Broan-NuTone 512M Through-the-Wall Ventilation Fan White Cover, 6-Inch 70 CFM 6.0 Sones

So happy I ignored other reviews of this fan being noisy... my fan is nice and quiet and looks great in my newly finished basement bathroom. The fan is very easy to install! Highly recommended.

I've got a lot of server equipment in a small media closet, and it was getting pretty hot in there during the summer months. This fan was easy to install through my drywall with a few small cuts with a handheld drywall saw. I was fortunate that my install location was close to a wall receptacle, so I was able to splice off of that.To provide some basic temperature control, I paired this with the BN-LINK Thermostat Controller which lets me set a threshold temp of 75F, so the fan comes on only as needed to keep things at that temperature or less. It's quiet enough though not silent. It moves more than enough air to keep a small room ventilated. My only wish is that it was reversible, it would be great to change directions depending on season.The outlet side is kind of a generic cheap white plastic grill...they could have done a better job with that. The intake side is still plastic but much nicer and more finished looking. I didn't use the bendy metal ductwork as I was just doing a straight pass-through which didn't require it, so if you're just doing a through and through, you may not need it depending on how thick your walls are.

Sure this fan is a little loud, but it's not much louder than the cheap fans from Home Depot.It was an easy install and fits into a 2x4 exterior wall. Like some said, the damper is cheap but they sell metal hooded ones that will fit on the exterior.Definitely easier to install in a wall than a ceiling fan with a 90.

There doesn’t seem to be many choices for through the wall 6 inch fans. As a replacement, this one worked out fine. It’s not even that loud. Seems quiet compared to the one it replaced.

Very nice,solid and compact little unit that I installed in a vintage (small) bathroom in a 1920s house that I have been refurbishing. Very tight quarters with very limited access for any overhead ductwork. This unit fit snugly between a wall stud and a window framing stud and connected easily to an existing circuit for a porch light on the outside wall next to that window. Not much else would have fit there. Keeps up with shower steam better than most overhead fans. It is a little on the loud side but not too bad and that's a small price to pay for the effectiveness of such a small unit. Everything needed for the install was in the box.

UPDATE: 2 yrs later, the outside plastic louver disintegrated (one flap fell off, others completely warped). HOWEVER, I found LOWES has a PERFECT replacement for $30 (IMPERIAL 6-in dia Galvanized Steel R2 Exhaust/Intake Dryer Vent Hood) - that is vastly more robust and was easy to use as a replacement for the Braun louver (see third photo).------------------------------------In any event, I originally installed this in a bathroom that never had a fan. I did not want to compromise the roof (no attic), so a through-the-wall was needed. Most of the installation time was taken up with figuring out how best to get the electrical feed off the existing light fixture. The actual installation of the fan went very smoothly.The fan does make a good bit of noise, but it would have to, to move 70cfm through a 6in opening - personally I do not see that as an issue.The "insect grate" is a bit coarse for my taste (a mosquito could easily get through - but certainly not a dirt-dobbers, and of course the air IS blowing out, and there are louvers that close when the fan is off). All in all, I am delighted, and now trying to figure out if I can use this same fan in my guest bathroom.

I just finished installing this unit in a networking closet that gets really hot and I am relatively satisfied. There were a few quality issues: 1) the unit arrived with one of the ends of the flexible duct bent, like it was just squashed in during packing but I didn't actually need it so I didn't care. 2) the black metal housing that holds the motor was also bent, so it was oval rather than circular. However, the metal is really thin and malleable so I bent it back into shape. 3) the lip around the metal housing used to screw the housing into the drywall was also bent (it was wavy). 4) This same lip does not provide enough space from the ventilator hole on the drywall so I had to drive the drywall screws at an angle away from the unit in order to secure it. 5) The motor actually comes with a plug and the electrical box has a cheap two prong connector to plug into, which I thought was a weird design. But the issue was that the connector cables inside the electrical box were pre-stripped but frayed -quite sloppy. 6) The inside plastic grill screws into the motor housing by turning the whole grill clockwise. It felt really forced and I worried about it stripping. 7) The outside louver plate is really, REALLY cheap! It didn't feel like it coupled correctly to the housing on the outside end and for the life of me I couldn't get it to sit snugly. I attribute this to the housing being bent out of shape. As it turns out, when I started the unit the fan was stuck so I had to bend things back into shape while on the wall. That wasn't fun. I should have ignored the instructions and cut a bigger hole on the outside so as to have some play to compensate for these issues.I got the unit up and running with a Lux thermostat and everything is working. Time will tell whether it actually helps lower the temperature enough. I cannot measure the actual airflow but I did measure the noise level. I expected it to be quieter but I measured 44dBSPL which is about 3-3.5 sones as advertised. Despite the issues, I think I would recommend given the price. Let's see how long it operates.