Ventamatic CX1500 Power Gable Ventilator Fan
by Ventamatic Ltd
|
List Price: Our Price: $41.62 You Save: $32.38 (44%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Tools See more product details |
|---|
Tools and Hardware Reviews of Ventamatic CX1500 Power Gable Ventilator Fan
Customer Review: Good Quality, Effective Fan, but you will hear it
Summary: 4 Stars
I have had this attic fan in and working for about one month now. Overall, I would say it is a good quality fan that works well. I live in Southern California and do not have AC. I got this fan because my master bedroom faces West and on a warm day the bedroom gets really hot in the afternoon (80-85F) and stays hot (upper 70's) well past bedtime. I have the fan set to come on when the attic is 95F, and shut off when the attic cools to about 80F. So far it comes on early afternoon and shuts off early evening.
We had a record cool July so it has been hard to say if this fan has helped. When we had a couple of hot days around 90-95F, the bedroom still got over 80F. But it seemed to cool off faster in the evening. So I think the fan helped get the retained heat out of the attic quicker, thus allowing the master bedroom to cool faster. Based on this, I am very happy I put this in.
Installation was not bad. It's just a pain getting in the attic and getting everything set up to install the fan. The gable vent in my attic was undersized, so I had to rip that out and put in a larger one. That was probably the hardest thing to do. The installation of the fan was not bad. I had to mount one 2x4 under the fan to hold it at the correct height, and I had to bend one mounting bracket to make it a little smaller to fit in the gable space I was working with. Those were the only modifications that I had to do. But I had inspected my attic closely before hand, measured everything, and was sure what I had to do before I even ordered the fan.
The instructions advise making a frame and using a cutout of masonite or plywood around the fan. I did not do that. The fan fit perfectly between two studs, the slanted roof frame, and the 2x4 I installed underneath the fan to hold it. Then I filled in the space around the fan housing and the studs and building wall gaps with expanding foam. So far, no problems with the installation.
I rate this fan 4 out of 5. The only issue is you will definitely hear the fan run. The fan is mounted above my cathedral ceiling, just above one window in my master bedroom. You can hear it in the bedroom, especially if the window is open, but I do not find the noise to be objectionable like some of the other reviewers. It is not a quiet fan, but it does do the job, and is a good value.
Customer Review: Works great, a few things to know
Summary: 5 Stars
I would recommend this fan, it works great and is an unbeatable price, but I had a few minor issues. The wires from the motor needed to be connected to the thermostat but the thermostat cover is held in place with a one way screw. Not sure if that's the right name but the slot in the screw head doesn't allow you to back it out with a screwdriver, so just use pliers to grasp and turn it. Once you get it off it's just black (hot), white (neutral) and ground wires.
The other issue I had was clearance between the fan blade tip and the bolt heads for the L shaped connection brackets. The fan shroud wasn't perfectly round (possibly bent in shipping) so when the blades turned they hit one of the bolt heads. The fan blade corners are cut off so as to miss them but no amount of adjusting could fix it. I couldn't understand why they would have the bolts located there in the first place. I also noticed when the L shaped brackets are attached as shown in the picture (short part to fan shroud, long part to the wall) the fan wobbled when on. I think this was because the mounts that hold the motor to the shroud are at the back while the mounts that hold the fan to the wall are in the front. So to solve both problems I turned the L brackets around so the short part was on the wall and the long part was bolted to the back of the shroud, closer to the motor mounts and away from the fan blades. Problems solved. If my description doesn't make sense just look at the way the brackets are attached to the fans in the pictures for the CX 1500 vs. the CX 2500. Mount it like they show for the CX 2500.
A few other suggestions mentioned in previous reviewers I did and recommend; wire in a switch to control power to the fan so you can turn it off if you want - I located mine in the garage. The other was to use a gasket between the fan and the wall to isolate the vibrations. I used foam weather stripping they sell at every hardware store. I don't have before and after comparisons but the fan isn't very noticeable when running.
I think this fan is well worth the money and you shouldn't hesitate to buy this one.
Customer Review: A Good Fan for the Money.
Summary: 4 Stars
I shopped around for quite a while for an attic fan, before deciding to purchase the Ventamatic CX1500 from Amazon. My decision to purchase this particular ventilator fan was based on the high number of positive reviews it received on Amazon, coupled with the low price. The fan arrived very quickly and was very easy to install. Unfortunately, the fan did not come with any mounting hardware. I ended up buying some rubber mounting isolators and wood screws from the local hardware store, in order to mount the fan. The reason I bought the rubber isolators is because the last attic fan I bought from Home Depot was very noisy and the vibrations could be felt on the inner wall of the house where the fan was mounted to the gable. Although this fan is noisy, it doesn't appear to have a vibration problem like my old fan, or the rubber isolators helped to eliminate the vibration issue altogether. As I mentioned, this fan is noisy and I really wish that I could control the speed of the fan. This might help to resolve some of the noise, by deceasing the speed of the fan. More than likely, I will order some fire retardant acoustic foam to wrap around the fan, in order to help decease some of the noise. The thermostat function is a nice feature, which automatically turns on and off the fan. Overall, I gave this product 4 stars primarily due to the noise and the inability to control the fan speed. In my opinion, it's a good fan for the money.Customer Review: Better then you can find in Home Depot or Lowe's!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've shopped for an attic fan for a while and almost got one from Home Depot. Good thing I didn't. This one is better built and has better performance thanks for an overall depth of the ventilator which allows it to suck for air then slim vent sold in HD and Lowe's I've seen. The price is also much lower from Amazon ;-).
The ventilator is well made overall. It took me a bit of time to build a wooden cage as specified in instructions using 2x4s. The case fits almost perfectly over an attic's gabble and keeps the ventilator in close contact with a wall not allowing any air backflow. Thermostat operates as specified though it is a bit off +/- 10F so you'd better check the attic temperature with an infrared thermometer and adjust settings gradually until desired temperature is kept steady by the ventilator. Some review are complaining about some noise but I think those people don't have a good ceiling insulation. Sure it is noisy in the attic when the vent operates but the noise level is minimal to none inside a house.
The only complain I have so far is that the ventilator L-shaped bracket were off by 1 inch for a center and I had to re-drill mounts to center is in the built cage. Otherwise -- highly recommended. I'm going to get another one to put on the other side of my attic (I have a very long attic).
Customer Review: It's not bad, if you have ear plugs =)
Summary: 3 Stars
I expected some noise. We read reviews for this and other Gable Fans and the overall opinion was the vibration could be a problem, if just mounted per instructions - so we did a ton of research and did a lot of extra steps to ensure a reduction in vibration noise - the end result is, if this is a reduction, I'd hate to hear what it sounded like without all the plastic/foam washers and rubber mounting grommets. We built a sturdy box, using gaskets to absorb noise/vibration - we mounted the fan to the box using rubber washers and grommets to reduce noise/vibration then we mounted the box to the gable using rubber washers - but it still sounds like I have a gasoline generator running in my attic, which is unacceptable.
Maybe we got a bad unit? Who knows. It seems to work ok with regards to ventilation - as far as we can tell. We've not had any hot days yet this year, so it hasn't really been tested - but we wanted to install it before it go to warm, so we'll wait to see how it actually functions.
If the unit vents well, then it might be an ok trade off for half a year - if not, we'll shut it down and trash it.
Be prepared for the noise...it's got plenty of that :)