Keeping your van at a comfortable temperature is the key to happiness on the road. Beyond insulation, operable windows, strategic van placement, and personal fans, the best solution for controlling your interior environment is the use of a ceiling fan. After a ton of research, we opted for the Maxx Air 7500k due to its rich feature set and proven performance.

The Maxx Air 7500k provides over 900 CFM to keep you cool and comfortable by circulating plenty of air in your van. The fan can run with the lid open or closed to circulate air (Ceiling Fan Mode). It boasts an interior insect screen, remote control keypad that controls fan speed, thermostat, air intake and/or exhaust functions, and closes securely for a low profile appearance. It has a built-In Rain Cover to protect your interior, even when the fan is running during storms. The fan is a powerful 10-speed intake and exhaust fan that has a thermostat to control room temperature by turning on/off as needed. Most of these features can be controlled either manually or by using the included remote control.

Why we like it: We use the Maxx Air 7500k to circulate air in our van in conjunction with a Dometic Midi Heki skylight. When it’s especially warm, we’ll also crack the front windows and use these vented covers. This pulls cool air from the cab through the cabin. We can even use it when it’s pouring cats and dogs outside because of the clever Maxx Air 7500k Rain cover that shelters the fan and keeps water from entering.

Beyond climate control, we use the Maxx Air 7500k to move stale air out of the van. The cabin is small so odors from trash, the sink, a wet dog, or dog farts can build up, so opening the vent or turning on the fan helps circulate fresh air. Lastly, the fan is useful in controlling humidity that arises from cooking, showering (our fan is located above the bathroom), and even breathing in cooler weather!

We find that pulling air out of the fan is far more efficient than using the fan to draw air in. From a physics point of view, this makes a lot of sense. Energy consumption has been relatively low, so we generally don’t hesitate to operate the fan even when we’re watching our power consumption. The fan does get loud as you increase the speed, but the lower settings are totally fine for sleeping at night.

When installing your fan, you’re going to cut a huge hole in your roof! This was the first cut we made in our new van and it was scary (it gets way easier making cuts - we promise)! Just make sure to measure a bunch of times before cutting, blue tape the area you plan to cut to reduce paint chipping, and make sure to lay something on the floor so the metal shavings can be collected. We also HIGHLY recommend purchasing a roof adapter to accommodate the various grooves on your roof and help keep everything watertight. Impact Products makes adapters for nearly every van make. Get an adapter!

Things to keep in mind: While the remote contains all of the features that the Maxx Air 7500k offers (the unit itself doesn’t have all of the function buttons), we found that the remote is more often than not a pain to use. Due to the fact that our fan is on the opposite end of the van from our bed, we basically have to put the remote on the floor in order to reach the proper angle for it to communicate with the fan. For us, it is generally faster and more reliable just to get out of bed and adjust the fan settings. Another thing to consider - our unit has the smoke-colored rain cover which is actually translucent. It allows some light in but isn’t a suitable substitute for a skylight if you’re looking for golden rays of light to penetrate your van interior. If you’re a vampire, you may want to consider the white rain cover model, as it is opaque and allows far less light from entering than the smoke colored model.

The take away: The remote issue is what keeps this product from getting a MUST HAVE rating. We are really happy with the low profile, the rain cover, air movement, sound, and energy consumption that the fan requires. Perhaps if the remote sensor located on the fan itself was positioned in a better location - this unit would be perfect. We really like this fan and we think you will too. Check the link below for current pricing.