Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

System · June 2008

Does anyone have any feedback on the Sunrise Solar powered attic fans? Have you installed in with or without thermostat?

We're in GA and interested in installing it, any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks.

mike95490 · June 2008

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

Maybe folks with any attic fan will reply ??

I use a cheap $13, 20" box fan, into my attic hatch hole, sucks cool air into the house, and forces air out the attic vents. movement is good.

dwh · March 2009

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

Okay, it's an old thread but I'm reading it so some one else might.

A few years ago I installed (I'm a journeyman electrician) 3 solar powered gable end attic fans in a house. These were the units sold at Home Depot. As I recall, they cost about 90 bucks for the fan and about 90 bucks for the solar panel. The solar panels were 10w and could be ganged (built-in connectors for parallel wiring) in pairs to supply 20w to the fan.

I put two fans in the gable ends, and screwed one into the bottom of an existing 120v attic fan unit to replace the burnt out 120v motor.

Using only a single 10w panel for each fan, the fans moved an impressive amount of air. With all three running, there was a sucking noise from the attic access in the hallway...

The cause was that most of the under-eave rectangular screened intake vents had been painted over. Once those had been replaced, the house was at least 15 degrees cooler inside on a 90 degree summer day.

For under 200 per fan/PV it was a good deal. These solar attic fans I see for 500 dollars don't sound like a good deal to me.

icarus · April 2009

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

A well designed attic vent system should create it's own convection draft. Proper intake vents low on the eaves, coupled with either high placed, or better yet, ridge vents. The sun heats the attic, causing the air to rise, drawing cooler air in the soffit vents, exhausting air out the high vents. On a hot day, you should be able to discern a "feelable" draft at the high exhaust vents.

Adding fans certainly helps this natural convection.

Icarus

dwh · April 2009

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

icarus wrote: »

Adding fans certainly helps this natural convection.

Icarus

The reason I raised that old post from the dead was not to address the fact that attics should be vented.

The point was to answer the original post which asked about the Sunrise Solar attic fan - the cheapest of which sells for 500 bucks and has an 11w pv.

The home depot kit was 180 bucks for a fan with 10w pv - and it worked very well.

I have no doubt the Sunrise will do the job, but I think 500 sounds pretty steep to do the same job as a sub-200 dollar kit from home depot.

Solar Guppy · April 2009

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

I was just in Lowes in the roofing section, they now carry for 229 a solar vent fan, looks like it comes with a 10 watt PV panel, looks like a decent unit

dwh · April 2009

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

I don't see any solar attic fans listed on Lowe's site, but I notice that Home Depot is listing their kit:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100548465

The unit pictured is slightly different than the ones I installed a few years ago. On the kits I installed, the circular housing around the fan had 3 L brackets to mount it to the wall inside the gable vent and the PV did not have a tilting bracket - it had 4 L brackets to screw it down.

The one in the link above is apparently called a PGSOLAR by LL Building Products. A quick Googling of "LL Building Products solar" turns up this little bad boy at Ace Hardware:

http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/(1evddd55n2cbtfn3qgpvftel)/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=998022933

This one seems to be roughly comparable to the Sunrise, with the added bonus of a tilting mount for the PV. Also the LL has a metal housing while the Sunrise is plastic.

And like an idiot - I just noticed that Home Depot carries that one as well. Called a PRSOLAR:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100551938

<rant>
Now here's the thing that bothers me - and caused me to resurrect this old dead thread - both of the LL products kits are less than HALF the price of the Sunrise. Does "70% recycled UV stabilized plastic" REALLY cost so much more than sheet metal?

I'll say it again; I think 500 is just too much for the Sunrise. Personally, I think Sunrise has jumped on the Green Hype bandwagon and are overcharging for their product. It just does not look like a good deal to me.
</rant>

(Uh...

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100660083&N=10000003+90048)

System2 · July 2009

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

I've seen the Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic Fan and wasn't impressed at all. its thermal formed plastic and doesn't move that much air. I like the Best Attic Fan from bestatticfan.com It's all aluminum. With a life time warranty (no one can beat that). And I like how the panel and motor are replaceable if they get damaged without having to remove the unit from the roof. Anybody else heard of of them?

BB. · July 2009

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

Sandwedge,

Your own company?

At least be upfront and say you guys have looked at 99% of the solar fan products out there and believe that your product has addressed the weakness of the others and is worth the extra $300 over the other all metal products out there.

-Bill B. (moderator)

Solar Guppy · July 2009

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

softcore spam IMHO

mike95490 · July 2009

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

sandwedge wrote: »

With a life time warranty (no one can beat that).

A lifetime warranty from an unknown company, is pointless, IMHO. Maybe a bond for replacement?
I know one thing about aluminum, that it turns to white powder in 10 years in my area, unless it's anodized, after being cut/formed.

Is raw 5052 aluminum that much better?

20V replaceable motor ? 12V or 18V or 24V, but 20V is an odd voltage. CFM ?

A "brushed" motor ? Why not a 24V sealed BB brushless, many mfg for
something like this that will be available in 9 years.

Not picking on you, but my inner skeptic screams when I see this stuff.

