Birdwidow, I thought of that, but had already wired it - though I don't think it would be that much of a problem to cut into the line and rerun part of the wire. That may be what I end up doing - I want to first see how it works (once I energize it) and see if the manual by-pass with a second chain remains practical. I also thought of simply turning the thermostat way up before I utilize a by-pass so they would not turn on. I have the shutter motors hooked up to a dual stage thermostat and down line from there I could put in another weather box and switch. I put in several weather boxes in a line on one wall. . .the first is a GFI outlet, then the thermostat, then a line to the motorized shutters and on to the next box which houses the variable speed control for the fan. I think your solution is the most logical one. . .I would just have to remember to turn the switch to off before I engaged the by-pass. Or, when I talk to the mfgr on Monday, they may tell me it makes no difference if they happen to come on while I have by-passed them. By the way, for general info for those in the forum, I had opened both 16" shutters manually while I was working inside on other things - and I had already installed outside of one of them one of those attic vents - louvered and screened. The other one was just open the outdoors without any vent. . it was amazing how much of a breeze came in the one without the louvered vent compared to the opening with the louvers. So, I have decided to take off the louvered vent and protect the opening from the weather in another way. . . The air flow restriction would not likely be as much with the exhaust fan on, but it really made a difference when it was just open for the breeze.

I'll explain why fans and shutters are typically mounted with the flange on the inside of the openings. You'll notice that the weight of the unit (and especially fan units) are not evenly distributed and the guts enclosed in the box are usually hanging on the outside of the opening. If you mount them with the flange on the outside, it puts all the stress on the mounting screws, instead of distributing around the whole unit by way of the flange. The weight of the units also push against the opening and cause there to be a tighter fit simply from gravity. And believe it or not I've seen screws fail and loosen simply from fan vibrations over the years. If the flange is on the inside, and the bulk of the unit on the outside, the unit is more stable, and the bottom edge of it is then weight bearing, taking the stress off the screws. It's probably obvious I work with pretty large fans, and motorised shutters, but the principle of it is valid regardless of the size units you work with.

Most of the on line companies you have to install yourself or hire someone local to do it. I just know I have been looking for several months. I have a 4,200sq' home to put shutters, wood blinds, valances, curtains, area rugs etc, and I have to cut somewhere. I have installed blinds myself at our cabin, but DH will do the house. It really isn't that hard. We are doing the hinge attached to the window frame. It is really quite simple and as another poster said all he used was an electric screwdriver.

I worked for Gutter Shutter in Cincinnati. The sales manager there named John is a frickin goof ball. Its a scripted pitch.................that leads the salesman to ultimately "Phone his warehouse manager" in an effort to see if they have "your color gutter" and length (roll) in the warehouse. The saleman ALWAYS puts the manager on speaker phone so the customer can hear the conversation. The key here is: Its really the sales manager and the salesman initially says " I am with the Smucketelli family and we need a little help here with their gutters. (a little help means the initial price quoted to the homeowner is just a little too high)...................If the salesman says...............man, this family could use a LOT of help out here with their gutters, this simply clues the sales manager off that he needs to discount HUGE to get the business. Ultimately, and lucky for you the homeowner, (the sales manager doesnt even go out in the warehouse and check) the sales manager usually will call the saleman back.........and say something like............."did you say WHITE............185 foot..............with 3 downspouts? Of course the salesman says yes. The manager then says " I have a 195 foot roll of white still banded out here in the 3rd row of the warehouse...........you can discount THAT roll by 900.00 (or something like that) Its all driven to make the customer SEEM like its their lucky day......but of course....the product is still overpriced. I WOULD HIGHLY SUGGEST NEVER NEVER dealing with Cincinnati Gutter Shutter. They have a horrible BBB rating..........utilize several company names because they cant keep a clean BBB rating and switch names FREQUENTLY. Its all driven to get the homeowner to buy TODAY..............without getting other quotes. Good luck...........................lol