“Out of sight, out of mind,” is an old adage that often HVAC professionals’ think of as a reason why more home and building owners don’t pay more attention to their heating and cooling equipment. As little attention as these products get by their end users, though, ventilation products are even more out of people’s everyday thoughts.

People become aware of ventilation products if they’re too noisy, though. Being noisy is not a problem that the Broan-NuTone LLC’s Broan® Ultra Silent™ humidity sensing fan has, which has a loudness level of only 1.5 sones. The fan’s quietness is one of the characteristics of the product that made it a winner in The NEWS’ sixth annual Dealer Design Awards in the Ventilation Products category.

GOLD WINNER

The Broan® Ultra Silent™ humidity sensing QTRE100S fan by Broan-NuTone LLC senses moisture increases at the ceiling and automatically exhausts the moisture, turning off after 20 minutes. Sensaire® technology incorporated in the fan detects rapid increases in moisture levels at the ceiling, where steam and humidity naturally rise or when the humidity is higher than the factory set point.

According to the manufacturer, the fan is “an automated solution to fight excess humidity, mold, and help prevent cosmetic and structural problems associated with excess moisture.”

It is designed to be used in conjunction with a 4-inch round duct connector and features 100 cfm of powerful ventilation at 1.5 sones.

There are three options for solid four-point mounting: new hanger bars for between-joist installations, mounting flange for direct-to-joist installation, or mounting flange with I-joist spacer for direct-to-I-joist installation.

The humidity sensor is built into the fan and preset, so there are no additional components to install. The motor is permanently lubricated for continuous operation and mounted with resilient antivibration mounts to reduce servicing.

The fan is Home Ventilating Institute- (HVI-) certified for performance claims and is Underwriters Laboratory-listed for use over bathtubs and showers when connected to a ground-fault circuit interrupter- (GFCI-) protected branch circuit. In addition, the QTRE100S is Energy Star®-qualified.

The fans are available in single packs and project packs. The project packs have two components: a housing four pack and a humidity sensing fan finish kit, so the contractor does not have to disassemble and store or possibly damage and lose post-drywall components.

According to the manufacturer, these automated fans are an affordable solution to ensure homeowners are using the fan when needed most and minimizes callbacks. It turns off automatically and that saves money by not exhausting conditioned air unnecessarily.

A judge mentioned his thoughts on a good location for the fan to be applied. “I think this [fan] would be ideal for baths with very high ceilings, as rh could be high at the ceiling, and not be detected otherwise.”

Another judge said, “I liked the way it had low sound [levels] and would turn itself on.”

2009 Honorees: Ventilation Products

GOLD WINNER
Broan-NuTone LLC
www.broan-nutone.com
Broan® Ultra Silent™ Humidity Sensing Fan

Publication date: 07/13/2009