Cool Attic CX2500 Gable Mount Power Attic Ventilator with 3.0-Amp 60-Hz Motor and 14-Inch Blade

I originally purchased a Broan 35316 1600 CFM Gable Mount Powered Attic Ventilator through Amazon around 5 years ago, and it wore out after a little over 4 years (it's hot a LOT here in central Florida). At first, I thought about replacing the old Broan with a new one, but figured that, at a pro-rated cost of about $30 per year ($120 cost divided by 4 years), it might be more expensive than an alternative - if i could find one that claimed to last as long and move as much air as the Broan. Well, the Ventamatic CX2500 Power Attic Gable Mount Ventilator moves as much air as the Broan, got good reviews, is $40 cheaper, and has a lifetime warranty - plus it should use about half as much electricity. Thus the cost to operate and own it should be substantially less than the Broan. So, I ordered it and installed it where I had installed the Broan 5 years ago. The installation was not as easy as I had hoped because of the same problem that other reviewers have described about the extremely close tolerances of the bolts which are provided vis a vis the fan blades, but I found that I had a couple of bolts with shallower heads that I could use instead of those provided. It definitely seems to be moving as much air (therefore reducing the temperature in the attic as much) as the Broan had - with one significant advantage I hadn't really expected: it is a LOT less noisy, than the Broan, which I had tried to dampen, but never successfully. Before purchasing, I also called the manufacturer of the Ventamatic to check on the validity and mechanics of the lifetime warranty. The gentleman I spoke with seemed very knowledgeable, and explained how the warranty would work if this fan wore out like my Broan had after just 4 years (or at any time, for that matter). It seems foolproof, as long as they are still in business if/when it might cease to work. Save the receipt, call them for return authorization, send back just the motor, and they will replace it. Sounds too good to be true, but I'll let you know how it works out if/when anything comes up.

Works great. My bedroom temperature dropped by 2 degrees after 1 day of use. Clearly, my attic ventilation needed some powered help, and this did the trick. Pros: - Uses only 2.1 amps, which is a lower power draw than it's lower capacity siblings. Given my cost of $0.0995/kwh @ 12 hrs/day x 90 days a year (I am over-estimating usage here), this only costs about $20 a year to run. It also means that I could be saving $5-$10 a year over the higher amp models, so the upgrade will eventually pay for itself. - Easy enough to install. - Made "well enough". It's not rock solid, but given the choice, I would not pay more for higher build quality. It arrived double boxed, so nothing was bent. Once it's mounted, it's solid and sturdy. - Much nicer than what I saw in the big home centers, for less money. Cons: - I would have preferred a longer thermostat cable. As it is, there isn't really even an extra 2 inches. If your gable vent is 6 or 8 feet off of the floor of your attic, you will want to extend the cable so the temperature can be more easily adjusted. Neutral Comments: - There is no humidistat. You can buy a separate one if you need it, but I didn't. - It makes noise. I'm not going to call it "noisy", because I don't think it's louder than other options, but it just needs to be known. I can hear a hum in my bedroom (directly below the fan), but not in other rooms. I can also hear it while outside my house on the side that has the fan, but again, it's not distracting. Installation: - CX2500, with included mounting hardware - 2 ft x 2 ft 3/4" plywood square - Enough 2" x 2" pine boards to act as a continuous spacer between the plywood and the frame of the gable. This holds the fan another 1.5" or so away from the gable shutter. It's not necessary, but I figured being set back a bit would give me extra flexibility with how far I mounted the fan into the plywood hole. - 4 of the following: 1.5" bolts with the correct nuts and lock washers, 1" metal fender washers, 1/2" metal washers, 1" rubber washers, and rubber spacers. The rubber spacers were actually made for popping into a sheet metal hole to protect wires, so they are about 1/4" thick. - Wire, and anything else you need to hook up the electricity. I used the mounting hardware above so the mounts would be somewhat isolated from the plywood. The thicker rubber spacer sits between the fan L bracket and the plywood, acting as a cushion. The bolt + washer slides through, and on the back I use the big rubber washer, big metal washer, and nut/locking washer. I don't know how necessary it was, but it cost me $5 at Lowes and certainly won't hurt with reducing vibrations. If I installed a bunch of these, I might do a side-by-side comparison, but I did not want to spend any more time in my attic than I had to. I would also recommend that you do as much as possible outside of your attic. I had everything measured exactly, so I could do most of the work in my garage. I even pre-drilled my mounting holes and sunk the screws half way. This meant I didn't drop screws into 12" of attic insulation, or try to start a screw while holding up the rather heavy assembly.

