Cool Attic CX1500 Gable Mount Power Attic Ventilator with 2.6-Amp 60-Hz Motor and 14-Inch Blade

It seems like most of the other reviews are pretty fair and accurate. I installed the fan without incident, and it worked fine. I can hear it turning on and off through the day, so the temp setting is working correctly. I haven't taken any precise measurements to be able to say how big a difference it's making, but it turns off and on through the day with it set to 100. In Florida in August that would tell me it's working pretty well! When I went up to check on it and make sure I didn't have any water stains from leaks, it was ALOT cooler than when I was installing it. It is true that the blades hit the housing pretty easily. The housing is just a steel tube, so it makes sense there is a bit of flex. When you mount it, take care to pull it into a shape that allows clearance all around. It's not that hard to do. The mounting brackets are slotted, so it's very easy to attach it loosely then make adjustments as needed. I don't find it loud at all. Maybe folks that are in a part of the country that doesn't require central A/C would not be used to the noise? Not sure! I can hear it running, but it's not even half as loud as my A/C's air handler when it's on, so I think it's reasonably quiet. That being said, it's not a precision balanced motor, so there definitely is some noise and vibration, I just think it's perfectly acceptable and within reason. If this lasts a while, then I'll be very pleased. I'm giving it 4 stars out of 5 because I think there is enough vibration that it won't last more than a year or two. (and I don't look forward to going into the attic to replace it!) If it proves me wrong, I'll raise it to 5 stars. Follow up 12/26/2012: Running just fine. No problems at all. Follow up 1/27/2015: Still running fine!

UPDATE 2023: Coming up on my 10th year of flawless operation so I bumped my rating from 4 to 5 stars. The price is currently nearly double what I paid back in 2013 but would still buy again if needed. Original 2013 review: I just needed a basic low capacity fan to replace the orig that finally died after 30 yrs and this seems to be pretty good for about 50 bucks. It is a bit loud but if you isolate the fan or the board you're likely mounting it on it decreases dramatically. Even though I don't notice it in the house you can still hear it outside, but since it only turns on during the day that isn't a problem for me. I only gave 4 stars but it can earn that 5th star by not failing for at least several years. After two weeks of use it turns on/off as expected and its certainly a lot cooler in that attic space and in the garage underneath it. Installation was straightforward and I didn't have a problem with the provided bolts as others have. If you look at the stock photo you will see the mounting tabs with the short side bolted to the lower holes right where the blades are. I mounted mine with the long part of the mounting tabs up the side of the fan and used the upper holes above the fan blades. The fan is just as sturdy and, frankly, the tabs would've extended beyond my mounting board had I done it like in the photo. To fit the existing gable opening my mounting board (1" scrap plywood) needed to be 26" x 26" but I chose to cut two 26" x 13" boards. I placed the fan over them butted together, traced the hole, then clamped the two halves together and cut a single half circle with a jig saw. The halves lined up perfectly and handling a half board at a time was easier than trying to mount a single large board. While we rarely access the area where this fan is I am concerned about not having a guard over the inside/intake side and so I'll be looking to build an inexpensive solution (something like ASIN: B00B5CNCV6) to provide that extra safety. Due to my other hobbies I usually have plenty misc nuts/bolts/wire/wood/etc around and they came in handy for this task. You will need (at minimum) small wire nuts, mounting screws for the thermostat box, screws to attach the fan to the mounting board, and screws to hang the mounting board. And don't forget to consider how you may want to isolate the unit. That could be as simple as weather stripping or purchase mounting isolators. You can always go back later to modify/improve the isolation as long as you have easy access to the unit as I do. I also chose to run a new wire from the junction box to the fan location and put an on/off switch by the entrance to the area to easily override the fan when needed.

I bought this fan because my two story house has 40 year old cellulose attic insulation which is no longer viable. In many areas it is only 1" thick, and at most 4" thick. As a result, the attic heat radiates into my upper story living area very easily. While it has made a big difference and my home central A/C unit now has to work a lot less (almost 50% less). My electric bill this summer is actually 20% less than last year. I am also running an 18k btu window A/C unit as the temps are in the 90's and 100's, and my bill is still lower than last year when I did not have the window unit and my central A/C was running 24/7. By comparison, now my central A/C turns on around 2pm to 4pm in the afternoon and then off around midnight (I have it programmed to drop down to 70 degrees at 11pm, so this is expected). My inside temps used to hover near 80 degrees (or more) on nominally warm days (80's to low 90's) and my A/C would run 24/7. Now I have my thermostat set for 74 degrees and it maintains easily. My only complaint is that the fan pulls the hot air predominantly from one end of the house - the living/dining/kitchen side. On the other end of my house are our three bedrooms. Unfortunately those rooms are noticeably much warmer as heat radiates through the ceiling sheetrock. I purchased this fan and chose the 1500 model, recommended for my 1200 sq ft attic. The issue here is that my house has a soffit on two sides of the home, where the "A" frame roof comes down to the level of the ceiling. The soffit is of course ventilated. As a result, the fan pulls the air from the nearest soffit vents, and the vents on the far end of the house really are not affected as the heat being generated by the sun is greater than the amount of air being removed from the attic. I can tell because one of our bathroom fans is not closed off from the attic, and I can feel hot air from the attic being pumped in. Also, if you reach your hand towards the ceiling you can feel the heat from the attic near the ceiling. Knowing how it performs now I wish I had bought the 2500 unit. Instead, I am going to install a second fan on the other end of the house. With all things considered, I think the second fan will equal out the amount of air being removed, and do so equally on both ends of the house. The fan is also nearly silent inside the house, neither I nor my wife can hear it unless we are really listening for it. Installing this was cheap. I purchased a 3' x 3' piece of plywood from a local hardware store, a length of 2x4 wood, eight 90 degree brackets, and a handful of screws for the brackets and wood. I hired an electrician to put this in and it only took him a little more than an hour, which cost me $100. He cut the hole in the gable, made a "box" with the 2x4 and brackets, placed the plywood over the box, cut the hole for the fan, and installed everything. It creates an air-tight seal from the attic through the gable. When I am outside, I can smell the attic air from the ground, which is easily 20 feet away, so the fan is pumping a lot of air out. This will pay for itself in just a few months, and I recommend it to anyone who has a house where the A/C is not performing as expected.

