My new home has several banks of toggle type lighting switches. In every case, there is a mix of fan and lighting switches. Also in every case, I only need to automate a small number of the switches, so I intend to leave the rest of the switches alone.
Unfortunately, my first look around for options for lighting and Fan controls, most of the Fan speed controllers are paddles rather than toggles. I really don’t want to have to swap out all of the faceplates, and I would rather not have to mix paddles and toggles. The 12729 looks like what I want for the lights (or whatever similar models exist in other product lines), but I’m not seeing any toggle options in fan speed controllers. I understand why this might be, because the toggle hole doesn’t leave a lot of room for the fan speed control to be easy to use, but the fact is for me I plan to control this from smartthings anyway. What are other people doing to deal with this?
The 12722 is a stand-alone switch that can be installed as a single pole switch, or as a 3-way+ “master”. The 12723 is an addon for 3-way+ scenarios and must have a compatible master switch installed in order to function.
A 3-way circuit is a fixture that is operated by two switches. A 4-way has three switches, etc.
If your fixture has more than one switch operating it then you need one master and an add-on for the other switches. You can’t mix a master with a dumb-switch.
The other switches in the same gang box that you have are likely for other fixtures thus you can choose whether or not you want to put smart switches on them.
And yes, 12722 is a master. It contains a Z-Wave radio unlike the add-on which does not. The add-on is a wired remote to the master.
If you have doubts about wiring I strongly suggest hiring an electrician.
Thanks you, that was what i was asking! one last question, is it easy to make the swap? meaning, are there extra wires i need to add/swap or do i just need to put the old wire where the other ones went?
You have to add a neutral wire to the switch. If it’s a 3-way circuit there is some wire shifting that needs to be done. If you aren’t familiar with electrical circuits I would hire an electrician to do the job.