Hunter Ceiling Fan & Z-Wave Control

[mulu]

I have a few Hunter ceiling fans that come with a remote to turn the light on/off, turn the fan on/off and adjust the fan to 3 different levels. I still want to be able to use the remote but also control them through HS, ideally using some Aspire switches by Cooper Wiring (preferred but not required). What switches will work with fans and allow adjusting the speed incl. on/off.

[Kerat]

Hunter Ceiling Fan & Z-Wave Control

I use the GE ceiling fan modules. They work well for me. I have an event that runs the ceiling fan with the thermostat's "circulate" fan cycle conditionally, when the house knows people are home and if the fan was not already manually turned on. manual on cycles are turned off after 3 hours. I checked with my wife and she and I don't have to touch it much. This is an improvement because it used to run 24x7, or I would constantly be turning it off and she would be turning it back on.

I group my motion sensors together by floor to determine occupancy:
1st floor: entry and hallway.
Basement: stairwell, and home office

I have kids and a dog that run around the house when we are home so this is pretty accurate for us. I am adding multi-sensors to rooms with fans bedrooms, bathrooms, laundry room, living room, kitchen. Then I will also be adding motion sensors to storage rooms, HTPC room, basement family room, and basement hallway. I am going to retry phlocation and do geo-fencing this time, in order to get better detection in HS3.

You know I wonder if you could setup an it blasted to control the fan from HS3.


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[mulu]

Does your ceiling fan come with a remote control? If so, can you still use it? If not, then I assume it has a pull cord to adjust the speed and you just leave it at the highest setting.

In either case, assume you put the fan to the low setting, either using the pull cord or the remote control. Now when you control the fan through HS using the GE switch, can it still go to its normal high setting or will it max out at the fan's low setting because that is what you set through the cord/remote? In other words, if the fan is set to low (through the cord or remote) and you set the GE to high, will it stay at the normal low and when you switch the GE to low it will go even lower than the regular low setting?

[Kerat]

Does your ceiling fan come with a remote control? If so, can you still use it? If not, then I assume it has a pull cord to adjust the speed and you just leave it at the highest setting.



In either case, assume you put the fan to the low setting, either using the pull cord or the remote control. Now when you control the fan through HS using the GE switch, can it still go to its normal high setting or will it max out at the fan's low setting because that is what you set through the cord/remote? In other words, if the fan is set to low (through the cord or remote) and you set the GE to high, will it stay at the normal low and when you switch the GE to low it will go even lower than the regular low setting?

My fans are not remote controlled. I leave them on the highest settings. The GE fan switch is essentially a 4 position switch: off, low (up to about 33%), medium (up to about 66%), high (up to 100%). The switch seems to also give extra power to get the fan up to speed quickly.


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[mulu]

Kerat, thanks for the response. If possible, could you try what happens when you put the fan on low using the pull cord (I assume that is what you have). Can the fan still go to 100% when you put the GE switch to 100% or will it stay at the low setting?

[sparkman]

Kerat, thanks for the response. If possible, could you try what happens when you put the fan on low using the pull cord (I assume that is what you have). Can the fan still go to 100% when you put the GE switch to 100% or will it stay at the low setting?

No wall switch can override that as the pull-switch controls which section of the motor winding the current will flow through. It will be 33%, 66% and 100% of the low setting.

Cheers
Al

[mulu]

Sparkman, thanks for the response. That is what I expected, at least for the fans with the pull cord. Do you happen to know what the behavior is when you have a fan with a remote and no pull cord (in particular the hunter fans)? I suspect that they behave just like the pull-cord ones and they can't really be controlled independently through HS and the remote, i.e. the HS settings (through GE switch) will just be applied on top of the current settings of the remote.

[sparkman]

Sparkman, thanks for the response. That is what I expected, at least for the fans with the pull cord. Do you happen to know what the behavior is when you have a fan with a remote and no pull cord (in particular the hunter fans)? I suspect that they behave just like the pull-cord ones and they can't really be controlled independently through HS and the remote, i.e. the HS settings (through GE switch) will just be applied on top of the current settings of the remote.

I would expect it would work the same, as the circuitry that works with the remote would switch to different points on the winding. Note that quite a few fans with controls like that use DC motors, so a zwave multi-position switch like the GE and Levtiton won't work with them. Only a single-position relay based zwave switch work with those.

