DIY Grow: Reduce fan noise, build your own silent box

Once again, we continue our series DIY at the Grow:

Fan noises can be indiscreet, thus unsafe and also annoying if they are constantly present when growing in the home. There are therefore special Silent fan fans can be purchased that are designed to produce very little noise and are extremely quiet. However, these also cost more than ordinary tube fans/in-line fans. One way to reduce fan noise is to build a noise-insulating "silent box" yourself. This is not difficult and can be done relatively easily. In the following you will learn how.

Material needed

• In-line/pipe fan
• Insulation wool or insulation material (e.g. glass wool, insulation material made of hemp, foam rubber)
• Flex pipe, 2 pieces
• sturdy cardboard box (optionally a homemade wooden box made of light plywood)
• Fabric tape

Instructions:

First cut a round hole in the bottom and top of the box that is the diameter of the flex tube.

Secure the flex tube on both sides of the fan with fabric tape.

Put the fan in the box, the Felx tubes go through the holes in the box.

Stuff and pad the box around the fan with insulating material. Foam is best for this, but you can also use glass wool or other insulating material.

Stuff the box completely to the top with insulation material.

The box is now sealed well with fabric tape/adhesive tape and additionally reinforced.

For better reflection, the box with the fan can now be additionally covered with reflective foil on the outside or, as the simpler variant, with aluminium foil.

Analogously, you can also choose the more solid and visually more beautiful variant and use a self-made box made of light plywood instead of cardboard. This wooden box is then also padded and stuffed with foam rubber and should also have a round hole on the lid and the bottom through which the flex-tubes go. Of course, you can also use a plastic box with a matching lid and the right size.

Further noise reduction of the exhaust air - DIY flex pipe insulate yourself

In order to further reduce the exhaust air noise that occurs in the flex pipe and make it inaudible, there is the possibility of purchasing special Insulated flex pipes that almost completely eliminate the noise. However, the same effect can be achieved by insulating an inexpensive uninsulated flex pipe yourself.

One takes an ordinary silver, grey or white Flex pipethat you want to use for your grow cabinet. Now wrap the entire length of the pipe with a thin foam rubber mat or a thin, multi-layered fabric. Do not press the pipe in. Fix the foam rubber mats to the flex tube several times with cable ties.

Then wrap the flex pipe covered with foam rubber/insulation mat with robust plastic foil and fix it firmly with adhesive tape or fabric tape several times.

Alternatively, with more craftsmanship, you can build a flex pipe channel out of plywood, sheetrock or acrylic sheets that runs in the room of the grow box. The pipe runs in this "flex pipe channel". The flex pipe channel is insulated on the inside with insulating material/foam rubber. If the flex pipe channel is laid well, is worked cleanly and is colour-matched, the whole thing is very discreet, quiet and fits in well with the home.