Fan & Light Switch (Project Hurricane)

[Eric_Inovelli]

Let me check - in theory that sounds like it would work. To clarify - if you connect the fan light and motor loads from Fan #2 to Fan #1, group the Neutrals together and module load (line)?

[mgreenb561]

Yeah, it’s all about theory lol To the module load… the only restriction should be amperage load.

[Dunlapjc]

Hi group,
Can’t wait for this product to become available. Quick question, any timing on black paddles, or even possibly spare paddles that I could try painting?

I’d jump at a pre-order right now, but in a gang of 3 black switches, this would stick out like a sore thumb with a white on in the middle.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[dcoffing]

Any plans for a remote control?

I know I can use a Minimote via Smartthings but I like the idea of a dedicated remote with the right pictures on it.

I hate having to explain “Button 1 turns light on and off”. “Holding button 1 dims it up and down”. “Button 2 cycles through the 4 speeds and off”.

I get it but my family wants easy pictures.

I was wondering if there was an answer to this yet?

Also, I was just confirming my understanding of the wiring of the wall switch. I see that it needs power which is fine. Is that the ONLY function of that wiring because in the little installation picture it shows that wiring going to the fan module. Can I use separate power sources for the wall switch and the fan module?

I have three ceiling fans being run from two 3-way dumb wall light switches to power them all up and the lights and the fan speeds are controlled by the pull chains of each unit. So if I get Inovelli fan/light switches and install three fan canopy modules could I :

1. do a 3-way wiring setup with these fan&light switches?

2. control two or more ceiling fans from a single Inovelli wall switch?

[dcoffing]

I found this is the middle of this huge thread so it seems 3-way is not possible BUT there is remote coming? Where can I get updated on the remote status? @Eric_Inovelli

Excellent question – so, at this time, the switch will not work with an aux or dumb switches. We originally asked for this, but we were told that this would add in a lot of costs and since the relays were in the actual module, a 3-Way solution was not possible.

However, what you could do is wait for one of our remotes to come out and then associate that remote with the physical switch so that when you pressed the button on the remote it would turn on either the fan or the light. Lutron does something similar with their Pico’s.

[datavortex]

I’m 99% sure it will have the ability to work with smart bulbs. It was listed in the PRD that we gave to them, but now we’re working through the firmware, so I’ll know more once we start creating it.

I just looked through the LZW36 manual and couldn’t figure out from the list of switch parameters how I could make this work with my smart bulbs. Did I miss something? Does it work with smart bulbs?

[Eric_Inovelli]

Hey great question and my bad for not following up on this question.

Yes, it’s hidden in the manual here:

Once the relay is disabled to the lights, you can either use associations (if bulbs are Z-Wave) or use the Central Scene Command if your hub supports it (SmartThings, Hubitat, Home Assistant, HomeSeer, etc).

Hope that helps!

[datavortex]

Perfect! Thank you Eric!

[Tacotoy]

How is everything looking for a may launch? Placed my pre-order this week for one, but the wife’s honey do lists seem to be stacking up and includes new fans in almost every room.

[Eric_Inovelli]

Still on track for Mass Production on May 11th

MP will likely be 2wks and we’re shipping this via air, so add in another few days and I’d say it’ll be in the US by end of May or the first week in June.

The only real delay I can see is if UL comes back with something the internal team didn’t catch or customs clearance takes a while (which, due to COVID, we are seeing delays).

[MKITGO2]

@Eric_Inovelli

As for multiple Inovelli switches, let me dig further into this with the engineers. I’d think that in theory you would be able to connect the line/neutral wire to each switch like what’s done here and then use Z-Wave Association to send signals from those switches to the master switch that is connected to the canopy.

Was there any conclusion on this?

This would be my scenario. I would want two wall switches and one canopy module, with the 2nd switch acting as a remote to the 1st. (not in a real 3 way wiring set up)

Really just looking to keep the aesthetics the same on the switches, and I don’t mind if it requires that I program one of the switches as a remote through Zwave and/or my Hubitat.

