asbril Posted April 17, 2016 Posted April 17, 2016 I have a Ceiling Fan & Light that is currently controlled with a regular (non-ZWave) fan/light switch. I would like to replace it with ZWave or Insteon. The GE 12730 Z-Wave Smart Fan Control does not control the light and I have no space to add another ZWave light switch in the same box. How can I resolve this ? Any advise is welcome !!!
oberkc Posted April 17, 2016 Posted April 17, 2016 I use insteon. There is a fanlinc that goes in the fan canopy that controls the light and fan (three speeds). At the wall location, I use an insteon keypadlinc that sends commands to the fanlinc.
bgrubb1 Posted April 17, 2016 Posted April 17, 2016 The Fanlinc works really well, I have 3, but the fanlinc has not fit in ANY of the fan canopies. I have had to install a triple box inline to hold the fanlinc
stusviews Posted April 17, 2016 Posted April 17, 2016 The Fanlinc works really well, I have 3, but the fanlinc has not fit in ANY of the fan canopies. I have had to install a triple box inline to hold the fanlinc Only one of our six fans has a canopy too small for the FanLinc. But you are correct. a 3-gang wall box is the alternative. Keep in mind that the box has to be accessible according to the code. An attic or crawl space is considered accessible.
asbril Posted May 15, 2016 Author Posted May 15, 2016 I think that my solution will be to put 3 Everspring AN145 Z-Wave Screw-In Lamp Sockets in the fan lights. I would then replace the NON ZWave fan/light switch with a ZWave fan switch and control the fan lights through the Administrative Console and with a Multi-channel scene controller, once ISY 5.X works well with multi-channel.
stusviews Posted May 15, 2016 Posted May 15, 2016 I'm ready to remove the GE Smart Fan Control. It's simply too time taking for easy control. Hold and press and observe. The LED blinks for 10 seconds every 2 seconds, every 1 second or every 1/2 second for low, medium or high speed, respectively. One tap on a Keypad button sets the speed using a FanLinc and the specified speed button LED turns on. And both the light and fan control are in one place. A Mini Remote can also be used to control everything.
arw01 Posted June 12, 2016 Posted June 12, 2016 Thank you for the thread, since my entire living room and dining room are bare trusses at the moment, was dropping fan box into the new cathedral ceiling and remarking how small it was in that box.One could certainly use a micro-switch in there for the light itself, but no way a fanlinc will fit in there.That left me thinking about running a second set of wires into the fan box itself so I could have a 14-3 and a 14-2 in there to get to the lights from a fanlinc installed in the attic.It's operating range says "indoor", anyone having issues with the fanlinc in the attic where it get's quite hot in the summer? Alan
BamBamF16 Posted June 13, 2016 Posted June 13, 2016 In my home, all of the fanlincs are in the fans canopy not the j-box. Jeff
mapeter Posted June 13, 2016 Posted June 13, 2016 I'm ready to remove the GE Smart Fan Control. It's simply too time taking for easy control. Hold and press and observe. The LED blinks for 10 seconds every 2 seconds, every 1 second or every 1/2 second for low, medium or high speed, respectively. One tap on a Keypad button sets the speed using a FanLinc and the specified speed button LED turns on. And both the light and fan control are in one place. A Mini Remote can also be used to control everything. Have you found another alternative that isn't a FanLinc? I too do not like the fact that you have to press and hold the GE switch. The fact I can control it with the Echo is the only thing saving it from the garbage can. As soon as I find a decent in-wall alternative, it will be replaced.
nelis249 Posted July 30, 2016 Posted July 30, 2016 hmmm. The GE fan control doesn't control the lights (if needing a single fan/light controller). I'm not sure you can compare the two either, GE vs Insteon. From what I've been reading, Insteon is their own product and you need an Insteon hub to be able to make it work. Is this not the case? The GE switch is pure zwave and will work with any zwave controller. This should be pointed out to people reading this article thinking that FanLinc is the solution to the problem. If already in a zwave universe (or DIY like me), this is not a solution.
stusviews Posted July 30, 2016 Posted July 30, 2016 The Insteon FanLinc needs only a linked Insteon device to make it work. The links can be created by pushing buttons. Nothing else is required. This is true for all Insteon devices (RF devices need at least on wired dual-band device).
lilyoyo1 Posted July 30, 2016 Posted July 30, 2016 If someone is reading this on here, I would assume they have an ISY which works with insteon as well. While Insteon would not be compatible with zwave only controllers, you could still manually link the ranking to another insteon device such as a keypad for insteon control
arw01 Posted July 30, 2016 Posted July 30, 2016 Will add that the fan we bought turned out to be NOT controllable with the Fanlinc and that is $80 down the drain. Must have a secret DC motor running it, no posts to that effect on any online site i could find, not mentioned in the manual, and an email to Smarthome was answered with the boilerplate BS from low level tech support.Wasted a couple of hours trying to make it work, with it inline to the motor, no go, bypass it and the motor worked fine.I was able to fit the fanlinc into the "canopy" openeng that you slide the down rod into, and put part of it there and part into the junction box the fan hung from, however since it would not control the motor, it's not in there anymore. Perhaps on the black friday sale I will buy 2 micro modules, one for the lights and one for the fan motor and see if they will do the job. The micro module will have to be a relay style. Don't think I can take 1/2 of my 2 wire setup from before the remodel and make that work.
stusviews Posted July 30, 2016 Posted July 30, 2016 Which specific fan/light? I'm not sure what "1/2 of my 2 wire setup means?"
larryllix Posted July 30, 2016 Posted July 30, 2016 Will add that the fan we bought turned out to be NOT controllable with the Fanlinc and that is $80 down the drain. Must have a secret DC motor running it, no posts to that effect on any online site i could find, not mentioned in the manual, and an email to Smarthome was answered with the boilerplate BS from low level tech support. Wasted a couple of hours trying to make it work, with it inline to the motor, no go, bypass it and the motor worked fine. I was able to fit the fanlinc into the "canopy" openeng that you slide the down rod into, and put part of it there and part into the junction box the fan hung from, however since it would not control the motor, it's not in there anymore. Perhaps on the black friday sale I will buy 2 micro modules, one for the lights and one for the fan motor and see if they will do the job. The micro module will have to be a relay style. Don't think I can take 1/2 of my 2 wire setup from before the remodel and make that work. Not controllable? What does the fan do?
Brian H Posted July 30, 2016 Posted July 30, 2016 Some of the modern fans now use DC controllers and motors. That the FanLinc will not work with. If the fan i question is using a DC controller with motor setup. I have seen no ways reported to control them with a Fanlinc. Just failure to control reports.
stusviews Posted July 30, 2016 Posted July 30, 2016 No current HA device can control a DC motor unless it's low voltage (<30VDC) and only On/Off is needed.
larryllix Posted July 31, 2016 Posted July 31, 2016 No current HA device can control a DC motor ... What if the motor is from one of the 50 states?
G W Posted July 31, 2016 Posted July 31, 2016 What if the motor is from one of the 50 states?Hehehehe. It took a few seconds but once it hit me I almost chocked. Good one, Larry. Best regards, Gary Funk
stusviews Posted July 31, 2016 Posted July 31, 2016 What if the motor is from one of the 50 states? Alaska
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