources on audio equipment, including how to assess and improve audio quality, how to troubleshoot and repair audio equipment, and how to improve the music listening experience.
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