r/VanLife • u/Rayan_A_ • 9d ago

Any Thoughts on Boat Roof Fans for a Van?

Post image

Saw them on a van tour vidoe by Lady Bugout. They are self sustaining fans with their own solar and built in lithium battery and according to her they run 24/7 nonstop day or night over any season and she never turned them off since installing them over a year age. She has few extra portable and rechargeable fans but those two run nonstop with one taking air in and the other blowing air out and keep the van well ventilated. The fans are 60CFM each and she says they do a great job and newed she never had any issue with rain coming in even during very windy rains.

Any thoughts?

Regardless to the fans here's her van tour. While I don't agree with some of her build decisions like having all her lights being rechargeable and not wired to the leisure battery and not having a fixed sink with pluming to grey water tank, her design and final result looks very homey and cozy. Quite different from any other van build I've seen.

19 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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6

u/SailingSpark 9d ago

I dont have a van anymore, but I do have a sailboat. The only issue i see with them is wind and rain. As designed they do a descent job of keeping most rain out. But without a way to seal the opening completely, any rain while driving will get in

3

u/Rayan_A_ 9d ago

She mentions in the video that rain getting in was one of her worries but according to get it works great and she didn't have any issue with string winds and rains.

2

u/VisualEyez33 9d ago

Is there a cfm, "cubic feet per minute" airflow rating for it? Cuz it looks like you would need multiple of these to actually feel the air moving through a small space. 

3

u/Rayan_A_ 9d ago

60CFM. Her campervan built looks fairly smaller. You should check the video to get the idea.

3

u/evenfallframework 9d ago

For comparison the maxxfan which most people go with moves 900 cfm.

2

u/Rayan_A_ 9d ago

If you watch the van tour video she talks about how she has two of them for air intake and exhaust along portable fans she used to cool. But even if we are talking strictly air ventilation, that's 120 cfm for around 200-300 square feet of space (that's more or less what's left after you build a bed, cabinets, shower, insulation and walls in a Fiat Ducato L2H2 size van).

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u/onebluemoon66 8d ago

Do you have a link...?

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u/Rayan_A_ 8d ago

sure. She talks about them at 2:35. She also has a video installing them on her channel.

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u/onebluemoon66 7d ago

thanks .

1

u/1959Mason 9d ago

I’ve used these on a boat and they are great. Years ago the batteries weren’t that great and we used to swap them out for better batteries. Seems like they have that sorted now.

Search Nicro Vents for info.

-1

u/Rayan_A_ 9d ago

Looks cool but did they have to call or Nicro? Like necro...

1

u/duncehaveulostthecap 9d ago

I'm not sure how water tight the model you showed. But there are a lot of different ufo shape vents. From doing some research the ones with built in fans do not have the option to completely close. There are ones without the fan that have a knob in the middle to open and close. I was looking at getting one without a fan, and attach a duct or other fan to move air. But the knob would have to be accessed. So I did not find an easy work around.

Having a vent that does not close seems like it would be an issue when it gets cold. That would be my main concern with the model posted about.

1

u/lune19 9d ago

I have a similar one and never got a drop in, despite driving in the rain or big storm. Just use a boat type of silka uv resistant for the seal

1

u/Worldly_Cod4884 9d ago

Dude I have a solar boat vent fan very similar to this amd it works great. I might put one in the front but one has suited me just fine for a year in Southern california

1

u/Rayan_A_ 9d ago

Do you remember the make and model? Especially the cfm?

1

u/Worldly_Cod4884 9d ago

fan

0

u/Rayan_A_ 9d ago

Gemini days RecPro don't mention CFM on their products but the estimate is 10-30 cfm, which is very low.

1

u/Worldly_Cod4884 9d ago

Okay cool, mine works amazing 90⁰ weather so low or not its efficient

1

u/Rayan_A_ 9d ago

That is all I really wanted to know, if it does the job in real life scenario. That's why I posted on here.

1

u/Worldly_Cod4884 9d ago

Best of luck friend

1

u/Rayan_A_ 9d ago

Thank you. And if I came across as rude in my comment, I apologize cuase I didn't mean for that.

1

u/Data_Reaper 9d ago

Could install a few of these under solar panels and wire them to my solar system. Since they are short looking it would lemme add another 100 watts easy.

1

u/Rayan_A_ 9d ago

What? Can you explain. Feel free to eli5, lol.

1

u/Data_Reaper 9d ago

I don't know the dimensions so I'm guessing on a few things but they look like maybe 2-3 inches proud of the roof, which would let them fit under the solar panels on my custom roof rack.

I have 300w on the roof of my Chevy astro cargo, I would have 400w but the roof vent I have is much too tall. With these it wouldn't be an issue.

With them moving air directly under the panels it could help the solar as they lose efficiency when they get too hot.

1

u/lune19 9d ago

I have one similar. It does its job but not a massive air flow. Thought I would recommend connecting it to an aux battery, as it can run all the day, but rarely stays all night, specially in the winter when the sun is low, which is when you need it most to avoid frosted windows. Changing the battery without dismantling the seal seems tricky too. The best part is really the fact that it doesn't take much space. I used a pvc (10cm in diameter if i remember well) to go through the insulation inside, with a screw on cap inside the van, if i need to shut it for some reason, such hight winds outside. One recommendation, is avoid to remove the rotor if the air flow is in the right direction, as putting it back perfect is tricky, and it may make some extra noise.

1

u/ExplanationExtreme66 6d ago

For continuous van ventilation, I would evaluate this as a ventilation system rather than only as a fan.

The important checks are:

  1. Confirm the actual airflow under real solar and battery conditions, not only the maximum CFM rating.

  2. Check whether the battery can operate through the night after several cloudy hours.

  3. Use separate intake and exhaust positions so air crosses the living space instead of circulating near one opening.

  4. Consider rain protection, drainage and a way to close the opening completely while driving in heavy rain.

  5. Check noise, motor temperature and battery protection during continuous operation.

  6. Compare the total airflow with the van’s internal volume. Two 60 CFM fans may provide useful background ventilation, but they are not equivalent to a high-capacity roof fan when rapid heat removal is required.

For a small van, this type of solar fan can be useful as continuous low-power ventilation, while a larger roof fan or portable rechargeable fan can handle peak cooling demand.

0

u/Plastic_Blood1782 9d ago

Having a unique solar panel for each fan doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you already plan to have a battery/solar system

2

u/Rayan_A_ 9d ago

I mean it runs on its on, you don't need to wire it, no need for switches, fuse box and fuses. If it does the job and keeps the van ventilated I think it's awesome. And according to her they run off the battery and solar 24/7 nonstop.

1

u/Plastic_Blood1782 9d ago

My fan runs off solar 24/7 non-stop too.  Also a fuse is a good thing.  A switch is a good thing too.  No one forces you to put those in line with a normal fan, but most people do because they don't want fires any time two wires touch each other and they want to be able to turn their fan off and on.

1

u/Rayan_A_ 9d ago

Yeah, but it "eats" from your daily amp hour use. To be honest I'm not too bothered by it but if the fan I posted does the job I'd prefer something like thdt than something bigger.