Is there a good ceiling vent fan that also lets light in?

[pinetreeporsche]

Preferably quiet, incorporating mosquito screen, presumably fed 12V from the battery- any good candidates? Probably are some mentioned in other threads, but a search yields so many with misc titles that there's no telling what's in the thread.

[jimf909]

I like the FantasticFan. It comes with a tinted vent cover but I swapped that out for clear.

_________________
- Jim

[gbrandt]

[jimf909]

I don’t know. This is installed on a NAHT (high-top).
_________________
- Jim

[cmayna]

I'd love to find a fan for a stock westy skylight opening. Solar powered?
_________________
'90 Westy / automatic.
If I'm not working on the camper or my '50 Chebbie truck, I'm either fishing with the wife or smoking Salmon.


Craig

[MsTaboo]

[Multiman mv]

You’ve probably already seen these but in case you haven’t, here’s a solar powered fan/skylight. Well I know it doesn’t let much if any light in but it fits the opening. Only problem is that cvc has been out of stock for a while.

https://campervanculture.com/shop/vw-t25-t3-and-vanagon-westfalia-solar-skylight/

[photogdave]

[SSWesty]

In the marine world there are a number of options for the solar fans. Most any marine store will have them. https://www.westmarine.com/buy/marinco--4-day-nigh...gK6MfD_BwE

They don't move a ton of air though. I always thought about mounting a larger computer fan up there. At times it would be helpful to more a lot of air out of that vent when it's hot or when cooking something steamy on the stove. Seems like a computer fan would be thin enough, comes in clear and some of them move a lot of air. It's one of the many projects on my list of upgrades:-)

[jimf909]

[Jon_slider]

[jimf909]

^^^ that looks like a good option to move a bit of air when the sun is shining on it. At 116 CFM it moves quite a bit less than the 920 CFM of the Fantastic Vent and I doubt it would do this:

_________________
- Jim

[SSWesty]

I was thinking something like this one https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200055 or maybe 2 smaller 120mm fans side by side. Some of the fans have lights so that might be an interesting option.

The other factor I was thinking about is how many cubic feet are in a Westy with he top up. For back of the napkin math I am going with 12 feet of length, 4 feet wide and 7 feet tall(top up) which comes out to 336 cubic feet. 336 is probably generous given the cabinets. It seems like a fan moving 100 CFM would do okay against 300 cubic feet.

[joetiger]

[PDXWesty]

From an HVAC standpoint, circulating air at 6-10 air changes per hour is more than adequate and is what most restroom and locker rooms are designed for.

Using your 300 CF volume and 10 air changes per hour, it works out to 30-50 CFM. A 100 CFM fan would provide 20 air changes per hour. If the goal is cooling that's great. If you just want air movement to prevent mold or stale air a much smaller fan would work just fine.
_________________
89 Westy 2.1 Auto

[jimf909]

^^^ That’s helpful information. Thanks.
_________________
- Jim

[chimivee]

[kourt]

I was sick of my original Westy skylight rattling and rusting and generally being a disappointment. So when you get sick of something like that you get motivated to make permanent changes. I bought a MaxxFan and it requires a standard 14" x 14" hole.

Original hole.

Original hole.

After surgery.

How the fan fits.

From the inside.

Profile. Notice the gaping hole where the water channel exists, below the fan flange.

The finished install required a 1/8" 6061 aluminum plate, with a 14"x14" hole cut in it, to sit over the molded rainwater channels in the roof, looking a lot like this when it was done:

I also made some close-fit inserts out of cutting board material to fit in the water channel openings. With butyl caulking and self leveling sealing, it is waterproof. Not very pretty, but totally functional. This thing moves air and can make the van very pleasant on a hot day. Goodbye and good riddance to the original skylight.

kourt

[Tobias Duncan]

I have the same Maxxair fan in my chevy baja rig. I absolutely love it.
I was looking for a lot more than keeping the air from getting stale and that fan delivered.
I stayed cool at night on hot desert beaches and was able to cook fish in the van and have the maxxair act as a very powerful exhaust vent.
Unfortunately I am way to much of a prude to cut into my precious westies .
I wonder how much work it would be to modify the fan rather than the top.

[human compass]

Man, this would be such an amazing kit. I'm surprised one of the big vendors hasn't tackled it yet.
_________________
84 Westy Syncro- 3.3L SVX stage 2 tune,subaru gears 6speed with tbd, front locker, porche brakes x4, aux tank, radflo susp