I have a very typical ceiling fan/light controlled via a 3-way switch setup. Line and load are in one box, with a 3-conductor traveler romex heading to the other box. Wiring is exactly as in
For this I need a Fan Canopy module to control the fan and lights individually. And then a smart Blue Dimmer to actually control things. Unfortunately, the wiring diagram for “Smart Switch + Existing (Dumb) Switch“ at
is blank - all there is for multi-way is using an Inovelli AUX switch, not a dumb switch.
Clearly the Canopy module requires constant power - that’s fine. But what’s the correct way to wire up the Blue dimmer and dumb switch ?
The overall aim to to allow the paddle switches (Dimmer or dumb) to turn the lights on/off to a preset dim level. Then multi-presses on Dimmer to adjust light level. And finally using the config button to cycle between fan speeds. And this all exposed so automation flows can control light and fan.
The final wrinkle … this is a Homey Pro environment, so no clean zigbee bindings available yet Would zigbee bindings set up like within HomeAssistant allow the switch to talk intelligently to the canopy module directly ?
I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to write the automation flows to actually do the things. As in monitor for paddle or config button presses and send appropriate commands to the canopy module. And if doing that, then the switch doesn’t have to be an Inovelli one.
I don’t think you can wire this specific scenario with a dumb switch. When you use an Inovelli Dimmer or On/Off with a Canopy Module, the Inovelli doesn’t have a load. It’s essentially a scene controller, sending commands to the canopy either via binding or via automations. You need to use an Aux for that. When you’re wired with a dumb switch, that is only for controlling the wired load, which in this scenario, there isn’t any.
I can’t answer your question for the binding issue and Homey. However, if binding ultimately turns out not to be doable, you can use automations. Not as elegant a solution, however.
As you need to set the switch to “smart bulb” mode, you will need to get an Aux switch if you want to do a 3 -way switch setup. And you will want to use Zigbee bindings between the Dimmer and Canopy module, otherwise you are stuck with basic automations, and I haven’t found them to work well with dimming from a switch unless you want to use preset scenes.
To explain why you need an Aux switch:
When you hook up a dumb switch in a multi-way configuration, the Dimmer is using both the Load and Traveler connections as outputs, sending the power down the travelers and letting the dumb switches determine whether or not the light gets power… they don’t actually communicate except for the Dimmer to read that there was a change in Load to signify it turning on or off.
Because you will be wiring both Line and Load up to the Line connection on the Dimmer, as it does not support running a fan load on it even if in “smart bulb” mode (power still passes through the dimmer components), you cannot use a dumb switch as there is no way to make the dumb switch talk to the smart switch or otherwise control the Load.
If you wanted to be able to connect the Load to the Load connection on the switch so you can use the air gap pull out tab, you would need to go with an On/Off switch, as it will still work the same as the Dimmer when binding to the Canopy module (or through automations), with the additional capability of being rated for for both motors and lighting loads… but you’d still need an Aux switch.
Would zigbee bindings set up like within HomeAssistant allow the switch to talk intelligently to the canopy module directly ?