Kitchen Exhaust Fan Upgrade
Kitchen Exhaust Fan Upgrade
Saturday, June 29, 2013
The range hood fan in most RVs is very loud. Ours is no exception. I’ve measured it at 85 decibels. Fed up with the noise and performance, I chose to install a PC box fan instead. This particular fan (www.silverstonetek.com) is 140 MM in size, has a dual ball bearing motor, spins up to 2,000 RPM and moves air at 171 CFM. I’ve tested it with my DB meter and it is a much more enjoyable 62 decibels.
Installation is simple. Remove the existing fan (plastic blades, 2 screws hold the motor). Install the PC fan. In my case, I have chosen to use zip ties for now to the support brace. Airflow is excellent. I will evaluate its actual use for our stove while we camp this week. You will notice that efficiency can be improved by obtaining a piece of sheet metal, cutting a circle in it, and installing with screws to to make a more robust mount. I will add that later.
Wires - Yellow = 12volt. Black = Ground. You will not need to connect the additional control wires. I carefully wrapped the connectors as well to assure that the moisture from cooking does not damage the connections. We shall see how well the fan holds up to cooking moisture. I chose the dual ball bearing model because these are the only style that can be installed safely in a horizontal fashion.