Wiring GE Z-Wave In-Wall Switches and Fan

Hi Everyone. I’m a noob to the Internet of things and home automation.

I plan on getting a Smart Things Hub and an Amazon Echo in the coming weeks. The more research I do, makes me want to automate my home even more.

I am handy around the house and I am leaning towards wiring “in-wall” switches, versus buying individual smart bulbs (mainly because a ceiling fan takes 3 bulbs).

What are the correct items to purchase for a room where you have two dumb switches in the wall, 1 for the light and 1 for the fan? Do I have to buy the fan control switch and a dimmer from GE? Or do I buy the Fan switch and an Add-on?

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Jim

Hi Jim. Welcome to the community! You’re going to want the fan control switch and a dimmer. The add-on is for three way switches (where two switches control the same light). Good luck and have fun!

Hi Brice. Thanks for the advice. I had a feeling that would be the case. I guess I can understand why some will opt for just using the bulbs.

So, just to be clear, I would need one of each of the following?

Dimmer

Fan Switch

Or would you go with and On/Off Switch instead of a Dimmer?

Hey Jim, you want the GE 12730 for the fan itself and either the GE 12722 (non-dimming) or the GE 12724 (dimming) for the lights on the fan.

These are Z-Wave devices and are ‘paddle’ swithes, if you want Z-Wave toggle versions you need either the GE 12727 (non-dimming) or the GE 12729 (dimming).

Sadly there doesn’t appear to be any ‘toggle’ or ZigBee versions (toggle or paddle) of the GE Smart Fan control and just in case, do not use a standard dimmer on the fan itself!

Just to add I personally have the GE 12730 for the fan and the GE 12722 for the lights which I might change to the 12724 later on. They work great!

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Hi Benji. Thanks for the feedback and the model numbers.

Do you or does anyone else know, the difference between GE switch 45637 and 45639 sold at Lowe’s? They show good with Iris, but are they Z-Wave? Can these be used with Smart Things or no?

[45637][1]

[45639][2]

Thanks!
[1]: http://www.lowes.com/pd_339577-1353-45637___
[2]: http://www.lowes.com/pd_339578-1353-45639_1z0sp0y__?productId=3707738&pl=1

one is a dimmer switch and the other is an on/off switch.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah I saw that they are different in that regard, but will they work with the ST hub? Are they Z-Wave? They are labeled to work with Iris (Lowe’s brand), but will they work with the hub?

I wired two of my fans using the GE Z-Link paddle switch. I did not use the dimmer or any fan control. The downside to this approach is that I cannot control my fan speed via SmartThings; however, I can easily turn it on and off. The GE z-link paddle switches are air-gapped, so you can use them with CF bulbs, fans, etc.

The product, specifically was: GE12722 Z-Wave Wireless Lighting Control On/Off Switch. I bought from Amazon.

So is safe to say that these switches from Lowe’s support Z-Wave and are merely packaged for Lowe’s Iris ?

Anyone know?

As I understand it the 456xx stuff from Lowes doesn’t work but I could be wrong!

I can only give you hope, I can’t confirm, but in the reviews for the switch they say it is zwave (knew that), and that it works with vera. Given those two factors, I can’t see why it wouldn’t work with ST. GE devices adhere to standards in my experience, they are not made for Iris, just compatible with it. So I believe you are safe.

Just order the ones from Amazon ^^^. They work perfectly; however, GE z-wave should work regardless.

I use this for my fan switch and posted a tweaked device driver… but I can control on off and speed in smartthings. I have a app that turns on the ac in the office and the fan on hight when it is too hot.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PYMGVVQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

here is the device type post

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Yeah I’ve used the 45XXX versions with SmartThings fine basically just old contractor model before the retail 127XX with nicer packaging, alternate almond paddle, and included neutral wire.

Originally I figured I’d get dimmers even where I don’t care about dimming, however one difference I did find between dimmer and on/off is that the dimmer dims on and dims off. I wasn’t expecting this behavior and don’t really like it that much. Now I only buy dimmers for applications where I really want dimming and just get on/off for the majority of my switches. Just FYI.

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Appreciate all the feedback everyone.

Good to know about that dimming capability. Don’t know if I’m sold on that - dimming up to on state, and dimming to off state.

If I’m not mistaken, just because you buy a dimmer doesn’t mean you can’t use it as a plain on/off switch. Within smart lights app you just select on instead of on and set level.

I’d rather do that in case I want the dimming functionality at a later point.

I can absolutely confirm that the 45xxx GE 3-way switch kit and the associated on/off GE switch does work with ST. I have purchased these over the past week and have had zero problems with them.

I can not confirm the dimmer switch, but it does not have a neutral connection.

These are the older model that has been replaced with the ones in the pretty boxes. You will also see that these are about 45.00 where buying the other two separately to get a 3-way kit cost about $20.00 more.

The GE z-Wave items when bought from Lowe’s definitely work with SmartThings. I have 8 installed. Note that these are the same as Jasco things. GE does not make any of them—they are made by Jasco and are interchangeable.

The 3-way (and in 4-way configurations) has four connections plus ground. You MUST have a white common ground in the box or it will not work. You should never connect the white using the green ground or there is a hazard. The switch is the complement to the more expensive regular switches. It does NOT have an antenna so cannot communicate to the ST hub. It only sends a pulse to the three way switch via the red traveller. It is half the price of the 3 way but is useless on its own.

(An electrician is required if you insist on pulling a white common into the box if you are missing it.)

Doesn’t seem to work this way unfortunately. The ramp rate is not instant and also if someone dimmed down the light with the physical switch then you can’t turn it full bright with the apps.

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Appreciate the feedback. I am going to end up purchasing all the switches I can from Lowe’s and the Fan switches from Amazon.