Despite being a large fan (1600 cubic metres per hour) the unit is very quite as expected. I could not say it is silent as the name suggests however, compared to our old one it goes close. As an example of how efficiently it works, I was cooking a large amount of bacon the other day and standing right next to the hotplate with the fan going at a medium speed I couldn't smell the bacon cooking!! We are very happy with both the purchase and the price we got it for from The Good Guys.