Best Bathroom Exhaust Fans of 2023

We tested 11 bathroom exhaust fans to find models with great airflow and low noise

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The job of a bathroom exhaust fan is simple: It helps remove moisture, and, in doing so, it can mitigate odors, too. When it performs well, we take it for granted—but when it doesn’t, the potential problems can be significant, from stubborn mold and mildew to a room that never quite feels fresh. (This can be particularly bothersome if your bathroom has no windows.) In fact, an exhaust fan may be as essential as the perfect flooring, showerhead, or faucet fixture when it comes to creating a calming, comfortable bathroom oasis.

To that end, our engineers set out to find the best bathroom exhaust fans. We tested 11 fans, and while they all did a decent job, some performed much better than others—and some got the job done much more quietly, too. Among the top performers in our tests, what distinguishes them from each other are the extra features they offer. While many bathroom exhaust fans are just fans, some include a built-in light fixture (which can be handy if you want additional illumination in your bathroom); others are equipped with a Bluetooth speaker, allowing you to connect a device to play music (or whatever else you want to listen to).

A bathroom exhaust fan works by pulling in air from the bathroom and sending it outside via a duct that runs through the ceiling or wall. So a good exhaust fan relies largely on good airflow. Good airflow, in turn, depends on the ductwork in your bathroom, as well as the speed of the fan.

The more bends there are in the duct, the more resistance there will be to the airflow—so to a large extent, the effectiveness of your exhaust fan will depend on the shape of the ductwork in your home. The size of your duct also matters. Bathroom exhaust fans are designed to fit a particular duct size. Generally speaking, fans built for larger air ducts produce better airflow. Newer bathrooms tend to have vents with 4-inch ducts or larger, while older-bathroom vents tend to have 3-inch ducts. You can renovate to upgrade your duct size, though that will require professionals and a chunk of money. More importantly, if you have a smaller bathroom (around 50 square feet or smaller), that smaller duct size—and the fans built for it—may work quite effectively for you anyway.

As for a fan’s speed, it’s a measurement of airflow velocity in cubic feet per minute (CFM). The fans we tested (like most fans on the market) run at only one speed. (One fan we tested does offer three speeds, but you make the choice when you install it, so when you hit the switch, it will run at the speed you chose during installation.) While it may seem logical that a fan running at a higher speed trumps a fan at a lower speed, you might not see that big a difference in effectiveness between the two, especially in a smaller bathroom. A higher fan speed could also be noisier.

If your bathroom was built to accommodate an exhaust fan, there was probably a fan installed when you moved in. If it’s working well to remove moisture and odors, there’s no need to replace it—though you certainly can do so if it’s particularly noisy, or if you want to upgrade to a model with extra features.

But if your bathroom stays humid and stuffy long after a shower even with the fan running—especially if mold starts developing on the walls or ceiling, or paint starts deteriorating—you should replace it. You should also be extra careful if you notice a burning smell when you turn the fan on: That could indicate an electrical issue, and you should avoid using the fan until you’ve had an electrician take a look.

If your bathroom doesn’t currently have the infrastructure for an exhaust fan (ductwork, a vent in the ceiling, and electrical wiring to operate the fan), you would need to start by consulting a contractor. If the infrastructure is already in place, you can purchase and install the fan yourself or call a professional (usually an electrician, an HVAC tech, a general contractor, or a handyperson with experience in this type of project).

To choose which bathroom exhaust fans to test, we identified a range of popular residential models, including top sellers on Amazon and reliable brands available from appliance retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s. We tested fans in a range of CFMs—many at 110 CFM, which is appropriate for larger bathrooms, and some at lower CFMs, which work well in smaller bathrooms. (But you can certainly use a fan with a higher CFM in a smaller bathroom, if the duct fits.) Many are competitively priced, while some are more expensive and boast additional features, like light fixtures and Bluetooth connectivity. CR’s lab engineers evaluated just the performance of the fan itself, providing a score for airflow and another for noise—the two fan qualities that matter the most.

For our airflow test, we hooked up all the fans to the same length (10 feet) of straight piping and measured the output of air at the opposite end. Some of the fans we tested were built for 4-inch ducts, and some for 3-inch ducts.

To assess noise, our lab testers listened to all the fans run at a consistent distance from each, and scored the fans relative to each other: The quietest fan of the bunch scored a 5 out of 5, and the rest were scored according to that standard.

As a category, fans built to fit a 4-inch duct perform better in terms of airflow than fans built to fit a 3-inch duct. These models are the best of the bunch, according to our tests—evacuating air through the duct while keeping noise to a minimum.

Fans built for 3-inch bathroom ducts (typically found in older homes) received lower Overall Scores in our tests than 4-inch fans—mainly because smaller ducts simply can’t conduct as much air as quickly as larger ones. But that doesn’t mean these fans aren’t effective. If you have a relatively small bathroom (roughly less than 50 square feet), one of these can still get the job done. And they’re as quiet as or quieter than larger fans, too.

Molly Bradley

Molly Bradley is a home and appliance writer at Consumer Reports. Before joining CR in 2023, she managed the editorial team at Digg, and has devoted her career to helping readers navigate the world and make their lives a little easier, elucidating topics in technology and culture. Molly earned a master’s degree in writing from Bennington College and lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., with her cat, Saltine. Follow her on Twitter @mollyguinn.