Delta BreezSlim SLM70H 13.1W Exhaust Bath Fan with Humidity Sensor

This is a review and some hints how you can replace your Broan 688 fan assembly with the inside of a purchased Delta Breez Slim SLM50 in order to get a quite motor assembly without replacing the box in the attic. All work was done from down below in the bathroom. All you need in addition to the DeltaBreez SLM50 : • three 10x3.0 inch long sheet metal screws • 12inch of metallic (aluminum) duct tape • 2/16 drill bit at least 3 inch long when inserted in Power drill • Power Drill • Large Flathead screw driver • Medium Philips screedriver I came up with this solution after I replaced the week before a Broan 688 fan with a Panasonic FV-08VQ5 WhisperCeiling for one of our small bathrooms and it was more work that I had bargained for. For the first Broan replacement I had to go in the attic and shuffle 2 feet of lose blown-in isolation material to the site in order to access the old box. Removed the old box, cut a larger hole and installed the Panasonic. That all worked well and the Panasonic fan is the quietest and most powerful fans I ever had installed. However that took me all 3 hours of install, climbing in the not easy accessible attic around and then anther hour of cleanup of the mess I created in the bathroom below. So when the “Honey Do” request came to replace in the small restrooms the 50ccm fans as well I looked around what options I have to avoid to go again in the attic and eat dust and fiberglass, besides the other ones have really only head room for laying the whole time across the joists on your belly. Not a favorable outlook. So I went back to Amazon where I got the Panasonic and found a lot of not so good reviews for the Broan fan upgrade kit. The point made with the upgrade kit from Broan is that you get a new fan motor and a new designed blade set, but still keep the housing and the fan metal inside deflector. The install is easy and can be done in 20 min including cleanup. The downside is that upgrade kit is not really quieter than the one you just replaced; if at all the new Broan 688 fan still sounds more like a heavy duty turbine starting up. By chance I came up to a review on Amazon of the Delta Breeze SLM50 and it was stated it is the only replacement Fan which can use the same cutout dimensions as the older contractor grade Broan 688 so many of us got in our homes from cost cutting construction crews installed. I checked the install manual of the Delta Breez and discovered that the dimension of the outer box are the same. So if the outbox is the same then whatever is inside will fit as well. So I ordered the Delta Breeze SLM50 via Amazon and as soon it arrived I took the Delta Breez Housing apart and the inside fan and motor assembly out. The whole inside assembly of fan, motor and airflow channel is one sturdy plastic enclosure. That is the reason why it is also so much quite because the way how the air get’s channeled is engineered and so reduces the overall operational noise. So next I used the box I had pulled out the week before and removed from the Broan 688 the round metal air deflector which usually is with installed motor and fan plates there to direct the air to the outlet. That part becomes visible after you pulled down the motor of the Broan 688 by inserting the screwdriver to get the metal slot freed up. That half circular bended fan deflector is with 3 rivets connected to the walls of the old Broan 688 box. Using the a large flat screwdriver you can work that tool blade between the walls and the deflector and by gentle wiggling around and twisting the screwdriver the rivet will loosen and break lose the rivet and free up the part. Do that with each of the 3 rivets to remove the deflector. The electrical power box in the corner has also to be removed and can be pulled down quite easily. With these part removed you can already see that the Delta Breeze motor assembly will fit. Remove from the Delta Breez housing you received the Power connector they provide becauswe you want to use that connector and connect that to the power cables coming into the old Broan 688 box in your ceiling. Connect the electric plug connector you removed from the Delta Breeze housing to the Broan Box power cables. The ground is already connected so you only have to connect the connector you removed with the white and black cable. Let it hung down so that you later can connect the two connector to each other and push the cables into the corner of the housing. Next you need three 10x3.0 inch long metal screws, a power drill with a long 2/16 drill bit. The drill bit needs to be at least 3 inches long so that you can drill through the wholes provided by the new Delta Breez SLM50 motor assembly. I applied around the motor outlet aluminum metal duct tape where I removed for installing only half of the backing paper and attached it to the assembly left and right of the air flow outlet. After the motor was pushed in I was then able to remove the paper and pushed the metal duct tape with a medium Philips screwdriver against the metal housing. That created a nice seal after I also taped then the top of the air outlet with metal duct tape. That way air can only go from the moto assembly direct out to the old Broan 688 air outlet. That can maybe left out, but you maybe get then a little less efficiency and a little more possible noise level. During install I used some Foam from the Delta Breez packing material I pushed between the motor and the Broan box in place to have a temporary hold before the screws where in place and so avoided the possibility that the motor is coming crushing down on top of me while balancing on the porcelain throne below. Next I used the long drill and drilled with the motor in place the three 2/16 holes. Take the 3 inch long sheet metal screw and attach the new fan/ motor assembly via the holes in the plastic at the side of the housing in place. If you use larger then size 10 screws you need to enlarge the pre-drilled holes at the motor assembly . I also used a flashlight to see if I get the screw aligned with the drilled hole and then hand tighten each screw, the flashlight was very helpful. Next remove the 2 foam blocks you may be used as I did to temporary wretched the motor into the housing. Add additional Metal duct tape on top of the airflow outlet which connects to the Broan 688 outlet. Now push the Power cables all in the corner and then test the motor. The motor is really quite, but not as quite as the Panasonic. It is most likely double the noise of the Panasonic which is rated with <0.3 SOAN. The Delta Breez SLM50 in the Broan Housing is maybe < 0.8 SOAN, still very quiet and yes powerful for its size. Congratulate yourself that you did this in 1 hour and that you did not had to go into the attic at all and the mess in the bathroom is minimal. Should the motor ever fail it will easy be removed by removing the three metal screws holding it in place and then disconnect the power connector.

