If you are willing to go to a bit of extra expense and have room in the canopy/ceiling box then you could try the following.
Remove the wall switch all together. I ended up putting the 7 button zwave scene controller in place of the switch.
Just make sure you tie the line to load in in place of the switch which will make the ceiling box always hot.
Wire in both the light fixture and a new fan control to the hot in the ceiling box. I used the ge in wall fan control and just had to make sure it fit up in my ceiling box. Others have fit it right into the canopy.
The light will always be on and can be controlled by the chain or in my case I put a zwave light bulb in the socket.
The fan can now be controlled via zwave and the light either by chain or zwave. If you put a scene controller in place of the wall switch then it all can be controlled from the wall like a normal switch as well.
If ST goes down you wonât have control of the fan other than the chain, which isnât optimal since you should always leave the fan in high via the pull chain but you could still turn it off.
The light is still controllable without ST but via the chain only (unless you have used direct association with a controller).
After all the issues with ST, I decided I am going to pull a new wire and have a separate light and fan control. My wife encourages me to put automated stuff, as long as she can control them manually, in the regular way, as well. If I tell her to start pulling chains and other stuff, sheâll just veto the idea.
I know the feeling but keep in mind the only way to currently control them both from the wall manually and in auto is a two gang box. There currently is no device made that will fit in a single gang box and control both light dimming and fan speed controls. My point being when you fish the wall make sure you can cut in a two gang box or you wont be able to accomplish it anyways.
Pardon my lack of knowledge, but Iâm new to ST and Iâm stuck on this fan/light control issue. Every fan in my house, except the master, the light and fan are controlled by one wall switch. Is it not possible to replace the wall switch the GE fan controller and then use a ST compatible bulb in the light socket? Again, I apologize if this is a dumb question. I considered it a major accomplishment for not burning down the house when replacing the switches in the master earlier this week.
It depends on how the wiring that was done. Currently if you turn on the wall switch I am assuming it provides general power to the fan AND light so that it must be turned on so that you can use separate pull chains to control fan speed and light? If so, your idea wonât work directly because your GE controller at the wall switch is changing the power to the fan at the same time to the bulbs.
However, you might want to take a look to see what wiring you have behind the switch and see if you got lucky and they roughed in 14-3 giving you a black, white, red, ground conductors giving you a spare. Then it could work because it was roughed in for ceiling fans and you run power to the lights separately and control the ST smart bulbs.
Thanks for the response. Currently, one switch does control the fan and the lights. On one of the fans downstairs, I looked at behind the switch and I didnât see what you described. That fan currently has a remote attached to it (which isnât working properl), so the switch stays on all the time anyways and the pull chains have been removed (how I bought the house). Guess there is no way to do thisâŚoh well. Iâll just have to replace the remote system and add a remote system to the remaining fans in the house. BummerâŚ
If you have a single gang switch, couldnt you (anyone) wire the light for constant power (Pull chain power only), install the GE fan controller and be done with it? Use the aeon in-wall for the light (in the fan base) if you want.
That way, you would have control of both items independently, for a price of about $70.
My fan currently has a remote control with 3 fan speeds and on off for the light. I wanted to keep this remote working so my plan was to buy a 2nd remote and setup a raspberry pi with an relay to trigger that remote!
When connecting the micro controller did you have to connect the wall switch part? I cant seem to pick it up on the smartthings app. The model I have is Aeotec Labs Micro G2 Micro Smart Switch
Would you mind sharing a wire diagram with me. I connected my aeon micro controller but I may have done it incorrectly. Cant really tell from the images what is connected to what
No I didnât connect a wall switch BUT I added the device through my app while I had access to it before I closed up the fan canopy. In lieu of the wall switch you can press the little button on the side. I understand you could also use the Aeotec Minimote to have your device join the hub.
[quote=âobogle, post:30, topic:29215, full:trueâ]
Would you mind sharing a wire diagram with me. I connected my aeon micro controller but I may have done it incorrectly. Cant really tell from the images what is connected to what
[/quote]. I can try to help but I think it would be more effective if you share an accurate diagram of what you actually wired up. Be specific with exactly what wire you connected to what terminal including color and I am pretty sure I can troubleshoot it with you.
[quote=âTurb02, post:27, topic:29215, full:trueâ]
If you have a single gang switch, couldnt you (anyone) wire the light for constant power (Pull chain power only), install the GE fan controller and be done with it? Use the aeon in-wall for the light (in the fan base) if you want.
That way, you would have control of both items independently, for a price of about $70.
[/quote] The issue is âcouldnt you (anyone) wire the light for constant powerâ. By putting the GE Fan controller in at the wall switch you basically are no longer receiving constant power at the fan. So you need to fish another wire for power.
In my setup, everything has to be WAF. I was hoping the aeon minimote could pair with the switch directly but the instructions are soo poor I cant figure it out.
I will respectfully disagree and say there is not an issue with tapping off the motor power to run the lights. That is exactly how they do it in a new installation and in fact use same power to run both. It will be fine.
FYI, I had a similar problem in my kitchen and replaced existing single gang with remodel double gang extra deep and it isnât that hard at all to make it look perfect with zero tacky-ness.
Oh I agree thats an option but I am more into streamlining and less seen on the wall. I prefer single gang as much as possible but if something does not come available by the time I am ready Ill change to 2 gang boxes I just think they look like crap in a bedroom.