Received unit in sturdy packaging. In testing blades turning by hand, blades were hitting seam of housing where it was riveted. I have a rectangular gable vent. I first cut a 24x24 square 3/4 plywood. I cut out a rectangular area for the vent. I then screwed this to existing studs surrounding the vent. Then cut 2x4's and screwed these to the outside perimeter of the plywood. I added another layer of 2x4's on top of the existing 2x4's to build some depth. Then cut another 24x24 sheet of plywood, traced the housing and cut a circular opening. I then mounted this sheet to the mounted 2x4's. At this point I then mounted fan with mounts located at 1,5,8,11 o'clock positions. Under mounts used rubber weather stripping to absorb vibration. I then mounted the van to the plywood. After mounting fan to plywood I still had blades hitting side of housing as well as one bolt (I changed out the bolts for lower profile heads). I have seen others bend the blades to try and clear the housing, this is very bad since it will increase vibration due to being out of balance. The way I tackled this problem was to purchase fender washers from Lowes. The fan has three mount arms that connect the motor to the housing. Where the fan hits the housing, I removed the screw from the closest mount. I then inserted two fender washers between the housing and the mount arm. This re positioned the motor/fan unit. I then tightened the screw back down for this mount. In this way I was able to get the motor/fan blades centered in the housing without trying to bend the housing, etc. I purchased the thermostat/humidistat unit for this fan. During the winter, when temps get extremely cold, I have a problem with ice forming in the soffits. Operating the fan in the winter should eliminate the problem. With fan running, I can barely hear it from inside the house - you have to listen very carefully to pick up on it running. Outside it can not be heard either. I also closed off a attic vent that was in the roof that was very close to this fan to prevent it from pulling air from the outside and not getting the air circulation I want from the attic. fyi...lowes sells wood screws with hex heads that come with a bit. These grab very well and allow you to maintain grip to the head of the screw when using them. With these screws, if your not careful, you can pull the screw through the 2x4 completely. I recommend using these types of screws. The standard wood screws will make your life miserable and the heads will strip quite easily. Yesterday while installing this in the attic temps were 140 plus in attic. Today same time temps are around 100 degrees. So fan is working quite well and I am very happy. Already notice house is cooler and a/c is not working as hard to keep it cool. Quite a feat considering how hot it gets in Austin, TX Cheers, Bob

Are you wondering the difference between this model and the one that cost a little less (i.e. cx1600/1500 etc)? It is the motor and the Amperage that the motors draw. This draws about 1/2, so it will pay the difference back (about $20) in one hot month because it will draw less electricity, yet it moves more air. (Plus this has a limited lifetime warranty) Read the specs of each and decide for yourself. I install this by myself in about 2 hours. That's creating a mount, framing, and everything else. (Plus a few extras while I was up there.) I started at about 8am and was done just in time for the attic to start heating up. Between the time I went to the basement to turn the unit on and came back up (about 1-2 minutes) I was already able to feel the difference. I live in an old house, no AC, and in an area where a lot of homes don't have AC as it isn't much use except for about 6 weeks out of the year. However, there are times when you wish you had a little extra something to cool you down. Well, I can say this did the job! It has been a hot week, and today was no exception. However, because of the fan, we were much cooler in the house because the fan moved all of the hot air in the attic to the outside. This was truly a great purchase for the price. You won't be disappointed. IMO it is well constructed for the purpose (residential). Then installing, think logically about the placement of the mounts (you'll see what I mean when you mount it). I kept all bolts away from the blade unlike other reviews of this and similar products. This is easy to do if you look carefully, read the directions, and plan a bit. I might suggest buying a tube of caulk and place it between the mount rig and the 2x4 frame. This will eliminate those little places the exhaust escapes back into the attic.

I thoroughly researched attic gable vent fans and chose the Ventmatic CX2500. It is low amperage so it costs less to operate. It arrived safely and intact. I attached it to the plywood with good sized carriage bolts and nuts, and I screwed the plywood into the frame of the gable with many screws, more than a contractor might use. It is very quiet, but mainly because it cannot vibrate because of my installation. Installation is simple so there is a noteable lack of instructions. However, if you're handy you don't need instructions. Just make sure it is solidly installed so it will operate quietly without vibration. I installed it over the garage, but it is very close to the front door and the living room. I expected to hear it from the living room, but it is so quiet I can't hear it from the inside of the house. Strengths: Powerful fan (The 2500 stands for cubic feet per minute, which is what my fairly large attic required). Effective thermostat included. Two neighbors want me to install the same model attic gable vent fan in their homes because we have the same model home and the interior of my home is already cooler than theirs, and summer hasn't even kicked in yet. Weakness: The motor is attached to the housing with metal screws. This is a vibration weakness. I swapped out their screws with small nuts and bolts with self-locking washers. I highly recommend this attic gable vent fan. Properly built in Texas.