I like the install instructions, well done. (maybe compress the photos a bit, was loading slowly for me)

System2 · January 2010

What We've found out about solar attic fans

Some background:
As an inventor and manufacturer of products that change the direction of heat in an attic (radiant barrier), I would consider myself an expert on attic venting having been analyzing these effects on homes for the last 23 years in all climates: desert, high desert, Midwest, Southern and tropical. Going to Google and typing in "attic venting" will show we are at the #1 and #2 spot in this category and have been for years, and this is not a sponsored position. I've posted my findings on my web site at savenrg.com/venting.htm

SOLAR FANS
I find it interesting that most every venting product offered be it a static vent or a powered fan has a HVI testing certification which is measured in "CFM" or cubic feet per minute, much like the mpg on a new car lot. This allows the architect, builder or do it yourselfer a gauge by which he can insure he is putting enough venting in the structure to at least meet minimum code. This however is not true in the solar fan industry. The ratings on the fans display "up to" in front of a number that may or may not reflect reality. Curious about the actual CFM delivery of a 10 watt solar fan we used a Dwyer digital draft hood and mocked up a solar fan on a 4/12 pitch facing South. The brochure stated "up to 1200 CFM" while the draft hood indicated 310 CFM at noon in July, a little less than three bathroom fans. Our work vans can go 80mph but "up to" 270mph....if driven off of a cliff.
Be wary of the "up to" claims on anything related to saving energy.

The manufacturer advertises 3 20 watt fans to be able to vent my 2400 square foot attic which is 9600 cubic feet. 3 fans running at noon then would exhaust 930 cubic feet per minute or 55,800 cubic feet in one hour. Keep in mind a static PV panel is going to output the most when aimed directly at the sun. This means the 55,800 CFM will only happen at high noon and will be less before and after noon.
That's the capacity issue. Now factor in the motors have brushes. This reduces the life of the motor the thermostat is "optional" and most are installed without one here in Phoenix. Using the sun as the "sol" source of power, this means the brushes are wearing out virtually everyday here in Phoenix...winter and summer. There are many blogs on this topic where home owners are complaining the unit failed after two summers.

When we find solar fans installed on our installations of radiant barrier we routinely remove them and replace them with our imported German attic fans which are sized correctly to match each installation. Radiant barrier changes the direction of millions of BTU's over the course of a summer and this waste heat must be removed.

Keep an eye on our attic venting page for updates and new ways to vent your attic.

niel · January 2010

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

bpi,
i understand your complaint and i agree many solar items just aren't what they should be. i do believe there would still be an up to rating being the sun doesn't fully shine and obviously not always. maybe they should indicate what the cfm would be at the various insolation levels like pvs are rated for?
the problem with thermostats is that it adds cost and further installation problems for the product and companies (manufacturer and retailer alike in most cases) are out for the quick sell by making the 'solution' cheaper to the customer. the customer usually does not know any better and soon finds it does not meet up to standards it is labeled to or it soon fails, hence the complaints one may hear from the general public.
if one were to ask me of a good solar attic fan i would not be able to tell them anything other than try to piece one together as the others are more or less junk. maybe you could elaborate some for those that may want a diy solution that you may have worked out with what products are involved for what costs. who knows maybe you could be one of the first to market a quality solar attic fan too.

doohic · February 2010

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

BPIinspector and others with knowledge/interest/experience in attic ventilating. I am starting to research my options for better attic ventilation and originally wanted to go hog wild with my first DIY attic fan project which would run off a battery/solar set-up with a thermostat. Anyone that is interested please stop by my new thread here and start helping me weave the web.

http://forum.solar-electric.com/showthread.php?t=6915

System2 · March 2010

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

Let me hop in a little bit.

Since we sell these SunRise Solar Attic Fans(we are a retailer), my comments may not worth much to some of you. But, I will try to be as objective as I could.

1. We sell a number of these fans and don't hear much complaints. I don't imply any good or bad. It's just our experiences. Complaints when happen are normally around higher pricing as some posters have mentioned as well.

2. People seem to be more attracted to the look of the products than the longer warranty on some other brands. However, the warranty on motors seem to be consistant across different brands (SunRise included) at around 5 years. [I am sure this continues to change as competition heats up.] The longer warranty on other brands are normally on the housing units [being aluminum v/s SunRise's UV-Stabilized ABS plastic, and solar panel which as you know should last for awhile anyway with reduced power output over the years.]

3. For thermostat, it is popular with our customers. They seem to want to reduce wear & tear on the motor, when the attic is not hot.

4. For higher pricing, SunRise fans are made in the USA (Indiana) while other brands (that I am aware of) are imported. That would propably contribute to some cost advantages that other brands have over SunRise.

Good luck with your search / selection / or even DIY from scratch as one poster was looking into.

Go Green !!

Windsun · March 2010

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

From one of the data sheets (no brand name given) on a typical eBay attic fan: "The high efficiency DC motor has a 5000 hour life at 32 VDC, 10,000 hours at 15 VDC"

5000 hours, assuming it is operating in Phoenix, is around 2 years. That is pretty typical of most solar fans.

I cannot find any such info on the Sunrise solar fans, which is one of the reasons we never advertised them. They might be better or worse than "typical", but we like know before we sell a product.

newenergy · March 2010

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

So, it seems silly for someone who has grid tied solar to have a solar attic fan when they could separate them, be less expensive, more efficient, and not run the fan when there's no reason? Is that right?

A lot of people that get grid tied solar get solar attic fans.

Windsun · March 2010

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

The reason is that you don't have to run any wiring for it, which can cost more than the fan.

niel · March 2010

Re: Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

Windsun wrote: »

The reason is that you don't have to run any wiring for it, which can cost more than the fan.

maybe initially, but if you must replace the fan every 2 years then that could be a different story.

Sunrise 1050 Solar Attic fan

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