Looking for a Gable End Exhaust Fan, Solar

[chiang mai]

We're in the final stages of our house cooling project, the last step is perhaps "belt and braces" but naam says do it hence we're looking for somewhere to buy a thermostatically controlled attic exhaust fan that sits in the gable end, solar would be good but I guess improbable in Thailand.

Home Pro, Bahn and Beyond and Thai Watsadu are all none starters, anywhere else to try, anyone?

All sensible replies greatly appreciated.

[Dante99]

Your efforts would be greatly simplified if you could take a conceptual leap and look for two commonly available items, a fan and a thermostat. The 3M dealer on Wualai Road has thermostats. If you can not find a fan, God help you.

[sappersrest]

Try reposting on the housing forum. a lot of expertise on there, good luck.

[chiang mai]

Your efforts would be greatly simplified if you could take a conceptual leap and look for two commonly available items, a fan and a thermostat. The 3M dealer on Wualai Road has thermostats. If you can not find a fan, God help you.

Except: an attic exhaust fan is designed to operate at far higher tempretures than normal fans, their CFM ratings are also distinctly different compared to commercially available room fans.

But thank you for the lead regarding the 3M dealer.

[kaptainrob]

Amorn at BigC on superhighway stock large fans suited to the job. If thermo control not easily found one might try manual or timed.

Edit ... Fans are electric, ~ 400w from memory, so inexpensive to run.

Edited July 9, 2015 by kaptainrob

[Dante99]

Your efforts would be greatly simplified if you could take a conceptual leap and look for two commonly available items, a fan and a thermostat. The 3M dealer on Wualai Road has thermostats. If you can not find a fan, God help you.

Except: an attic exhaust fan is designed to operate at far higher tempretures than normal fans, their CFM ratings are also distinctly different compared to commercially available room fans.

But thank you for the lead regarding the 3M dealer.

Why don't you spec the fan you are looking for then you have a better chance of more specific help.

body{zoom:130%!important;}

[Iamemjay]

Hang Dong Road near the end of the airport runway. A number of places there. Look for the giant fans. They sell industrial fans and will give you just what you need. 6 years ago mine cost 1000B. I have it on a timer switch. It's never missed a beat and cools the house greatly. I looked into the solar angle. Forget it. They don't have a clue and importing a solar kit gets hit with prohibitive import duty.

[grin]

Bought both of my industrial strength gable fans and thermostats on Hang Dong Road as mentioned above. Opposite side from Shell station with a large fan visible on the roof.

Grin

[chiang mai]

Your efforts would be greatly simplified if you could take a conceptual leap and look for two commonly available items, a fan and a thermostat. The 3M dealer on Wualai Road has thermostats. If you can not find a fan, God help you.

Except: an attic exhaust fan is designed to operate at far higher tempretures than normal fans, their CFM ratings are also distinctly different compared to commercially available room fans.

But thank you for the lead regarding the 3M dealer.

Why don't you spec the fan you are looking for then you have a better chance of more specific help.

body{zoom:130%!important;}

The spec is simply a 1,200 CFM (max) fan, using the following sizing steps:

http://www.todayshomeowner.com/how-to-size-attic-exhaust-vent-fans-for-your-home/

[Dante99]

No spec on temperature range of operation?

[kaptainrob]

Hang Dong Road near the end of the airport runway. A number of places there. Look for the giant fans. They sell industrial fans and will give you just what you need. 6 years ago mine cost 1000B. I have it on a timer switch. It's never missed a beat and cools the house greatly. I looked into the solar angle. Forget it. They don't have a clue and importing a solar kit gets hit with prohibitive import duty.

^ Same place supplies whirlybird mechanical roof ventilators. We got 2 installed for 6k bt. IIRC, their fans are same Chinese made models as I've seen at Amorn complete with mounting brackets.

Another outlet comes to mind which does powered vents only, almost opposite Global House on the 3029. Can't miss the array of industrial fans outside.

[Iamemjay]

The problem with the whirlybirds where I live is that the hotter it is, the less wind there is. On the hottest days it is virtually totally still thereby making the whirlybird of little use other than by natural convection.

[kaptainrob]

The problem with the whirlybirds where I live is that the hotter it is, the less wind there is. On the hottest days it is virtually totally still thereby making the whirlybird of little use other than by natural convection.

Whirlybirds do not operate on wind power. That is a false Thai belief and why you often see them on open sided kitchen roofs ... Absolutely useless.

They operate on convection from the hot air rising within a roof cavity and will spin fast and very easily as the hot air evacuated via the turbine.

