Our mission is to combine innovation and technology to provide the most efficient, versatile and sustainable ventilation products.
About Us
The story of the world's most efficient solar ventilation system starts in one of the most remote and beautiful regions of the entire world—California's Lost Coast. Owner and founder Lucien Eddisford arrived with his parents in a VW Camper Van in 1970. The area had no electricity, no phones, no real roads—people made do with kerosene lamps, generators and frontier spirit.
Eddisford spent many years working as a mechanical engineer and fuel systems technologist in Europe before returning to Northern California in 1991. The alternative energy field had exploded in his absence. Back-to-the-landers like his parents had built a knowledge and consumer base for renewable technology that would work in remote locations. Eddisford began work under the mentorship of David Katz, owner of Alternative Energy Engineering. Their partnership yielded a plethora of new designs and ideas, but Eddisford decided to focus on one key concept. He wanted to build the world's best fan.
The final product had to be energy efficient, durable and long-lasting. Eddisford aspired to create a quality product that would create zero landfill waste and be completely field-serviceable. The parts wouldn't wear out quickly, and it wouldn't take someone with an engineering degree to replace them. (Snap Fan's installation pamphlets are modeled after the airplane evacuation cards, with simple graphics instead of paragraphs of instructions.)
After three years and many prototypes, Snap-Fan was born. Incorporating a brushless DC motor, quiet aerofoil blades, and secure polypropylene glassmat housing, the first fans outstripped every other model on the market in energy efficiency. Retailers took note, but Eddisford decided to limit to production to only a thousand fans during its first year. If anything were to go awry with the first batch, he wanted to be able to replace or repair them himself. After a successful first year, Snap-Fan refocused on incorporating the lessons learned from the brush DC motor and offering the same durable product line that incorporates an electronically commutated AC motor that works on 115 volts. This product can be used in any application and reduces power consumption by two thirds.
Today Snap-Fan has expanded into homes and businesses all over the world, with production set to expand to 10, 000 fans a year. The fans are used in disaster relief efforts, large scale Agritech projects and in remote, off-the-grid homes like the ones in which Eddisford grew up. Snap Fan started small and went big, but true success for its founder is creating a quality product that will last for a lifetime.
