How loud is a 6 inch vortech?

[andrew415]

I'm in the middle of buying a new house or condo and I'm going to dedicate one bedroom to growing and I live by myself so visitors will be told I have a roommate (hence the lock on the door).

I know there is many ways I can cover this sound with DIY box's and such but how loud are they really? Will you be able to hear it through the door, wall?

Also does anyone know how many watts/amps a vortech pulls?

I promise one more question does anyone know where to buy the unit that you can control the speed of the vortech?

Cheers!

 

[DeezyH]

Its very loud. Unmuffled you will hear it throughout your home. I had mine in a closed cabinet in the unfinished area of the basement. The door to that area was closed and there is wall insulation between the finished/unfinished rooms. Upstairs I closed the door to the lower level, and walked up to the top level and closed my bedroom door. It sounded like there was a hairdryer screaming full blast right outside my bedroom door, and this was three floors up through insulation and drywall ect ect.

I built a cheapo muffle box for the fan and exhaust which greatly reduced the noise. You can still hear it through the door, but it sounds more like an a/c or box fan than a jet engine.

 

[MarquisBlack]

It's gonna be loud, about 49 dB. Which means it will be heard from a room or two away unmuffled, perhaps throughout your house. Muffler boxes are an easy fix. I for one, make my mufflers out of r-13 insulation wrapped around a ~6" "tube" of chicken wire, and let the Vortex pull through that. Can't hear it in the next room this way. Good luck.

 

[opt1c]

i know it's hella ghetto but i've wrapped some of my fans with old towels... towel compared to no towel is night and day sound wise... just make sure both ends of the fan are ducted for a bit so you don't suck in the towel... haven't had any heat issues with the towels either... the fan doesn't get hot enough for them to catch fire... i'm sure you could get crazy with the mufflers and stuff but i was in a rush and it worked pretty good; so good i've yet to change it up or get some mufflers.... keep in mind i have 1 6" vortex, 1 8" vortex, 1 8" econofan, and 2 4" vortex fans all in the same 12x12 room so my idea of quiet might be different than yours

just say your roommate has an aquarium... loud ass airpump is annoying as hell but he pays the rent on time

 

[jack DA reaper]

Its like a aircraft launch pad or almost as loud as my ballz slapping against your mommaz chin !!!!

 

[DeezyH]

It's gonna be loud, about 49 dB. Which means it will be heard from a room or two away unmuffled, perhaps throughout your house. Muffler boxes are an easy fix. I for one, make my mufflers out of r-13 insulation wrapped around a ~6" "tube" of chicken wire, and let the Vortex pull through that. Can't hear it in the next room this way. Good luck.

I did something similar but with packaging popcorn instead of insulation. I wrapped chicken wire with aluminum screen and put that tube inside of a small cardboard box and filled it with the popcorn. It works very well. You can also get creative and put some baffles inside the chicken wire tube and this will further reduce the rushing air noise.

I would not use wall insulation as the fibers can easily become airborne and create a health hazard for you.

 

[FreezerBoy]

How loud? Unbelievably loud! These things scream like a banshee with their balls in a vice.

That said, THE classic muffling technique is to place the fan outside the grow room or lock people out.

You'll still want to augment with scrubber and muffler. Possibly a fan isolation box (Please excuse crappy execution. Power tools panic and the flu are a dangerous combo) insulated ducting and speed control.



Scrubbers

Muffler DIY by Kovenant

 

[FaderVader]

As loud as they are lol some ducting insulation on a flex line or a cheap 6" duct exhaust muffler solves the problem quit easily. Most of the noise comes from the air movement and not the vortex fan it self.

 

[Calimed]

imagine that wooshing air sound you hear when traveling on a plane. They use similar fans and it sounds close. Muffle ur ducting and wrap your fan. You will hear it in the room, but not so much if you close the door. With my setup, if I run it at 50-60 percent it can barely be heard with a wooshing at full blast that can be heard in the room.

 

[HighTillDeath]

Can anyone point me in the direction of the fan speed controllers and where to get them?

 

[DeezyH]

Can anyone point me in the direction of the fan speed controllers and where to get them?

Any decent online hydro retailer will carry them.
For example:
http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/fan-controls-c-76_413.html

*not all fan controllers will work with all fans*

You might also want to look into sound deadening materials like:

www.db-3sam.com
or
http://www.dynamat.com/

 

[HighTillDeath]

Damn they have to be hardwired in, How is this done with a lets say CanFan or Vortech?

BTW I'm Andrew 415 just on my other account.

Cheers

 

[irieeyes808]

I just bought an 8 max fan and have been wondering how I am going to dampen the noise as well. Is it safe to wrap the insulation and chicken wire without cause of fire?

 

[HIGHGROOVE]

ya i have the can 8 max also...it sits right on top of a can 100 and my noise issue with it is basically the max fan unit itself....it son speedcontrol also