After reading the posts here, I think this may work but I’d like to confirm.
We had a VZM31-SN in our bedroom controlling a light and some other functions. We recently purchased a ceiling fan that really only operates with the remote or a phone app.
We miss being able to turn the light on/off with a switch.
I’m thinking of getting an RM4 to emulate the remote and I need something to send commands to Hubitat to control the RM4.
Can I use my VZM31-SN in Smart Bulb mode to keep pushing power to the fan without actually switching the load? I wouldn’t be using Zigee bindings like the docs suggest to control a bulb, but rather I’d have Hubitat respond to button press events.
I know the VZM31-SN isn’t fan rated, but I didn’t know if that was a factor in Smart Bulb mode.
I don’t think the Blue is techinically spec’d to support a fan load, but I’ll let others chime in with more info on that…
But even if it could, why not just hard-wire the fan to have constant line power (directly tie its load to the line hot in the switch box), and just use the Blue as a (no load) scene controller to talk to the RM4 or Bond or whatever? This would require having a neutral available in the switch box though.
That’s what I’ve done with our fan, although I use a Zen32 as the button device and Bond as the intermeditae controller – it works like a champ.
This is super helpful because you’ve done what I’m trying to do, just differently. I’m using some of the double click events on my Blue to control some groups of lights in other parts of the house, but that Zen32 has plenty of buttons.
The only thing I’d be giving up is the LED strip I’ve been using as an indicator for a couple of things, but I can live with that if the Blue I already own won’t work in my scenario.
Thanks for your comment, you’ve ultimately pointed me where I needed to be. I guess I wasn’t googling effectively last night when I was looking for something like the Zen32.
The Blue would work great as a scene controller – I use several Blues in that role in other places. My intent was not to steer you away from using the Blue if that would be your preference (to keep the led strip etc).
In my case, the Z32 works nicely since we use the main/big button to toggle the fan light, and use the 4 smaller buttons to control H/M/L fan speed (plus off and reverse). Our fan is very vanilla/basic though, so this worked well.
No worries, I’ve been looking at this Z32 and if I’d found this last night, I probably wouldn’t even have posted my question. It honestly looks perfect for the job.
If someone comes back and says it’s cool to run the Blue in Smart Bulb mode with a fan, I’ll keep the Blue. Otherwise, this Z32 is perfect. I appreciate the pointers!
I hope I’m not giving a bad caution about the Blue / SBM to a fan load stuff – but since the Blue isn’t a true (relay) switch, I’m just concerned the fan may have related issues.
I know the Blue can be configured as “single pole Full Wave” to address the sine wave issue, but I just don’t for certain if that’s good enough for a situation like this. Hopefully a wiser fellow-user than me can help confirm/dismiss that here.
I feel like they were pretty clear when they introduced the Blues that it wasn’t suitable for a fan load. I’m honestly not sure what impact Smart Bulb mode would have on that, if any, and I had those same concerns when I posted.
Either way, the Blue will continue to be useful. If not in the bedroom, then in another room where I haven’t yet replaced the switches.
I’m also looking at the Bond device, it looks like it plays better with Hubitat than the RM4, so either way, I’m glad I posted this question.
Bond is awesome - we just use it for the one single ceiling fan we have, but it’s been well worth it convenience-wise. And it’s never given me any hassle – it’s been 100% reliable since its install many years ago.
We admittedly have a small house, but the fan is on second floor and the Bond is in the basement (along with all my other hubs) – works like a champ from down there.
Smart Bulb mode makes no difference, all power is still running through the dimming circuitry which is not rated for inductive loads (like a fan).
It’s perfectly fine to use the Blue as a scene controller as long as the fan is directly connected to line and the power doesn’t travel through the switch’s load connector.
You can use the second Line hole to send constant power to the fan. Just remember that pulling the air gap on the switch will not cut power to the fan when wired like that.
That’s probably a cleaner install than the “wire nut line and load together” plan I was going with.
I realize that I’m losing the ability to cut power to the circuit without tripping the breaker, which is what I always do out of habit anyway, but it’s also great to call that out here for anyone who reads this later.
I really appreciate everyone’s tips today. I’ve figured out how to solve this issue and learned about some other great products I didn’t know about. The home automation community is pretty awesome!
We’ve seen reports of people trying to power a fan through the switch in smartbulb mode anyway, and they’ve found the fan will sometimes start buzzing and/or the speeds will be wrong and/or the switch runs hot. So, not just unsupported, but doesn’t work very well & possibly unsafe!