Solar Attic Fan

VERY SADLY DISAPPOINTED SO FAR! I brought this down from the US to Nicaragua where I have a small house. I actually spent a lot of money (and hassle) getting it here. I was thinking it would make a nice difference with the warm to very hot sun that rises around 8 am and falls around 6 pm. I'm giving this 2 stars because yes, when it DOES run it's quiet, it appears to be well made and sturdy, and my contractor said it was pretty easy to install. Also, I've only had this for 3 days and will revise my post later if I'm suddenly impressed. As is, even in bright sun, it's not even starting to turn until it reaches 85 degrees. Currently it's 85 and not turning and it's 3:30. I wish I would've chosen a brand without an internal thermostat (because it's definitely not set at 80). My contractor says it'd be difficult to disconnect the thermostat. At this point...HELP. Can someone recommend another solar panel that I can hook up to make it have more power? Something where I don't have to invest a lot more money (i.e. maybe $30 or under)? I'm not a techie, but with a second panel would it run at a lower temp or more consistently? Having it only sometimes work---in HOT Central America---is not acceptable. I wish I'd chosen something else.

I can’t really tell if it’s helping to cool my attic as I didn’t do a before and after test but the fan works. I put in another one I got locally at the same time, One installed one each end of my attic crawl spaces.They work year round and look ok. Roofing guy had szeri trouble with installation.Attic is much less stuffy under eves in hot weather. I’ve had a few more bugs and a Bird come in the attic since installing them....this due to the open nature of the fan. A small screen inserted below the opening could do the trick I surmise.

I really like these attic fans. I purchased two, a factor determined by the size of my home. I installed them two weeks ago. If you are reasonable practical the install should go easily for you. They have about 20 feet of cable with them so I was able to position the solar panels at the south facing gable end of my roof where they get the most light. I really like that feature. Had the solar panels been attached to the vent, as in some cases, they would have been facing east and would have missed the afternoon sun, which is when sun light power is are most needed. You have everything (except tools) to perform the install and the parts you get allow for a great deal of flexibility. These are sturdy units. They are made of steel and are not light or flimsy. Install for both, including panels, took about 3 hours. They lowered attic temperature by 10 - 12 degrees. This I can confirm with certainty because I have a temperature sensor in my attic.

I bought two of these to help vent my large barn we recently built in the back pasture. With the thermometer I have installed in the upper part of my barn, I have registered temp in excess of 120F!The instructions and ads on the box clearly state that these will run in the light, even when the sun isn't directly shining upon them.Well, that's just baloney. Where the solar panel lie, the sun shines until about 2pm. After which they are in the shade. Once these go into the shade, the fans stop and the heat builds up in the barn.Heck and I have almost 7 hours of daylight left in my day!So I'm going to hook up a spare solar panel I have lying about and see if I can keep these running all day.The other problem with these fans is that even in direct sun, the blades move slowly. These are not vigorous fans. The blades move and can pull air, but they are not running at a high rate. The cheap fans you get a Walsmart even in slow mo are faster.Bummer

This solar attic fan helps reduce the heat in our Southern California home. Without it, the air conditioning system comes on sooner and works longer. We now have two attic fans to reduce the heat issue and the price for the fan was less than adding solar panels to support our electrical system that connects to the grid to power our air conditioners. Frankly, it would easily be improved by painting the mushroom cover white to reflect the sun,but it will still help us defray the high cost of cooling. I have no changes to this report. The fan continues its service.

The temperature in my Garage is considerably lower than before.Pro's:It really works. (Temperature is dramatically lower than before the installation - and I had a "passive turbine" installed before.)It is quietIt turns off, when Temp is below 80 Degrees F.Con's:To ask for some kind of battery for after sunset would probably be price prohibitive, but I do it anyway.If the temp after sunset is still above 80 degrees, there is a "click - click - click" until the temperature is down.Even with two "con's" it still got 5 Stars, I just wanted to mention it.To me it is not a big deal, for someone else it might be.I have already recommended this to a friend, and I will continue to do so.

Easy to install, with clear directions. I especially appreciated the 25' power cord, which allows you to site the solar PV collector panel in the brightest possible location. I installed two fans on the back roof, but the collectors are placed front and back in order to maximize the potential of solar powered fan operation throughout the day.I since learned that the vent fan runs in daylight - not just direct sun - which is even better than I had hoped, and that it has a thermostat to prevent it from running in the winter when you want to maintain whatever heat there is in the attic. An added plus is their silent operation. I had worried that there would be annoying noise in the upstairs office but that has not been the case.