I have a ceiling fan with light on it. I have traditional 2 Wall Switches for On/Off function of Fan and Light.
On the Fan (w/Light) assembly I have 2 pull strings.
One string switches light On/Off. I leave this always On, so light can be controlled via Wall mounted switch.
Another string control Fan Speed (4 speeds). it is typically left alone so fan always rotate on 3rd speed. So I just use wall mount On/Off Switch to turn the fan on/Off. Sometime it is hassle to control the fan speed using the pull string.
Should I Replace
Wall traditional wall light switch with zWave light switch for On/Off of the light
Replace the traditional wall fan switch with zWave Fan Controller switch
Will I be able to control the speed of the fan using the Smartthing application?
What should be position of pull switches on the fan/light assembly? Do I need to bypass those by doing different wiring in the fan canopy?
Or do I need to replace the fan/light assembly with something different?
I have the GE/Jasco switches on a fan with light in my kitchen. I used an on/off switch for the light, and the fan controller switch for the fan. It works great. I can control the speed of the fan with the smartthings app, with Alexa, or with the switch. The fan switch provides 3 speed options (plus off) and the app/alexa offer a percentage. Obviously, the on/off switch only provides on/off, but you could do this as a dimmer switch too, if you wanted.
The pull-chains on the fan remain “on” for light and “fastest/high” for the fan.
Yes. The GE/Jasco switches are the cheapest option if you want smart speed control. For smart fan speed control, you only have a couple options; you should not use a light dimmer switch. If you just want to turn the fan on/off using smartthings, a smart toggle would work. Then you would use the pull-chain on the fan to set the speed.
There are a number of topics discussing this–I would just search and read what’s been said already.
The GE 12730 really is the way to go for fan control. Just leave the chain switch on the 3rd speed setting (assuming that’s the highest one you actually use) and set the speed you want via the wall switch, the ST app and/or Alexa. When you set your desired speed you can then toggle the fan on/off and your most recent speed setting will be retained, so you don’t have to set it every time you turn the fan off and back on.
Add the GE 12724 dimmer for your lights and you’ve got complete Z-Wave smart fan+light control. I’m using that setup for a couple of ceiling fans in my house and it works perfectly.
The forum search isn’t great but it will give you close results. If you search 3 speed fan, or the GE switch numbers you should get more info than you probably want. This is asked alot.
I have and recommend the GE switches depending on what you want. I also recommend using @johnconstantelo DTH to get a 3 speed button in the smartthings app vice the slider control.
Thanks Bruce and Dan. You answered my original question. Thank you.
I will buy the Fan Control Switch as recommended.
If I add Light Dimmer Smart Switch instead of On/Off Smart Switch for light control, do I need to replace the light bulbs in fan fixture? Or can I leave the existing CFL bulbs?
Are they dimmable CFLs? If not then using them with a dimmer switch is not advisable. But honestly, decent LEDs are so cheap now I’ve replaced all of the CFLs I had with dimmable LEDs just for the heck of it.
Here’s my question, is there such a thing that you can put in the base to control the fan… I only have one switch on the wall that I’d like to be a dimmer for the light… the fan I don’t even really need to use. I have seen people stick a switch in the base but my base doesn’t provide that kind of room. Can I straight wire the fan in any scenario where it only works on pullchain or something?
You definitely want to get one of the electrician minded members to say for certain. I’m nearly sure that you can wire the fan to be always hot, so that it’s pullchain only, and leave the light to be on the switch/dimmer leg by itself.
