Rand Solar Powered Attic Fan-30 Watt-w Roof Top Ventilator with Thermostat

I often saw people claimed that a vent could reduce the attic temperature by 20 degrees. Since ambient weather conditions have so much to do with the temperature in an attic, comparison is just not feasible. If you are a general consumer, you cannot reliably claim that.This vent is built with much better material than the ones you will find from Home Depot. It looks and feels much sturdier and stiffer. However, this does not mean it has a better quality.1) My vent came not working. I checked online manual which said the reason was mostly due to poor connections. I (pretty handy myself) sand the connection parts and put them back. It worked. However, this was a bad sign: Even though the manufacturer was willing to use good sheet metal material, it didn't bother to use better connectors, which is very important in the outdoor application. How could you guarantee it would work on the roof year after year? Unfortunately, I have a steep roof and cannot examine and repair it by myself.2) The bad design does not stop there: the fan blade vibrates when it was turned on. It was not dynamically balanced. With my mechanical engineering background, I was able to recenter the blade with respect to the shaft and reduced the vibration to minimum. However, it reflected another design flaw: the shaft does not have a shoulder design for blade centering purpose. Therefore, the blade can easily shift after long time of operation, creates vibration again.3) To make things worse, the heavy motor (and all the fan assembly) is mounted on three pieces of rather long counter lever. The centric force from the unbalanced fan blade can easily create vibration which will further loose the fasteners of the motor assembly.4) As I tried to tighten the fasteners of the motor to the mounting frame (the counter levers), I found the thread is cut on the counter lever which is made out of soft aluminum. (It should use bolt and nut design and use lock-bolts to avoid loosening). The bolt could easily cut the thread if you tight the bolt too hard. I am afraid I already cut one thread and I didn't want to tight the other two bolts too tight (it could loose easily then).Now, the vent is on the tall roof for almost a year. I am not sure if it is still working since I couldn't climb up the steep roof to check it myself.Yes, this product is made in China, which doesn't bother me. The Chinese can make decent products. What bothers me is that it is probably designed in China. They are still not up to that kind of tasks.

Ordered this fan to be waiting for me upon return from Afghanistan a few weeks after. Packaging was minimal and could hear loose hardware rolling in the box. There was a kink in the sheet metal shroud also when I pulled it out of the box.When I took it out it was all there but a few of the bolts had loosened completely and the fell out of the fan. They apparently were to hold the whole thing together. The entire fan had been twisted and the fan was making contact with mthe metal screen and shroud. So basically I had to disassemble and then reassemble the entire fan shroud and screen. The Sheet metal construction allowed me to get everything back into alignment. I found a lot of hardware loose, but I normally check for that anyway.Installation is simple and the documentation tells you to look on youtube. There are no pre-drilled holes in the flasinhg so I had to drill it because I wanted it anchored to the roof. No long screws of any kind to do that were provided.The fan immediately turned on in full sunlight which was refreshing. It's fairly quiet. The only noise seemed to be the fan not being exactly balanced. I guess I'll have to trust the temperature switching to work later.I have noticed a difference in the house. The A/C is able to bring the temp inside down another 6 degrees cooler on the second floor. A few weeks later I bought a similar fan from Home Depot for a different portion of my house. It isn't rated to the sam CFM. So I'll be waiting to see if it works as well for a hundred dollars less.

this fan comes with no owner's manual, no installation instructions, no warrantee info. the fan is hung from the top shroud precariously and wobbles. if it didn't cost $60. each way to ship I wouild have returned it. I would lose $120. to return it. This unit is designed poorly and has a cheapo inefficient fan blade and assembly. I'm still not sure if I want to cut a hole in my new roof to install this. would have been much better off with a Fan-Attic.The seller stated that they would send me a new fan blade since the one that came with it is bent and wobbles the motor assembly, so I removed it today and noticed that there is already rust on the bolts that hold the solar panel on. This has only been outside in my picnic table for a week. How could they not use stainless steel for for the hardware on an item that gets installed on a roof? I also noticed that the flashing only extends about 3" at the narrowest point.Update, I installed the new blade and it still wobbles. I should have eaten the $120 and returned it. Get a FAN-ATTIC. It comes with a 10+ year warrantee.

I installed this a few days ago - installation, including cutting the new hole and adding a few new shingles to ensure a water tight install took less than two hours. We've had awful problems with the heat coming down from the attic of our 100 year old home and making our second floor unusable. Both of our offices are on the second floor and we work from home, so living in the swamp that is Washington, DC - we often work from the living room in the summer.The first day after installing this, the temperature on our second floor dropped by ten degrees. The attic is a little under 900 sq. ft. and had awful insulation - with some areas having none at all. Today we installed 21 inches of AttiCat blown-in fiberglass insulation. Between the two, I expect our electric bill will drop quickly and out second floor will be as comfortable, if not more than our first.This is working so well, I am considering adding one to the bump out on the back of the house that has an inaccessible attic space.