If this is possible, is there a way we can order a 2nd wall switch only? (hint: it doesn’t need to be in fancy packaging… you can 'brown bag it" for all I care)

Thanks,
MK

[just_field]

One thing that may need to be called out or noted for this Fan/Light switch is that it may not work fully with Fans that don’t have a physical forward/reverse switch. I just purchased a new fan for the place I plan on using my pre-ordered switch (when it arrives) and upon installation I noticed it doesn’t have a physical forward/reverse switch. Instead it came with a remote and the other end was a receiver that had an extra wire that would just power the fan in reverse when you wanted it to go the other direction. I’m guessing I’ll have to just wire it up so it always goes in one direction. I could wire it in series with the other receiver it came with so I could use the fan remote to change direction, but it defaults to off when power applied so I’d have to use the remote to turn it on every time (defeats the purpose of this switch). Thought I’d share with others that are looking at new fans.

[Eric_Inovelli]

Was there any conclusion on this?

I’m actually going to buy a 2nd fan tomorrow to test this out. Pray I don’t blow up our HQ please lol!

Everyone says in theory it should work as long as you’re below the max amperage, but I’ll know for sure tomorrow or Tues at the latest.

If this is possible, is there a way we can order a 2nd wall switch only?

Lol, I wish. They’re all packaged with a canopy module at the factory. I suppose if there happen to be returns one day where the canopy is busted but the switch works, we could sell them separately, but as of right now, there’s no way to do this.

[MKITGO2]

Well, In an effort to keep you from blowing up the HQ.

Here is the set I currently have in place, with the 2 switch scenario in Step 12 - Two Location Control. (before this it was a 3 way toggle with the traveller etc…)

http://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocumentLibrary/033211.pdf

That’s too bad about the switch being unavailable… in past lives with Power Tool companies, we would always bring in repair/spare components for service etc… (battery packs, chargers, accessory kits) anytime we launched a tool or kit with multiple components.

Thanks for the responses! Good luck with the testing.

MK

[Eric_Inovelli]

@dcoffing, @mgreenb561, @Eastlake12 and anyone else who was wondering about having two fans on one module with a single switch.

I managed to wire this up today and it worked! Now, as a disclaimer, our stance is that this was not designed for two fans and has not run through UL with this intent in mind nor have I tested the longevity of this setup, so please use at your own risk. Keep in mind the total amperage the module can handle is 1A with a total of 200W Incandescent or 100W LED/CFL.

But, here you go – janky setup and all!

@MKITGO2 – my bad, I read this last night as you wanting to control two fans, not have two switches control the fan so I didn’t test that today.

I don’t have two fan switches available right now to test this, but in theory this would work from a wiring perspective. You’d just have to turn one of the travelers to always hot and use the neutral (then cap off the other traveler). The part I’m not 100% sure on is how multi-channel associations work.

@EricM_Inovelli – can you answer if, from a firmware side, you could associate two fan/light switches together?

I’m assuming the answer lies in this chart – now if only I could read Z-Wave!

[EricM_Inovelli]

The switch does support multichannel association. You could set a multichannel association for group endpoint 2, group 2,3 or 4 from one switch to endpoint 2 of another switch and that should result in the fan buttons for one switch controlling the fan of the second switch. You could do the same for endpoint 1 to control the lights.

[dcoffing]

@dcoffing, @mgreenb561, @Eastlake12 and anyone else who was wondering about having two fans on one module with a single switch.

Eric, what about using one Single switch with TWO fan modules, one module per fan. This way I don’t have to worry about amperage & light ratings.

[Eric_Inovelli]

Hey @dcoffing - great question - no, unfortunately, one switch can only control one module

[Apple2T4ch]

Hey, does this work if I have only one wire going to the fan. I’m looking to replace a ceiling light and need a switch that will tell the module to turn on the light and fan seperately.

[Eric_Inovelli]

Yes this is exactly what this switch is designed to do