I am fairly new to home automation and this is my first hardwired device so I want to make sure Im doing everything correctly. Here is my situation. I have two switches in a double gang box. Ones switch controls the on/off for the light the other the on/off for the fan. If I want to change the fan speed I have to pull the chain. I have two GE-Zwave 14291 switches that I would like to use. I know how to wire up the light switch but Im not sure about the fan. Could someone please give me some guidance.
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Based on your drawing, you wire both the light and fan smart switches exactly the same. The only difference is from the white (neutral) wire nut in the switch box add two new white wires that connect into the bottom neutral connector in the switches (one for each)
Thanks. That is what I thought but the red wire made me unsure. Better safe than sorry.
You’re in a good spot, you could actually use a fan controller instead of a standard on/off switch if you wanted. Leave the pull chain set to high and control fan speed through SmartThings. Not necessary, but most people want that so I thought I’d mention it.
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@destructure00 is correct. You do NOT want to use a light switch for a fan. Spend the extra $10 and get a proper fan controller.
I actually looked into buying the fan switch the only one I could find for sale is the ge 12730 this is the z-wave model. I prefer to have all z-wave plus if possible but the z-wave plus model 14287 is listed as discontinued. That is why I chose to just use a regular z-wave plus switch for the time being. Is there any reason not to use a regular switch besides the loss of the fan speed functionality? We don’t really change the speed anyway.
As far as I know that is the only reason.
With another Plus switch mounted right next to your fan switch I don’t think having a Plus model for your fan is going to gain you much of anything over a non-Plus switch, but if that’s what you want then it should be fine.
@RLDreams is there any reason (other than loss of speed control) not to use a standard on/off switch for a ceiling fan? I know you can’t use a lighting dimmer for a fan but I was under the impression that a normal on/off switch would work fine.
A standard on/off will work. For the $10 price difference, the actual fan controller IMHO is worth it to be able and actually control fan speed. No more chains hanging down to hit your head on LOL.
If you already have the 14/3 wire and 2 separate switches for lights and fan, it seems silly to spend the $35(ish) on switches when for $40-$45 you can use dimmer and fan controller.
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when you say a dimmer and fan control is there a single unit that would do both or would I need a dimmer switch and a separate fan control? I like the ge stuff because of the included almond face plate could you recommend part numbers for me?
I use these:
GE Smart Dimmer, Z-Wave, In-Wall, 12724
GE Smart Fan Control, Z-Wave, In-Wall, 12730
They are the regular Z-Wave and not Z-Wave plus but I have had zero issues with them thus far. Also works manually if the internet goes down.
There is not a zwave or zigbee device that does both fan and light control in a single switch unfortunately.
The switches you already have will work fine if you just want basic on/off control.
If you want to dim the lights and/or have fan speed control, use the two that @rontalley mentioned above.
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