Can I bury an in-line fan in insulation?

[ChrisKingston]

I can use an in-line fan to ventilate the en-suite, and I've got a lot of noise from my other bathroom fan so I'm keen to stifle this one as best I can. Does it really need to be attached to anything?

What about if I built a housing for it lined with 50-100mm of Rockwool RWA45? It can't go anywhere so I'd hope I wouldn't need to attach it to anything.

Could I also put a layer of Rockwool over the top to enclose it completely, ro would that be a fire hazard.

I was thinking of a fan like this:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/manrose-in-line-white-20w-shower-fan-kit/15061

Thanks,
Chris

 

[RF Lighting]

No it'll overheat, and that's not good.

Hang it from your roof on 4 pieces of strong nylon string, and use flexible ducting to the fan.

The noise you hear is from the fan vibrating what ever it's sat on / fixed to.

 

[Jackrae]

Overheat ?? It's a fan blowing air through its core and in the core is the motor

 

[ban-all-sheds]

use flexible ducting to the fan.

Which will need wrapping in insulation...

 

[JohnW2]

Overheat ?? It's a fan blowing air through its core and in the core is the motor

Interesting point. Whilst burying almost anything which generates heat deep in insulation is likely to result in a potential problem, an in-line fan might be thought to be one of the very few exceptions which prove that rule. ... which I think would probably be true so long as fan and ducting were behaving 'as intended'.

However, I imagine the main problem is that should the duct ever get blocked, or the motor/fan jamb (with power still applied), then one could well have a fire hazard on one's hands - which is probably a reason why even this situation is not an 'exception to the rule'!

Kind Regards, John

 

[jabuzzard]

TLC-direct do some really quiet fans. I fitted one before Christmas for my sister and she is very pleased with it. It was quiet expensive at £90 but she is really pleased with it. It also shifts enough air to stop the bathroom steaming up when having a shower.

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/SLTD250SILENT.html

One thing to note is that no matter how quiet the fan you still get noise from the air rushing through the ducting, especially if you have used flexible ducting. If you can fit rigid ducting between the ceiling vent and the fan for a quieter overall experience. If you must go for flexible ducting make sure it is pulled tight.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I'm thinking about one of those - the 6" 500m³/hr one.

If it's of any use to anybody, I asked the maker if it could be mounted vertically, and they said that would be fine, so if (like me) that would give you really short runs of ducting with no bends (out through the bathroom ceiling and straight up to a roof tile terminal), it's worth considering.

 

[Taylortwocities]

In-Line Fan Acoustic Cabinet

 

[jabuzzard]

Thing is the inline enclosure is more expensive than the quiet fan, at which point you might as well buy the quiet fan. The 250m^3/h is really really quiet. Gets noisier when you put ducting and a grill on, but there is no way on earth you could hear the fan itself when it is in a loft space.