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

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: