Fan 3 way - Blue switch and Aux

I am looking at the Blue Switch for use in my living room. There are two switches and a pull fan with hue lights. I don’t really care about controlling the fan other than it has power and I can pull the chain for the fan speed. Can I use a Blue switch with an Aux with this configuration? I read that the Fan controller (hopefully in stock at some point) requires a single pole. Or is there a configuration that I can use?

Blue is not rated or certified to work with inductive loads (fans).

Not recommended. Project Zephyr (blue for fans) is forthcoming.

When you say Blue switch I’m presuming that you are referring to the about-to-be-released Blue 2-in-1 switch. That one is NOT rated for motor loads, so you can’t use it with a fan either in a 2-way or with an Aux switch. However, Inovelli is developing a Blue FAN switch which will suit your needs. It will work with an Aux and vary the fan speeds.

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Thanks for the information! I figured that was the situation but I wanted to confirm.

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You can get creative with it though and make it work.

Since you’re OK with manual control of the fan, you can wire the fan so it’s always on and then use the pull strings for on/off and speed. Then you can stick a couple of zigbee bulbs up there, use your blue 2-1 with an aux switch, and bind it to the bulbs. This way the blue switch will turn your light on and off and will not be switching the fan at all. In fact, you won’t even have a load on the switch at all.

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This is what I had in mind but I wasn’t sure if it was possible. I want the functionality of the blue 2-1 for my lights and leave the fan manual. I don’t see a reason to automate the fan for our house. The fan is always on at some speed. If I need it off, the pull chain is fine to use.

If you can elaborate on your configuration a bit more we can provide more focused info. I understand that you have switches in two locations in a 3-way configuration. Is it just a single switch in each location that controls both the fan and the lights, or are there two switches in each location, one for the fan and the other for the lights?

There are two single switches in each location that controls both the fan and the lights. The switches just turn them on and off. The fan/light has a two pull chains. One for controlling the fan for off and speed. The other pull chain controls the lights. The lights are a center light with 4 other lights. That chain cycles off and on to different configurations (i.e. center off/4 on). I currently have Hue lights.

Great, so then you can use a Blue two-in-1 with an Aux as @MRobi suggested. You’ll just change out the two switches controlling the lights and leave the fan with the dumb switches.

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Thanks! I will pre-order the items and hopefully it will be a smooth install. Although in a 1930 house, that is being overly optimistic!

Just @ either of us if you get stuck and we’ll try to help you through it or somebody on this community will happily chime in.

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