Make table lamps mirror fan lights without changing fan controller?

Wiki Projects & Stories
#1

I have a Minka fan that uses a wall switch (light with dimmer and 3 fan speeds). The wall switch sends RF signals to the fan. I also have two lamps in the room. My goal is to turn both lamps on when I turn the fan light on.

I bought a Bond and connected the fan to the Bond app which makes it smart. Each lamp is plugged into a smart outlet. I then used IFTTT to turn on lamps when fan light is turned on. However, IFTTT only knows when I turn the fan on with an app not with the wall switch. I am much more likely to walk into the room and hit the wall switch and than walk into the room, take out my phone and turn on the fan light.

Any thoughts on how to make the lamps turn on when I turn the fan light on from the wall switch? Because the switch is RF, I do not think I can swap it out for a smart switch.

TIA!

#2

  1. I can think of a couple of possibilities, but the easiest is just to take a lux sensor and put it where it can react to the fan lights coming on. Then use that to trigger the table lamps. You would need to also add a lux sensor in a different room or Limit it to specific times of day in order to keep sunlight from triggering your automation. But it would be pretty simple to set up, it’s just that there would be a slight popcorn effect in that the fan light would come on and then the table lamps would come on.

  2. The other alternative would be to cover the existing switch with a flip up box and on the top of that put a battery operated switch that you would use to trigger the Bond. That wouldn’t require any wiring and the original switch would still be available if you got it but it would give you a quick “lights on“ physical device.

And if you use the new zooz rocker switch for this it has multiple tap patterns so you could separate turning on the lights from turning on the fan, etc.

I’m sure there are other possibilities, those are just the first two I thought of. :sunglasses:

#3

Cheapest way would be mijia lux sensor

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