FAQ's

Q Why should I bother to spend money on this system ?

A Climb into your roof void on a hot day to experience how hot it gets. Stand on a chair on a hot day to feel how much hotter it is near to your ceiling. Buy a thermal temperature sensor and check the ceiling temperature on a hot day. Have a look at your electricity bills over summer.

Q I won't need a Solar Roof Fan because I have a big 6KW solar power system with lots of panels shielding my roof from the sun's heat !

A A 6KW solar system usually has 24 solar panels of about 1.2 m2 or less so 29 m2 of coverage will only cover 20 % of a 150 m2 roof and 10 % of a 300 m2 roof. Although the gap between installed solar panels and the roof edge might night not be much due to the length of it the area not covered by the solar panels is deceptively large.

Q I don't need this system because I have excellent quality insulation in my ceiling !

A Insulation is designed to work at or below standard temperature which is 36 degrees celcius according to Australian standards. Once the day gets hotter than this ceiling insulation is hopelessly inefficient, especially mid to late afternoon after the heat has had time to work its way through the insulation. Most installers typically do not put insulation above your garage so if you have an enclosed garage that is connected to your house the heat that goes from your roof void to your garage will end up leaking inside the house. It is quite common for installers to miss insulating sections of your ceiling due to oversight when working in such extreme heat. The heat from a hot roof will leak through; open vents, lights, perimeters around fans, perimeters around ducting and down through walls.

Q Most of my north facing roof is covered by solar panels, so where can I install your Solar Roof Fan ?

A The Solar Roof Fan has an oversized solar panel so it can be installed on the southern side of most roofs with adequate power in summer when the sun is nearly overhead. Other solar fans have too small a solar panel to cope with other than optimal alignment to the sun.

Q Won't I need an air inlet through the bottom of the roof to make it easier for my solar fan to work ?

A The gaps between the ridges in the roof that go over the gutter are usually OK. If not, then you need to install a low air inlet on the same side of the house as the Solar Roof Fan if the house has a tiled roof. If the house has a metal roof then it would be best to put the air inlet on the side of the house that faces inland to capture the inland winds.

Q I have seen a solar fan advertised that has a flow of 400 cubic feet a minute. At approximately 700 cubic metres of air an hour that is a lot of air so why should I bother with your Solar Roof Fan ?

A The solar fan on our display video purchased from a hardware store has a claimed airflow of 400 cubic feet per minute yet when mounted in the full sun on our trailer the airflow is negligible compared to our Solar Roof Fan. To check how powerful a solar fan is you really need to see and feel it in real life. A rough guide for air volume is the size of the motor so if you see a 20 watt solar fan that claims to move more air than our 70 watt SRF18 model this is likely to be a significant exaggeration. The other problem is most of these other solar fans only have solar panels of the same wattage as their fan motor. This means that unless it were possible to mount the panel exactly due north and the right tilt angle it will never achieve maximum power. The maximum power this panel receives will only occur midday and the rest of the day power will be reduced because of the sun's less than optimal angle. The Solar Roof Fan has a significantly oversized solar panel ensuring that the solar fans can run at full power for the majority of the daylight hours.

Q I have seen another solar fan specify their fan has mesh to keep out pests.

A Putting mesh across the Solar Roof Fan degrades performance. If you are worried about keeping out creepy crawlies you would be better blocking off all the gaps around where the roof meets the gutters than restrict the airflow of the Solar Roof Fan.

Q Do you advise to put vents in the ceiling to draw out the warm air that sits just under the ceiling.

A No. Reason 1 Your roof space sometimes gets affected by wind gusts and an opening in your ceiling can let very hot air into your house from these gusts. Reason 2 If you let heat out of the house through the ceiling you will draw outside air into your house. If the day is 40 degrees celcius or more the last thing you want inside your house is 40 degree air ! The best thing to do is prevent heat from getting into the house in the first place.

Q Why don't you have a big frame so you can adjust it to swivel around and get the maximum efficiency from the sun ?

A The solar panel is generously sized to provide additional power to compensate for the panel not facing exactly to the sun. This means the panel can sit flat on the roof and look unobtrusive while still providing lots of power.

Q I have been assured that my airconditioning system has top quality ducting keeping my air travelling through the roof cool !

A Check the temperature differential of the air going in to the airconditioner and coming out on a hot day. If it is not cooling it down by close to 20 degrees then you are loosing efficiency from roof void heat.

Q I have been told that I can save a lot of money by installing the latest generation of energy efficient airconditioner !

A A Solar Roof Fan will cost you much less than a new airconditioner and save you more energy.

Q How do I install a Solar Roof Fan ?

A Any handy person should be able to do the job however if you are concerned you should get a professional to do the job. For most tiled roof's all you need to do is remove 8 tiles and screw the metal frame of the Solar Roof Fan to the battens using 4 screws. Next insert the fan module and finally plug in the solar panel and secure it to the solar rails with the supplied solar brackets and and allen key tool.

To install on a colourbond roof simply cut enough of the top of the colourbond sheet to fit the frame of the Solar Roof Fan. Next install 2 wooden supports to the roof beams. Screw the Solar Roof Fan to the wooden supports. Use teck screws to secure the flashing to the side colourbond sheets and use silicon to protect any areas of concern. Next insert the fan module and finally plug in the solar panel and secure it to the solar rails with the supplied solar brackets and and allen key.

The Solar Roof Fan should ideally be situated on a roof facing north, near to the top of the roof as practical and on the western end of the building if possible.

Please contact us for instructions concerning installations on unusual types of roof.