Tamarack Technologies Perfect Balance 27 1/4 x 4 3/4 Inch In Door Return Air Pathway

I installed these vents on the doors of two bedrooms; my goal was faster pressure equalization and more even temperatures in these rooms. HVAC activation tended to pull these doors closed and the jamb of one door was coated with fine dust similar to that around my AC filters. Overall I'm pleased: they seem sturdy enough, there's little noticeable increase in sound or light transmission. Most importantly, the rooms now feel as warm as the rest of the house, even with doors closed. One great indicator during a recent teens/20s cold snap: my roommate stopped turning up the thermostat because his room felt cold, which in turn made the rest of the house too warm.ABS plastic is approx. 1/8" thick, which is reasonably thick for the intended purpose. Installed - with the cardboard insert in place - I found the vents to be sufficiently strong. You might have issues if household members push (kick?) open doors with their feet or there are furniture-chewing pets. Cardboard inserts have a grid of 1/2" equilateral triangles. I wasn't sure if they were factory treated for moisture, so I removed the inserts and sprayed several coats of satin spar urethane. (Inserts will be stiffer when dry, so scrunch them down a few times - they're springy - so they'll fit back in the vents.) The inserts are completely see-through when held up to light, but because they're installed at floor level, the noticeable light at eye-level is minimal.Rather than use the cutout pattern from the box, I used a Speed Square and straight edge to mark out a 4-1/8"H x 24-3/8" W rectangle, centered on the bottom edge of the door. Before cutting with a jigsaw, I drilled a double-set of 3/32" holes in one corner so I could insert the jigsaw blade for the long cut. Cuts were made ON the line.Installation Tips:Make sure your door is 1-3/8" thick AND wide enough to accommodate a 24.5" vent cutout! Ensure that your jigsaw blade will cut at least 1-3/8" deep; higher teeth counts = cleaner cuts. Be careful when cutting a hollow core door: the framing and veneer portions require more pressure than the veneer-only parts. Once you cut through framing and into veneer-only, the sudden drop in resistance could send the saw blade in an undesired direction if you're not careful.Reinforcement: you may or may not have to do this depending on how your door's internal construction. If, after cutting the vent section from a hollow core door, the long exposed edges are flimsy and unsupported, take the section you cut out, remove the veneer on either side, and install inside the door with contact cement, construction adhesive, etc. You may need to clamp & let bond before continuing. Inset enough so it doesn't protrude beyond the cut and interfere with vent installation. (I saw this tip in the 'Fine Homebuilding' website.)Painting: Some reviewers complain about paint not sticking. These vents are shiny ABS plastic, so if you decide to paint I highly recommend web research on something like "painting smooth ABS plastic" for preparation tips. Requirements usually include rinsing with dish detergent, surface roughening with fine-grit sandpaper, wiping down with wax/grease remover and top-coating with plastic-friendly paint.

I like this product a lot. I have installed several return air pathways that go through walls, which help a lot in allowing the air conditioning to continue to work in rooms that have their doors closed.I bought this for a room where the studs are too close together and I have electrical and pluming issues where I would like to put a normal return air pathway. This door version is actually cheaper and probably easier to install.For this to be an easy project, you should have a jigsaw, but you could probably make it work with other tools if you were dedicated. If you are like my your doors are basically hollow with only thin walls. That makes them easy to cut and this fits right over the hole. Very little light and noise gets through and it looks pretty good installed. It makes a big difference in the air flow.This extends your door downward a quarter of an inch or so unless you chisel away some of the wood at the edges so it fits all the way in. That's what I did and it's a pain because my doors are made of very flimsy material. I ended up putting some caulk around it as well to act as a makeshift glue of sorts. In other words, because this attaches by only two screws at the bottom and because doors are made of really weak stuff, this isn't very securely attached if you don't also use some kind of glue.This is also made of plastic and cardboard. It wouldn't stand up well to being kicked or something. Just be aware of that when you are deciding which doors this is appropriate on.Having done both, I'd say cutting the door and using this is easier than cutting the drywall and making a hole in the wall for the other type of return air pathway. I recommend them both, but this is the easier and slightly cheaper option.

These are light weight. They are easily installed. They work on hollow doors. They allow air flow in rooms where there are not return vents. We expected them to be aluminum, they are plastic, but for the price they get the job done and look fine.

It helped to solved the hum noise from our main bedroom vent with the door closed. Easy install, will agree with others I think the price point is high for what it is.

Measure twice, and cut once. Use the template provided on the box. Make sure you have the right wood-cutting blade for your jigsaw. Even if you hardly use your jigsaw, like maybe once a year you can still do this; just keep your eyes open to make sure you're following your tracing. Be sure to drill the pilot hole before screwing in wood screws. You'll be best off using a drill-driver rather than injuring your wrist with a regular screwdriver. I could really feel the airflow under the door; it was really needed because of the carpet. Not sure if it's getting the house cooler or drawing less power yet but it's definitely doing what it says it will do.

I installed 2 of these and my kids both told me how much cooler it was in their room. After only 1 night! They are plastic but work well.

Installation was easy. No matter what I did the top would not stay flush with door. Ended up having to put 3 small screws on each side to get the top on each side of the door to stay flush. Metal or stronger plastic would have worked better. Not worth 49 bucks.

These are very weak and poorly made. If the doors had not already been cut by some energy assistance group I would have never considered replacing the broken ones. Now, after one day the new ones are falling apart. I believe an aluminum bar mounted over the bottom nay give them more strength and old them together. I plan to do that.