This is the most solid attic ventilator fan I've found. Very good construction! Still have to do some painting and add some trim wood. The challenge was to find a place to put it. The architect of the plantation was enamored with tray ceilings consequently there was a shortage of good places to install the fan. The living room had one of the largest flat areas but sure didn't want to have to listen to it running there! What I came up with was the scuttle hole that provided attic access from the master bedroom closet. In order not to lose access, this required mounting the fan and the ceiling shutters on hinged plates that would allow me to get up in there if access was needed (furnace/AC lives up there). The results were just as I hoped. With the fan in the master BR closet, I had to add a return air grill from the hallway into the closet so the fan could draw air from the rest of the house. This arrangement will also have the added benefit of preventing the old "closet smell" from a poorly ventilated clothes hanging space. The closet location makes the system as quiet as the existing furnace/AC blower. By the control switch plate, I placed 3 thermometers. An inside and outside plus one that reports attic temp. What I have found with our previous fan-equipped house, cooling works best with at least a 20 degree difference in inside/outside temp. In hot weather, this allows you, in the early morning, to get the interior and the attic quite cool, delaying until about 5PM the need to start the A/C. Here in the Reno area, even in the dead of summer with 100 degree heatwaves, the nighttime temps regularly fall into the 50's as the cold air slides down the mountains once the sun goes down. Now that I have data from the 3 thermometers to work with, next winter I'll see if heating costs can be lowered as well by clearing out the very cold attic air in the morning. While winter nights get really cold here, most of the winter the daytime temps will run in the 50s/60s unless we are in the grip of a winter storm. This is going to require adding a smaller, manually switched exhaust fan from the sidewall of the house into the attic to blow out the cold. I'm not so sure using it to get out heat will help equally in the summer. Time will tell. Eventually I see this leading to using a small Arduino computer to control everything based on 'rules' I'll come up with after observing how using the fans really works. Next winter's project will be cutting a piece of foam (and sewing a 'pillowcase' for it) to wedge in the space between the shutter and fan to block the cold air.

This fan seems to work well and doesn't make too much noise. It is reasonably quiet and doesn't vibrate much. However, a couple of things to note. This fan is listed as only drawing 150 watts which is incorrect. It draws 550W (4.6 amps) on high and 500W (4.1 amps) on low. The low speed is not much different than the high speed both in terms of watts and in terms of noise, both speeds are pretty similar.

Also, it comes with the blade tightened against the motor and you'll need a 5/16" 4 or 8 point socket to loosen it. Make sure you have one as there is no way to get a wrench on the nut and a normal 6 or 12 point socket won't fit on it. If they would simply put the fan on in the opposite direction at the factory, you wouldn't need a special tool. Fortunately, I happened to have 8 point sockets, but they aren't part of normal socket sets.

Those aren't major issues so I only subtracted one star for them. I would recommend the company install the fan with the hub out so people can remove the lock screw with a wrench. Also, a true low speed would have been nice, this is more like having high and medium-high speeds. I do like that it is made in the USA and has a 10 year warranty, that is something you don't see much.

I remember helping my dad install a whole house fan like this when I was a kid in Michigan. We had a small tri-level house and I remember the fan doing a great job in ventilating the entire house. So when I started thinking of ways to lower my AC bill, a whole house fan came immediately to mind. I looked around several places locally. Both Lowe's and HD had similar models but their CFMs were lower. And for whatever reason, the boxes looked like everyone passing by gave at least one good kick. Factoring in the military discount from my wife, the local options came out a little cheaper even after tax, but I decided to go with the higher CFM so I could draw cool air from my basement.

Shipping was fast, when it was actually shipped. After ordering, Amazon took about 5 days to "process" the order, during which time the price dropped $20. I tried to cancel and reorder, but by the time I got to it, Amazon already shipped it. And it came next day air Fed Ex. Wow, I can't imagine what that shipping must have cost Amazon...

First impression was generally good. The louver screen wasn't set up right; the louvers on one side were not attached to the plastic hinge/screw so I had to back those out and in again so they would open and close cleanly. But that was no big thing and the screen itself came undamaged (although it was not to remain that way...) The fan box itself seemed sturdy. Fan blades were free of damage. So far so good...

Install went fine. There really was only one place I could put the fan, right over the landing at the top of the stairs to the second floor. Other areas were either vaulted or had HVAC and other vents running and unsuitable. I did have to move a light and a smoke detector but those can literally go anywhere so I wasn't worried. One bonus: apparently the builder rough-framed an opening for a pull-down attic stairs at that spot. It was about 30" wide so that part was already framed out for me. I sectioned the opening to 32" on the other side and it was ready.

I laid down some foam edging strips from my kids' foam play mats. I guess it couldn't hurt. I can't compare to an install without one to compare the noise and vibration level but I am satisfied with what I have.

The rest of the install went fine. It's really not that hard except for the heat. I was sweating so much I was afraid I might short-out the motor. I found a headband and aside from looking like a 80's aerobics newbie, it did the trick. Pre-drilling will help a lot. I'd pre-drill holes on all sides and partially drive in screws as well. Do whatever you can to cut the time you spend in the attic.

