Is it just me or is every new ceiling fan too “smart” to connect to SmartThings? I recently purchased to Minka-Aire ceiling fans and immediately regretted it as I had to swap out my GE Smart Fan Control switches for my dumb switches as the fans would not work without their remote receivers.
Any help would be appreciated. I am leery in updating my family room and living room fan as they work as advertised. Funny thing is the family room fan is straight remote operated yet it doesn’t have the same issues as the Minka-Aire fans.
Maybe I didn’t make my issue clear enough. These new fans I purchased will not work without the receiver. I already had GE Smart Fan Control switches on these old fans before I purchased the new Minka-Aire fans. I have made multiple attempts to wire the fans without the receiver and all have failed at getting them to work without it. I agree with you, Benji. It is pretty much always best to go with the GE Z-Wave switches.
It’s not just fans. Right now, lots of players are getting into the HA & remote control game - with their own thoughts on how it should occur. For example, a cable tv company called Altice has put out a series of new cable controllers. They replace your existing cable modem, router, and set top boxes. And they provide an encompassing experience, with lots of the services that you might find on Roku and FireTV etc. AND it has voice control!
But you lose control over your home network… and it’s incompatible with Alexa.
So you are still tied to their remote control. You still have to pick the thing up and hold down the button if you wish to voice control your home entertainment.
Having to pick up the remote control, in order to do voice control?
Might as well just use the remote control. It’s as easy to push three buttons to change a channel as it is to hold down a button and say “channel 301”.
Obviously they’ve been working on this for awhile, and Alexa was not on their radar when they conceived and designed it. Nonetheless, despite them inserting Netflix or whatever into the unit it’s the opposite of smart home integration.
Hampton bay has a smart receiver you could replace it with if you can find them it comes with a remote and is Zwave compatible it’s wink certified but I don’t see why you couldn’t get it to work with SmartThings
Dumb Garage Opener and ST Compatible Smart Control
Dumb Ceiling Fans and GE Dimmer and Fan Controller
Dumb Humidifier and Smart Outlet
Dumb Bulb and Smart Switch
Dumb Coffee Maker with Basic Scheduling with Auto-Off
Dumb Occupancy Switches in Closets
I think we over complicate things and therefore having a less than desirable HA experience. Its all about researching the options and choosing what best fits your circumstance.
For Example:
Dumb Fire Place Control=Smart Switch as Fireplace Fan (which has Thermal Coupler) to Dumb Outlet (which the Fireplace Fan is connected to)-Connected to 120V-24V Converter-to 24 Dry Contact Relay to Gas Valve.
OK I’m a year late to the party, but I think the reason you had trouble was that your new fan was (probably) a DC motor fan, rather than the older AC motor style. The universal wired fan controllers typically only work with AC fans.
The manual for this fan states that it requires the “Bond Home” app, so I’m assuming it has Bond built into it and would be able to integrate with IFTTT the same way that the Bond remote does. But just an assumption right now.
The “Smart by Bond” fans have Bond technology built in. They are connected to Wi-Fi using the Bond Home app, and then you can integrate with ST via the Bond Home integration.
IFTTT is not supported directly, but we here of users connecting with IFTTT indirectly via ST.