(1) The electrical grounding of the fan improved after I took Ventamatic's advice to remove all power to the fan, unscrew the flexible metal conduit and SCRAPE SOME PAINT OFF THE SMALL TUBE THAT EXITS THE MOTOR HOUSING. There's no ground wire coming from the fan, so this is your protective ground. After this three-minute task, the four motor bolts and shroud had electrical continuity with the thermostat grounding screw. (2) Amazon is lumping reviews for fan models together. CX2500, lifetime warranty. CX1600, 2-year warranty. (3) The CX2500 uses about half the electricity of the CX1600! My gable-mounted CX2500 uses just 202 Watts--that's 2.1 Amps. Readings come from a P3 International Kill-A-Watt meter. The "PSC motor" must be special because the blades and housing look and sound pretty conventional. I thought that was low since my old fans were 2.7 and 4.0 amps, but I did see a 1.9 Amp replacement motor at a home center--intended for a smaller fan, I think. (4) At 10 cents per kWh, running 5 hours per summer day, 90 days each year, you save the 25 dollar price difference between a CX2500 and CX1600 in less than 3 summers. If the fan can lower your A/C bill (building scientists are sceptical), setting the thermostat a little lower should help, with diminishing returns. (4) For environmentalists with cash, see the amazing sub-65-Watt Quiet Cool AFG ES-1500 fan or solar fans. (5) 1650 CFM is the equivalent of 205 gallon jugs of air being sucked out of your attic every second. Gaps around ceiling lights, bathroom fan grates, the attic access hatch, vent pipes, plumbing runs and the chimney might mean you're air conditioning your attic, plus... (6) ...there are warnings on the Internet about fan suction and carbon monoxide from hot water heaters/furnaces and concerns about increasing radon infiltration. (7) Please reread #1--PROTECTIVE GROUND SAVES LIVES. If you check for continuity, would you please post a comment about what you see?

I followed the advice of others on here, made a 2'x2' board and cut a hole using a jigsaw for the fan. I used weatherstripping under the braces for the mount to the board to minimize vibration sounds. It's installed above the living room/dining room section of my house so the noise isn't a concern. You can't hear it at all from the bedroom side of the house (1500 sq ft ranch style house). Directly under it in the living room, you can hear the fan when it's running. I would say the noise sounds like a regular box fan operating on the other side of a wall. It's nothing excessive. Very minimal vibration but I did use weatherstripping under the mounts. I hooked the wiring up to an existing junction box in my attic and I ran that down to a wall switch with timer. It uses about 250w. The fan comes with a thermostat too. Combined with the timer, it'll kick on anytime from 10am-8pm when the attic reaches 90 degrees. Heat in my attic is in layers - hottest at the very top, coolest next to the ceiling - so consider this when mounting the thermostat. As for results - I should have done this years ago. I used to come home on a sunny southern california day to a house hotter than outside, but no more. The inside stays cooler than the outside - not by anything dramatic, but better than coming home to a hot house. It's also cut back on my AC needs. I would absolutely recommend this for anyone trying to address heat problems without spending a ton of money.

I live in central Texas where seeing temperatures over 100 degrees is normal. My house is around 1400 sq ft and built in the 1960s. The attic gets really hot in the summer, as to be expected. I don't really have any temps recorded inside the attic but with this fan, I did feel a noticeable difference. This fan does move the air out really well and it's worked for a solid year now with no issues. The sound can be described as a very faint humming sound. Not a bad sound, in fact, may even help people sleep. The thing with these fans is that you really need to have a decently sealed up attic or it could just be sucking in the air inside your home into it. This fan also does draw some decent wattage, it states 540w. In Texas, let's say the fan runs maybe 10 hours a day due to the heat. That's 5.4KW a day. Multiply that by 30 and you're seeing around 162 KW a month. This is the reason why I decided to take it out of my attic, it's putting me above the 2000KW mark on my electric bill, which causes my plan to shoot up. (Dirty electric companies, I know.) For my personal experience, the cost did not outweigh the benefit and that is only due to how my attic is set up. This fan has done everything is was supposed to, that's why I still gave it 5 stars.

Fonctionne tel qu'il devrait

installer dans grenier du garage et va tres bien

The fan motor lasted 9 months and it says "limited lifetime warranty" on Amazons web page. It also shows in my purchase history "Product support and return window closed" after 4 months. Really!!!!. Don't waste your money. Just a note...Amazon did finally take care of me on this after I spent half an hour on the phone with a representative. At least they are good that way.