Fan/Light Switch (LZW36) Suggestions and/or Improvements 2.0

What hub? This can be done, just need to know the hub that you are working with so I can instruct properly.

Essentially, when set up you should get 3 entities/components. One is for both fan/light (sounds like what you are using) then 2 more for the fan control and light control only.

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I’m guessing the fan and light are one object in GH, so they both turn on? Take a look at this article to see if that solves your issue:

Dangit I was thinking this weekend about adding this as it would be SO NICE to have next to my bed. But alas @amdbuilder beat me to it :D.

Anyone know of a z-wave 4-button controller? I guess I could go zigbee and use the tradfri setup, but then that requires the hub to be involved.

If you can wait, Inovelli is working on a 5 button

I don’t think that’s going to work so hot on @kreene1987’s nightstand . . .

I think he’s referring to a button controller.

Touche

Yeah “remote” is probably a better word. Battery operated, get’s constantly lost, never in the right place remote. :smiley:

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You could bolt a box to your nightstand, double gang the closest receptacle and do a BX drop to the box. It would give it that industrial look . . . :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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  • Smaller canopy module with zwave radio rather than RF
  • Button presses on the current switch are pretty “mushy”. For the price it should feel more clicky/satisfying
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I would put “performance issues” (specially if firmware related) at the top of the list.
Fan takes too long to respond.

+1. The high speed in my fan is like a hurricane. I never use it. Would be nice to keep breeze mode in between 1 and 2 (in my case) and maybe even determine the time it switches between the selected speeds (different people have different ideas of “comfortable”).

+1. I would add to this by suggesting we set a different color per speed.

While I do agree with @kreene1987 that remotes are misplaced all the time, I delayed the use of these switches myself until I could find a nice and intuitive remote control.

For me it is almost like having a tv without a remote.

I went with Lutron pico. They look nice and they have fan icons.
I make it foolproof by having two remotes side by side for fan and lights, no need for people to guess anything.

My kids bedside (I did the same on every bedroom and both sides of the sofa in the family room):

image

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  1. A fan switch without needing the canopy.

  2. The physical switch needs to be narrower and possibly thinner. The switch is scrapping the 2 gang mud ring, I have to push the switch all the way to one side in order to push the switch all the way in.

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Like this?

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Control Multple Canopys from one switch, room with 3 fans/lights just control them all together etc…

Actually, I want a light and fan switch but without using a canopy just both the fan and light load wires run all the way to the switch.

But a standalone fan switch will be good too.

What happened with this project?

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Issues with the old manufacturing company.

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Will they release this in the future?

I would consider the LZW36 as obsolete. There is talks about creating another version in the future, but will take some time.

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I’ve been without a working fan/light for 1.5 years…waiting for a replacement to the LZW36. I really wanted to integrated it with ZWave, and since I have only hot (switched) + neutral running from wall box I will need a canopy module to do what I want.

Starting to think this might not be coming in the next year (after which my wife will force me to a non zwave alternative). Any suggestions for what to do?

There are a few options I can think of, though none quite like this:

  • re-wire your fan to have separate switches (load wires) for the fan and light components — then you’ll have your choice of in-wall devices, of which there are many more options (downside: the expense of an electrician, but will probably still be cheaper than selling your soul to try to find an LZW36)
  • see if you can “unofficially” fit a regular Z-Wave fan controller like the above in your ceiling box (not sure if that’s to code…), and possibly a switch/dimmer too
  • consider using smart bulbs (easy solution for the lights!) and a motor-rated on/off relay for the fan (downsides: you’d sacrifice speed control and would need to figure out some kind of wall control if that’s important for you) – FWIW, I’m doing this with a Zooz ZEN51 and Hue bulbs

You can also combine some of these ideas–for example, a Zooz ZEN52 for on/off of both lights and fan (if within the rating of the device), or two separate dimmer and on/off relays for both (I’m not aware of anything rated for fan speed control, at least not that’s UL/ETL listed and as easy to use as any of these modules).

You could also look into Bond, which is likely to work with your smart home hub via a LAN integration, though it has problems of its own IMHO — most notably, lack of two-way communication (no way to report back current state, just guessing based on last command sent) and the fact that no light remotes I can find support separate on/off or dim up/down commands (just toggling or cycling), though smart bulbs could solve that last problem if you just ignore the light component and use it for the fan (where there are at least usually separate commands, depending on your module, giving you a better idea of the likely current state, even if it can’t communicate back).

My setup works well enough for me now, but if Inovelli (or really anyone at this point…) ever comes out with a Z-Wave or Zigbee replacement for this or even something like the old King of Fans module, I’d jump to it right away.:smiley: