Attic Fan Humming Noise Reduction Guide: 7 Simple Steps

Attic fans are great things to lower your attic’s temperature.

There are millions of people using these devices and enjoy its benefits, especially during the hot summer.

Attic fans are great machines that can bring some refreshment by blowing out hot air.

Even though we all enjoy attic fans, they are mechanical devices and sometimes they can be quite noisy and annoying.

So, if you are an attic fan lover, you should be prepared for some extra noise in your home.

Of course, there are some things that you can do to lower this noise, or even nullify it.

Now, not only that attic fans can disturb your silence but your neighbors’ as well.

So, if you don’t want your angry neighbors to knock on your door, you might want to take some measures.

reduce attic fan humming noise

In most of the cases, the noise will appear due to some parts of attic fan getting old or by being worn out.

Some parts can also get rust and increase the noise significantly.

In those cases, you will probably need some lubrication.

Unfortunately, in most of the cases, you will need to replace the whole part.

Now, there are cases when you won’t be able to decrease the noise even with an old part replacement.

Do not despair! In those cases, just follow the steps that I will shortly elaborate, and you should be able to soundproof your attic fan humming noise.

Obviously, you cannot build some soundproof box as it will block the cold air passing through, but you can do some mechanic things for your attic fan.

These are simple steps to reducing the humming noise of your attic fan.

Now, let’s get quickly through them.

attic fan noise reduction

7 Steps to Eliminate attic fan Humming Noise

1. Detach attic fan from the electricity source

Precaution measures in the first place!

Before inspecting or doing anything with your fan, it would be a smart thing to detach it from the power electricity.

There are several types of attic fans.

Firstly, there are those electric fans, and there are ones powered by solar panels.

No matter what kind of attic fan is in the matter, turn either the mains off or solar panels instead.

Also, this step can help you inspect what is truly causing the problem.

You might need to turn the fan on in order to locate which part is causing most of the noise.

Or even to check is fixes that you made did any change.

Anyway, avoid touching the attic fan while it’s running.

Detach Attic Fan From The Electricity Source

2. Check out the blades

Since the blades are rotating with the enormous speed, you might not be even able to notice that they are producing the noise.

They can often cause the sound if some of them are bent or imbalanced by hitting some other parts, or each other.

As we mentioned, you won’t be able to notice this while blades are turning around.

Turn your fan off and check if everything is okay with blades. In case that blades are unbalanced, your problem is quite small.

You can easily balance them by yourself.

  • Use the balancing kit that came with your ceiling fan.
  • You can place some washers (metal) about halfway down the length of the blades you wish to level. If you're using the kit that came with your ceiling fan, this usually includes a clip to secure the weight to the blade.
  • If you're going with washers, use the washers to lower the blade to the correct measurement level and tape them securely to the top of the blade with the tape.

This is the way of balancing any kind of fan, attic as well.

If there is another case- when blades are bent to some degree, and hitting some other parts of fan that they should not hit, preferably, you should replace that blade(s) with the new one.

Check Out The Blades

Keep in mind that there are numerous models of fans out there.

You will need to buy the fitting one for your attic fan.

Needless to say, you won’t need the exact same blade that you want to replace.

Just make sure that the size of the blade is of the same size as the existing ones, or contrarily it won’t fit.

This is a quite cheap solution for your attic fan noise.

The blades are affordable, and can be found at the price of $20-$30. Just make sure that you are not buying all of the blades.

Not sure if it’s valuable. You can buy a new one with that cash, basically.

For example, I have bought this one and it worked pretty well for me.

I repeat, make sure that you are buying the blades that can fit your attic fan model.

3. Ball-bearing replacement can reduce the noise

Ball-Bearing Replacement Can Reduce The Noise

Well, this step is kind of double-edged sword. Not all of the fans have ball-bearing.

Anyway, if yours does, ball-bearing is a part that is in charge of smoothness of the attic fan.

Imagine lubricator- that’s the way the ball-bearing is working.

So, if this part gets worn out or breaks, there will be some noisy problem.

Sadly, you will hardly be able to fix this part.

The procedure is quite hard and not worth trying. It’s much easier to buy the new one.

Same as with the blades, make sure that you are getting the right part.

4. Tighten loose parts and fan’s mount

Tighten Loose Parts And Fan’s Mount

Sometimes, the solution is quite simple. Actually, this might be the most common noise-causing issue.

The mount can easily come loose, especially if it’s about the fan installed on the roof.

Wobbling and vibrating of loose parts will create some unbearable noises.

In order to fix this one, you will need a screwdriver.

With it, make sure you tighten properly all loose parts and mount screws as well.

Make sure that everything is screwed properly. Once done, you will be able to fix your noise problem.

attic fan humming noise

5. Lubricate some rust parts

As any other mechanic, moving and rotating part, certain fan parts might get rust.

In order to find out if the fan motor is the noise-causing part, you can remove all of the blades and let the fan run without them.

If you hear the noise coming from the fan, then probably you might have some problems with the motor fan.

If your fan is quite old (few years), then this means that it’s probably at the end of its life.

Now, do not throw it to trash yet.

Make sure that you can’t fix this problem before giving up on it. Try to lubricate the motor bearings.

Try out this lubricant. It’s quite inexpensive and can last for the next fan as well. You can use it for any mechanic purpose.

Of course, the great part of reducing the noise is its prevention. You can use this to lubricate parts preventively.

lubricant spray

Doing that, you will surely prolong your attic fan’s life by a lot.

6. Replace the motor

Quite a drastic solution, but it can do the job.

 You can possibly replace your old motor with the new one. Make sure that it fits your attic fan’s model.

This step is a bit trickier than any other in the article.

It’s quite harder to replace it than, for example, blades. The motor is also quite an expensive part as the heart of every machine.

Overall, if you ask me, I would rather invest a bit more into the new attic fan, but if you want to save some money, then this method might do the job.

True, it’s a bit risky and you don’t know if it will fit with other parts properly, but if you know more about attic fans, than this will be a piece of cake for you.

7. Ultimately, get the quieter one

Get a quieter attic fan

It’s quite important to learn to notice when your attic fan is running out of life actually.

Since they last up to 4-5 years, you have an insight of the timings of your attic fan.

So, basically if you hear some irregular noise after 4-5 years, then you might need a new, quieter attic fan.

For the best quality, you should aim for some QuietCool model. Particularly, I would go with this one.

It has some amazing features like built-in humidistat and thermostat, no wiring required, and quite fascinating 10 years guarantee.

This model is quite quiet and you won’t be hearing that unpleasant noise whatsoever.

On Attic Fan Noise Reduction

Attic Fan Noise Reduction

After all, I hope that I gave you some ideas on how to reduce the noise from your attic fan.

It’s quite an annoying problem, and most of them are easy to solve.

Tighten some parts, replace the blades or lubricate.

Most of the solutions are affordable ones. They do not require more than $50 tops.

Of course, there are always some more expensive models and parts but you should not waste too much money on them.

Preferably, buy the new one and make sure that your problems are fully fixed for the next few years.

Hopefully, after following this guide, your attic will be cool and quiet.

Attic Fan Humming Noise Reduction Guide: 7 Simple Steps

7 Steps To Eliminate Attic Fan Humming Noise

Are you looking for an attic fan noise reduction guide? Learn how to easily eliminate your attic fan humming noise in 7 simple steps. Read on to learn more.

Active Time 45 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Instructions

  1. Detach Attic Fan From The Electricity Source
  2. Check Out The Blades
  3. Ball-Bearing Replacement Can Reduce The Noise
  4. Tighten Loose Parts And Fan’s Mount
  5. Lubricate Some Rust Parts
  6. Replace The Motor
  7. Ultimately, Get The Quieter One
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