I found this power gable vent fan on Amazon for the best price. It was very easy to install. I bought a 24" square piece of plywood at Home Depot and also ordered sound isolation washers to mount the fan to the plywood. I built a 22 1/2" frame with 2x4's to mount over the Gable vent, this frame allows the fan to stand about 2" from the vent and not touch the vent. I cut a hole in the plywood to match the diameter of the fan housing. Then with 1/4" x 2" bolts, washers and lock washers mounted the fan to the plywood. The sound isolation washers are between the plywood and the metal mounting brackets on the fan. I assembled all this in my basement and mounted the Thermostat box to the plywood as well. I mounted the 2x4 frame (using 3" drywall screws") to existing supports in attic, basically framing the existing gable vent. then I mounted the plywood/fan assembly to the frame. I ran an electrical line to a junction box that already existed in the attic. Additional materials that are needed: one 8' 2x4 for framing, one 24" square 1/2" plywood, 8 isolation washers, four 1/4" x 2" long bolts with nuts, 8 washers, 4 lock washers, 50' of electrical wire, wire restraint for the thermostat box. It's cold in Michigan so I have no way to test my installation until the attic heats up. My only concern is the instructions with the fan says to oil the motor occasionally and that there are ports on each side of the motor to add oil. There are a lot of holes in the motor housing but nothing that looks like a "port" and nothing is labeled. I will update when the weather gets warmer which seems like never... Updates 10/23/2013 well we survived a very hot summer and the fan works great I would say it helped reduce our cooling bill by 19% which is huge, so I am bumping my rating to 5 stars. You do need to be handy to install this thing but it is well worth it in my book.

So let me start by saying I had an existing attic fan that was toast. I didn’t want to replace the whole thing so I decided to purchase this and just swap everything out.. prior to this I did call a company to come and fix my old attic fan. I was quoted 550 with labor to get my old fan working.. I decided to spend the 90 bucks on this fan. It arrived well packaged. I took my old fan out figured if the blades where to big I’d just use my old fan blades on this one as the diameter of the shaft would fit my old blade. Once I got my old fan out I took the motor and fan out of the shroud and placed it in my old one. Blades were bigger than my original but it did fit. So I went ahead and installed it. Installation was actually very easy.. I highly recommend doing this late at night or early morning due to heat. Overall I am happy with the fan. I do plan on replacing the thermostat with a firestat just to be safe but the thermostat that comes with the unit worked right out of the box with zero issues. Quality seems to be good. I was worried it may be a little loud but to my surprise I cannot hear it after I close my attic door. My attic does not have ridge vents so a attic fan is a must for me. As far a longevity that remains to be seen. Either way for the money if this last a couple years before needing replaced I still came out cheaper than having someone repair it.

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.

Take your money elsewhere. I bought 2 of these fans, installed 1 in 2021 and it stopped working after about a year. The other sat unopened in its original box for 5 years. I just opened it up to install it. It looked completely brand new, not a ding or scratch anywhere one it. Wired it up, turned it on and it doesn’t work. No body makes anything good anymore. $160 of my hard earned money gone. Absolutely despicable.

I purchased this for attic ventilation in my home in South Carolina, long hot summers. Along with the normal soffit ventilation I installed a gable vent into the far end of the attic and this exhaust fan on the opposite end. I not only use the thermostat control but it is also wired into a switch on the switch panel in terms bathroom right below it. Our attic is the full size of our 1800 Sq Ft house and is 10 ft high at the roof center peak with 3/4 plywood flooring. Access to the attic is by a normal set of stairs in our mudroom, a 10' x 10' room that has the door to the back yard and into the house, so if dirty or muddy shoes and or clothes or tools etc get dumped there before entering the house. The mudroom has a central air vent so it is climate controlled. When this fan kicks on I can feel air movement if I stand on the stairs or in the doorway leading into the house. If for some reason the fan switch was turned off and it's mid day on a hot day the attic temperature is unbearable. But turning the fan on easily drops the temperature in the attic. I built a 1/2" plywood mounting plate for the fan and it is quiet enough that most of the time, unless I am in the attic or mudroom, I don't notice it. It has been 7 years and it just started to get a little noisier. I checked it out and there is excessive axial shaft play. It still works perfectly fine, it is just starting to make vibration noises. That's 7 years running almost non stop during the summer. That's $7 per year cost if it stopped working right now. Putting another one in my shopping cart to purchase so when this first one finally goes out I have the backup ready to go. $7/yr cost over 7 years and still working. I'm 100% satisfied.

if you need to pull air, this will do it. Too bad it doesn't come with a humidistat as well, that would be handy for winter/humid environments 2018 - 2023 update: Unit is finally showing signs of failing after constant use for 5 years. Started grinding and making loud noises, looks like the motor is failing. Added a humidistat back in 2019, haven’t had to touch it since, attic has zero moisture issues even with the rainforest surroundings we have. Will be purchasing again and doing direct replacement.

Works great, easy to install, good price, came quickly.

Efficient and quiet— my upstairs is liveable

Quality is mid-range, moves fair amount of air, but is noisy even with rubber mounts.

excellent product