I did it, I got a roof fan in Turtle III. Did I need it? Not 100%. But on hot nights it is AMAZING!!!!! Plus, when I have the van out shooting during the day it helps to let the heat out when it is parked. Add in that it has a powered fan and it really helps to cool things down!!
So what fan did I go with?
A Maxxfan Deluxe was my choice. No remote but honestly for a van that you can reach the roof I don’t think it is needed. I can see having a remote in higher roof vans or in big RV’s. But for my van it is just not needed. What does a remote do? The remote allows you to operate the fan and the cover, without having to reach the controls on the ceiling (you can tell I am short).
Install – Roof Fan Turtle III
The install was easy. I cheated and I had a local company install the fan for me. Why? Well mainly it is because of my health. I did not want to start a project and then not be able to finish before rain hit.
The second reason is that for what they charged me to do it was more than a good deal. Add in the costs of the little extras like cutting blades, glue and solvent would have cost me and I saved money. The van went in and was done in a couple hours, could not have asked for better service!!!
If you are in Western Canada and need work done on a camper van or expedition vehicle look up Wilderness vans! It is nice to have a local supplier for parts and supplies and they are priced in Canadian dollars.
Another plus is having people that understand vans! I got a price from another shop and they were $1000 higher!!! Why? Because they do large builds and my project was just a tiny job that was not worth it for them to do.
So far I have used it a few times. One night it started to rain in the middle of the night and I had the vent open. It is designed to not let rain in and it did the job. A heavy downpour and I was dry.
Drawbacks – Roof Fan Turtle III
Only one so far. I am camped and fast asleep and at 6:30 am I hear a strange noise. It was not loud but it woke me up. Could not figure out what it was. I tracked it down to the vent and after a few minutes to wake up I realized a Crow or Raven was on the roof of the van tapping on the roof fan. I closed the cover and the noise stopped as I was closing it. As soon as it was closed it started again. Opened it up and told the bird to get lost and fortunately it did.