[chiang mai]

Hang Dong Road near the end of the airport runway. A number of places there. Look for the giant fans. They sell industrial fans and will give you just what you need. 6 years ago mine cost 1000B. I have it on a timer switch. It's never missed a beat and cools the house greatly. I looked into the solar angle. Forget it. They don't have a clue and importing a solar kit gets hit with prohibitive import duty.

^ Same place supplies whirlybird mechanical roof ventilators. We got 2 installed for 6k bt. IIRC, their fans are same Chinese made models as I've seen at Amorn complete with mounting brackets.

Another outlet comes to mind which does powered vents only, almost opposite Global House on the 3029. Can't miss the array of industrial fans outside.

I found the guy opposite Global House, hard to miss his shop so useful. I've also found a number of places on the Hang Dong road which seems to be the attic fan clustering point for the province:)

Not to digress too far but one aspect of attic fan installation that concerns me is how to prevent the fan from drawing air in through the gable vents (I have three large ones), that would seem to defeat the concept of radiant barriers and cool air in at the bottom and hot air out at the top. I guess that some amount of ducting must be needed to avoid that problem but I wonder if anyone else has encountered that issue? FWIW yes, I have loads of soffit vents now.

[chiang mai]

OK, I found the gable exhaust fan at the shop opposite Global House on the ring road Hang Dong but can I find the thermostatic switch, nope. 3M shops don't sell them, Amorns don't sell them, ditto HomePro/B&B etc.

Any ideas?

[Greenside]

Try RS http://sg.rs-online.com/web/c/?sra=oss&r=t&searchTerm=thermostats

[Dante99]

OK, I found the gable exhaust fan at the shop opposite Global House on the ring road Hang Dong but can I find the thermostatic switch, nope. 3M shops don't sell them, Amorns don't sell them, ditto HomePro/B&B etc.

Any ideas?

Hmmm, let's see, where have I seen a thermostatic switch?

Hmmm, hmmm, just about every air conditioner seems to have one.

Oh, might try an air conditioner shop, just maybe they have one or could order one.

No, no, no, that is too easy, there must be something wrong with that.

By the way, did you try the 3M dealer on Wualai Road, the one that is a large electrical supply shop with a 3M distributorship, orjust "3M shops" whatever that means??? Just asking as I have purchased such swithces there in the past.

[chiang mai]

Thanks GS, I was hoping to find a local solution but if I cannot, that looks like a good bet.

[Puwa]

I'm curious to know what else has gone into your house cooling project, especially the passive stuff like heat shields and vents. I'm always looking for tips on keeping cool.

[chiang mai]

OK, I found the gable exhaust fan at the shop opposite Global House on the ring road Hang Dong but can I find the thermostatic switch, nope. 3M shops don't sell them, Amorns don't sell them, ditto HomePro/B&B etc.

Any ideas?

Hmmm, let's see, where have I seen a thermostatic switch?

Hmmm, hmmm, just about every air conditioner seems to have one.

Oh, might try an air conditioner shop, just maybe they have one or could order one.

No, no, no, that is too easy, there must be something wrong with that.

By the way, did you try the 3M dealer on Wualai Road, the one that is a large electrical supply shop with a 3M distributorship, orjust "3M shops" whatever that means??? Just asking as I have purchased such swithces there in the past.

Drop the sarcasm, OK!

As stated in my previous post of a few minutes ago, the 3M shop on Wualai Road does not carry them, neither does their other store, the one in Wororat Market, the one that also sells air conditioners!

[Bill97]

Are you sure you are asking for the right thing? AC shops/ repairmen should be able to get new thermostats or do people have to buy a whole new AC unit if their thermostat goes bad?

[chiang mai]

Are you sure you are asking for the right thing? AC shops/ repairmen should be able to get new thermostats or do people have to buy a whole new AC unit if their thermostat goes bad?

Yes I'm sure, in fact we even had a discussion with the good folks at CM Delta Electronics (the 3M shop) about this. They say the major issue is temperature range, aircon. adjustable aircon. thermostats don't operate in the same range as attic fan thermostats, the latter which operate in a much higher temperature range, typically 40C to 60C+.

[Puwa]

Are you sure you are asking for the right thing? AC shops/ repairmen should be able to get new thermostats or do people have to buy a whole new AC unit if their thermostat goes bad?

Yes I'm sure, in fact we even had a discussion with the good folks at CM Delta Electronics (the 3M shop) about this. They say the major issue is temperature range, aircon. adjustable aircon. thermostats don't operate in the same range as attic fan thermostats, the latter which operate in a much higher temperature range, typically 40C to 60C+.