I have installed three of these Delta Breez SLM50 fans in my house. They are not silent, but they are a LOT quieter than the old 20-year-old Broans they replaced. The old Broans were impeller-type fans and generated a louder, lower-frequency noise that we could hear pretty much anywhere in our 2-story house. The new Deltas are squirrel-cage-type fans and generate a quieter, higher-frequency noise. If the bathroom door is closed and the bathroom fan is running, it's hard to hear the fan from outside of the bathroom and we can't hear it anywhere else in the house. They are pretty easy to install if you are moderately handy. The new fan goes into the same size opening as the old fan, and the electrical and ducting connections are on the same sides as the old fan. Because the Delta fan enclosure is smooth-sided (no lip or flange on its bottom edge), you can shove the new fan partially or fully up into the ceiling to make it easier to make the connection with the existing wires and ducting. I did two of the three installs from below (without attic access) and one with partial attic access (I went in the attic to spray some foam insulation around the base of the enclosure to limit heat loss into the attic). Getting the old Broan out of the ceiling isn't too hard as long as you can get to the fasteners which hold it to an adjacent stud. The fan itself separates from the metal housing after freeing a couple of metal tabs, and the electrical connection comes free by unplugging a cord. Once the fan unit is out, the enclosure can be freed once the fasteners are cut or removed. In my case the enclosure was fastened with screws that were accessible from within the enclosure, so it was easy. In the past when I have replaced a fan where the fasteners were not easily removable, I slid the blade of a hacksaw between the enclosure and the stud to cut them (wearing gloves). With the power turned off, access the electrical connection, remove the wire nuts and pull the wires loose. At this point you should be able to shift the enclosure around enough to get at the ducting connection. You will probably need to remove some old duct tape and maybe a screw or two holding the ducting to the enclosure and then you can pull the ducting loose and pull the enclosure down through the ceiling. I used foil tape instead of duct tape to connect the fan to the exhaust duct. It makes a better seal and stays on better. Also, because there is no flange at the base of the fan enclosure, there can be a gap between the drywall and the fan enclosure if the hole in the ceiling is cut too large, as mine were. To avoid heat loss, I used some foil tape to create a seal around the base (see picture) and for the installation on the top floor, i sprayed some foam insulation around the base from above. I'm happy so far. I hate fan noise so it's a huge relief to not hear the old Broans groaning throughout the house whenever one of them was running. This fan is a good value for the price and it's a great improvement over the old Broans.

Being the first time I've installed a bathroom fan, and as a girl, this was not really intuitive to me. I had a heck of a time figuring out how to get the old housing out and I had some serious hiccups following the directions on this (basically uninstalled and reinstalled at least once due to my lack of understanding). I did not replace the hose exhaust as I used the existing duct work for that (I didn't want to go into the attic). Overall, it's a good fan since I'm upgrading from the same size builders model that was installed with the house. The old fan was 6 sones and this new one 2 sones. It starts out whisper quiet, but it does ramp up the noise level once it gets going, but still nothing like the airplane sounding builders model. I can't hear this fan running over the water running in the shower, so I consider this a huge improvement over the old one. A good buy for the money and the fact that it is an easy retrofit with the old builders model.

Built a mini bathroom/shower area and needed an exhaust fan.. hunted the web, visited home improvement stores, read reviews... Liked this one, and purchased and installed. Been in service for 2 months-ish now and works great.. I have it wired to a humidistat also and will automatically turn on if humid. Very quiet when on. I would buy again. Excellent product...

The fan seems to take a half second or so to get going. Otherwise it's good... nice and quiet.

I replaced an old Broan ECF50 4.0 sone with the Delta Breez SLM50 and it's been a pleasure being in my bathroom again. Finally I can read in peace and quiet. The biggest problem was getting the original housing out since it was screwed in to the joist by the tabs that were hidden because it was installed before the ceiling was installed. That took a long long time. Luckily the Delta Breeze cover is quite large so I just ended up cutting away a lot of drywall to access the screws. The wiring for my Broan is in a different location than the Delta Breez so I had to cut out a hole in the new enclosure for the wiring. Overall it took 2 hours to remove the old fan because I didn't want to damage too much of the ceiling. The installation of the new fan took less than an hour. If I had to do it again, I would leave the old housing and just screw the new fan motor inside it since the exhaust opening is in the same position. Would buy a few long aluminum spacers to mount the new motor and long sheet metal screws. Overall a great upgrade.

Our old fan sounded like a train going through the bathroom, so anything would have been an improvement. This fan is pretty awesome though. Quiet and clears a shower's worth of steam really quickly. It's unobtrusive and our electrician had no issue installing it. Best of all, it's Energy Star rated, so we are eligible for a little rebate for installing a better fan.

J'ai bien aimé ce produit qui a bien fonctionné depuis décembre 2020, mais il a cessé de fonctionner d'un seul coup, et je n'arrive pas à trouver les détails de la garantie. La section d'aide d'Amazon ne m'amène nulle part non plus. À l'aide. NOTE: Elle a redémarrée, mais je demeure dans l'attente d'Amazon ou du vendeur pour les informations de garantie.