Cheers
Al

[mulu]

Sparkman, thanks. So the conclusion is that HomeSeer (and any other home automation system for that matter) cannot control fans independently. At best they can further manipulate the current settings (if the fan was set to low they can just lower it even more but not increase it) and in the "worst case" can only turn the fans on and off at the last setting. Somebody has to come up with a z-wave enabled ceiling fan...!!!

[sparkman]

Sparkman, thanks. So the conclusion is that HomeSeer (and any other home automation system for that matter) cannot control fans independently. At best they can further manipulate the current settings (if the fan was set to low they can just lower it even more but not increase it) and in the "worst case" can only turn the fans on and off at the last setting. Somebody has to come up with a z-wave enabled ceiling fan...!!!

I just remove the cords of mine, so the only way to control them is with the zwave switches/HS. If yours is an IR remote, then one of the IR plugins along with the required hardware could be used. However, most fans that I have looked at use an RF remote with proprietary protocols. I think the RFXCom plugin supports a few and it's possible to reverse engineer most protocols and then use an Arduino along with an RF module to control them.

Cheers
Al

[jmaddox]

I think I may be able to help clarify things. Your Hunter remote is controlling a dimmer which is located in the fans canopy. You cannot have a dimmer switch in line behind another dimmer switch.

ie current-->dimmer-->dimmer2-->load = bad

If you did want to use an in wall dimmer such as the GE zwave fan control (I use these myself) you should remove the in canopy remote module and have the fan wired directly to the in wall GE zwave fan control. If you had a manual pull chain it should be set to 'high'.

If you still wanted to have a remote to control the fan you'd need to use a zwave hand held scene controller. The aeotec minimote is an example of one.

The GE zwave fan control is one option. I've also tried the Leviton VRF01-1LZ Vizia RF Fan Control. Both offer 3 speed control (4 if you count off).

There is another zwave device but it has some interesting limitations. Enerwave ZWN-RSM2 Z-Wave Smart Dual Relay. It can separately control the fan and light but only on/off no dimming and it's wired inside the canopy. I have no experience with this device.

Outside of zwave you the insteon fanlinc (again no direct experience with this device) but it also gives 3 speed fan control and dimming of the light.
it mounts in the canopy similar to the Enerwave.

Using a canopy mounted product means you'd either only control the fan using homeseer or you'd need to install a zwave(or insteon) wall scene controller/hand held remote.


The following is my opinion only when comparing the GE vs the Levitor fan controllers!

GE pros include a typical decora style rocker, top paddle is on/hold to dim up, and bottom is off/hold to dim down(in default configuration). The switch fits the aesthetics and behavior of my other switches. When you turn this fan on it's starts on high then reduces it's speed to the last setting

GE cons; the led flashes briefly to indicate the speed; ie 'high' = several fast flashes then a steady LED. Just looking at the switch gives no indication of what speed it's set to. Status is not instantly reported to homeseer.

Leviton pros include a series of LEDs which at a glance indicates the fan speed. A separate horizontal rocker under the speed LED's allows you to change the speed, instant status notification

Leviton cons include the aforementioned speed rocker;it's a bit clumsy and feels clunky to use. The main paddle itself acts like a toggle, the bottom is the only active portion and is a momentary switch. Tapping the bottom turns the switch on/off.


Recall how I said that dimmer-->dimmer2-->load was bad?
switch-->dimmer-->load works.

You can use a non dimming zwave switch to turn the power to the fan on/off. When the power is 'on' you'd be able to use your hunter remote to control the speed.

[jmaddox]

... Somebody has to come up with a z-wave enabled ceiling fan...!!!

My fervent hope is that HS decides to release a fan controller styled just like their HomeSeer HS-WD100+. instant status, double/triple tap central scene, led indicating fan speed and the decora style hit my entire wishlist for a fan control.

[The Profit]

My fervent hope is that HS decides to release a fan controller styled just like their HomeSeer HS-WD100+. instant status, double/triple tap central scene, led indicating fan speed and the decora style hit my entire wishlist for a fan control.

I've been toying with the idea of using an Arduino to short out buttons on a dedicated RF remote control for the fans. That way I can control with HS and a remote. The con would be keeping it in sync.


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[Timon]

Has anyone tried just using a HS dimmer? If it's a trailing edge dimmer and it can handle induction e loads it should work.

[sparkman]

The GE zwave fan control is one option. I've also tried the Leviton VRF01-1LZ Vizia RF Fan Control. Both offer 3 speed control. neither are instant status.

I have a number of the Leviton fan switches. They do provide instants status...


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