Right, fan thermostats operate on a higher range, starting around 100F. I think this is a job for amazon.com

[chiang mai]

Are you sure you are asking for the right thing? AC shops/ repairmen should be able to get new thermostats or do people have to buy a whole new AC unit if their thermostat goes bad?

Yes I'm sure, in fact we even had a discussion with the good folks at CM Delta Electronics (the 3M shop) about this. They say the major issue is temperature range, aircon. adjustable aircon. thermostats don't operate in the same range as attic fan thermostats, the latter which operate in a much higher temperature range, typically 40C to 60C+.

Right, fan thermostats operate on a higher range, starting around 100F. I think this is a job for amazon.com

Indeed, I found one on ebay although I haven't checked Amazon yet, thanks for the prompt.

[chiang mai]

I'm curious to know what else has gone into your house cooling project, especially the passive stuff like heat shields and vents. I'm always looking for tips on keeping cool.

I'm sorry that I missed your question, the following link sets out in some detail all the steps that I took, what worked and what didn't:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/832060-housing-heat-reduction/page-2#entry9681892

If you have further questions, please feel free to PM me.

[bangmai]

Your efforts would be greatly simplified if you could take a conceptual leap and look for two commonly available items, a fan and a thermostat. The 3M dealer on Wualai Road has thermostats. If you can not find a fan, God help you.

Except: an attic exhaust fan is designed to operate at far higher tempretures than normal fans, their CFM ratings are also distinctly different compared to commercially available room fans.

But thank you for the lead regarding the 3M dealer.

Why don't you spec the fan you are looking for then you have a better chance of more specific help.

body{zoom:130%!important;}

The spec is simply a 1,200 CFM (max) fan, using the following sizing steps:

http://www.todayshomeowner.com/how-to-size-attic-exhaust-vent-fans-for-your-home/

This is what you want....(it's equivalent).

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ventamatic-Cool-Attic-1300-CFM-Power-Gable-Mount-Attic-Ventilator-CX1500UPS/202913798

I sat mine at 90F (in Phoenix) and it ran for months at a time. These things are a tiny bit of a fire hazard...so that is a consideration....Since it is needed most of the time here, you could jut hardwire-it and control it with a switch, on street level.

comes with the thermostat. You do need a matching gable for fresh air to flow into the attic, as the warm air is being drawn out. Just like the whirlybirds need to be used in pairs...but beware of more jet noise, with the whirlybirds. I put a pair of whirlies in the BWT house, as Rob said about 6000 THB, mine included the adapters for the steeper pitched roof, and she gave me a discount for "no receipt."

[kaptainrob]

RS Components in BKK list these > http://th.rs-online.com/web/p/enclosure-thermostats/4682870/

[chiang mai]

Except: an attic exhaust fan is designed to operate at far higher tempretures than normal fans, their CFM ratings are also distinctly different compared to commercially available room fans.

But thank you for the lead regarding the 3M dealer.

Why don't you spec the fan you are looking for then you have a better chance of more specific help.

body{zoom:130%!important;}

The spec is simply a 1,200 CFM (max) fan, using the following sizing steps:

http://www.todayshomeowner.com/how-to-size-attic-exhaust-vent-fans-for-your-home/

This is what you want....(it's equivalent).

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ventamatic-Cool-Attic-1300-CFM-Power-Gable-Mount-Attic-Ventilator-CX1500UPS/202913798

I sat mine at 90F (in Phoenix) and it ran for months at a time. These things are a tiny bit of a fire hazard...so that is a consideration....Since it is needed most of the time here, you could jut hardwire-it and control it with a switch, on street level.

comes with the thermostat. You do need a matching gable for fresh air to flow into the attic, as the warm air is being drawn out. Just like the whirlybirds need to be used in pairs...but beware of more jet noise, with the whirlybirds. I put a pair of whirlies in the BWT house, as Rob said about 6000 THB, mine included the adapters for the steeper pitched roof, and she gave me a discount for "no receipt."

If only there were a Home Depot in Thailand!

Yes, I've seen them on ebay but sadly, not to be had in Thailand, at least not easily. BTW I already have the fan, just need the thermostat - also, I have 7.5 square feet of gable vents so plenty adequate methinks..

[chiang mai]

RS Components in BKK list these > http://th.rs-online.com/web/p/enclosure-thermostats/4682870/

Yup, that's the one, thanks many Rob.

[grin]

As stated in my earlier post I bought two thermostat switches at the shop across from the Shell station on Hang Dong Road. I installed two wall switches for each fan, one switch going through the thermostat and one going directly to the fan so I can choose to bypass the thermostat.

Grin