Electrical connections are really simple. Just connect the ground first in the junction box. I connected all other wires first, and trying to screw in that little screw added 10 more minutes and about 5 lbs in lost water weight... And if you're losing as much water like I did, drink, drink and drink some more, while you're in the attic and after you're done. I didn't, and I was double-teamed by a 24 hour flu and dehydration 3 days after the install. I noticed I wasn't sweating very much, if at all, the next two days but since I was in an air-conditioned space the entire time, I didn't think much of it. Then I spent almost all of Sunday put in the sun and once I got home, I started running 103 degree fever with head and body aches. I don't remember ever feeling this bad and that includes when I was sick with appendicitis.

I didn't have any problem with the quality of switches. I did purchase a timer switch and will replace the included one with it. It has 15, 30, and 60 minute options as well as just on/off. Again, wiring was very straight-forward since I ran a new line.

Usually when I install something on my own like this, I get a little nervous the first time I throw the switch. I'm not a trained contractor or electrician or anything, so I tend to check and double check everything incessantly. But this install was so simple that I wasn't concerned at all. I knew that it was completely within my skill level and with all the checks and reviews, I was completely confident, confident enough to call my wife over before I threw the switch. And it worked! My wife was suitably impressed.

Installing the louvers was needlessly frustrating. I don't know why they don't use phillips screwheads but my screwdriver was slipping all over the place. In retrospect, I should have pre-drilled there too. My wife was holding up one end of the louver with a broomstick and with all the fumbling, her arm got tired and the stick slipped, putting a small dent in the center piece of the louvers. This was the only flaw in an otherwise perfect install.

Right now, the weather around here isn't really suited for the fan, except very early in the morning. I tried it a couple of times and I was very satisfied with the result. In about 15 minutes, it dropped the interior temperature from around 84-85F to 81-82 with the exterior temp being around 76-78. I couldn't keep it running for much longer since I had to get the kids ready and the outside temp was steadily rising anyway. I think we'll really start getting dividends in September and on as evening and morning temperatures drop much lower.

All in all, very satisfied with the product.

But drink, seriously. Drink water.

Shipped great and arrived perfect. Includes the wall mounted paddle switches too. Unit came fully assembled. Install was easy too....until the fan wouldn't operate. Turns out, the fan blades are installed on the unit not allowing it to operate. Ya, right out of the box it doesn't work. The instructions tell you to remove the fan blades for the wiring, but I didn't need to since this was a replacement fan and all I needed to do was swap it out from below. Took about 15 minutes checking the wiring, etc., before I figured out the fan blades were hitting the motor and couldn't spin.

So, pulled the fan back out to adjust the fan blades. Again, thought this would be a 10 minute fix. Nope! The set screw is 8mm and is square, not hex. And where this is placed on the unit you can't get a wrench in there because the set screw sits UNDER the blades. Talk about painful to loosen, it was only torqued on there at about 50 ftlbs too. Took longer to get the fan blades adjusted than it did to install the fan TWICE!

C'mon. To change the design and put the set screw on top of the blades, not sandwiched in between the blades and the motor is just common sense. And if that is just too difficult, then at least change the bolt head to a hex, so you can use a socket wrench to loosen it. It would also be helpful to put a sticker on the blades letting the installer know the blades have to be adjusted before the fan is operational.

Good fan, but lousy instructions and terrible design placement of the set screw.

Louvres were packed well and arrived in full working order. Motor was mounted upside down for shipping. Motor mount was bent because of the way it was bolted inverted, this was easily fixed. The box was externally damaged and taped but this damage did not translate to the fan. All bolts/screws save the motor mount were tight. All required parts were present. The included two switch set up is goofy - on/off switch and then high/low switch. I bought a 1-2-4-8 hour time and high-off-low switch. (Like others said the timer is big, get a 2.5 inch depth electrical box.). These fans require minimum net free exhaust in the attic to minimize back pressure load on the motor - (I read somewhere that 40 feet of continuous ridge venting equals about 20 square feet of net free exhaust - the math seems about right, we had a new roof put on a few years ago and they put that in - since I was in our 89 year old attic, I replace both 89 year old gable vents as well - nasty business that - rotten wood, birds nests, etc... ) I installed the fan with the help of my extraordinarily strong son (good thing to have with this project!) What would have been nice is if the cardboard protecting the louvres was scaled as a template for cutting the ceiling (minor point.) I was concerned about vibration noted by other reviewers. Therefore I built a 2x6 frame about 1 inch wider than the fan base. I then nailed 2x2 inside the frame about 2.5 inches from the top. I purchased 1 inch rubber pipe insulation, placed the insulation on the fan frame and the placed the fan frame with attached rubber pipe insulation into the 2x6 frame. The fan has no direct contact with the wood frame - is just rests on the rubber pipe insulation, resting on the 2x2's, held in place by the 2x6's. I put several layers of thin foam insulation (sill plate insulation) between the 2x6 frame and ceiling joists, insulating any vibration between that and the ceiling. I finished it this morning, there is no vibration, in fact the fan is quieter than I expected. - I have been meaning to do this project for 20 years...I should have done it 20 years ago. If you are thinking about doing it, do it, you will be very happy with the result.