I own a Panasonic AE900U front projector and it works great. However, in my installation I require and use a small squirrel cage fan that pulls the hot air from the air outlet port away from the unit.

There is no AC outlet plug or trigger plug on the back of the Panny for controlling something, as is sometimes found on other equipment. Is there a device that when I turn on/off the Panny the fan will automatically turn on/off?

Any other way of turning on/off the Panny and the fan together?
Take Aim

Niles makes a current sensing outlet device. Plug your projector in and it detects when it's powered on which switches another outlet that you can plug your fan into.

The unit also has relay outputs that you can connect to automation systems for sensing when the projector is on (or to control screens, etc.)

http://www.nilesaudio.com/images/PDF/APC-2_Cutsheet.pdf

Cheers,
Paul

Once you jump into automation, this is very simple. An automation system would turn on the projector AND the fan together (and dim the lights, warm up the AV equipment, move the projector masking, etc).

I use RS232 from my automation PC to turn on the projector. Just as easily could put an Insteon / X10 / UPB / Z-Wave appliance switch to turn on the fan.

Of course, since the projector has a temperature status, I would use that to regulate how fast the blower fan would go (use a dimmable automated switch, not an appliance switch)

Thanks for the intro into automation. Any books, ciompanies, etc on the topic you would recommend?
Take Aim