I have started experimenting with the white series products, specifically the lightfan modules and dimmer/fan switches.
I have 4 ceiling fans in my house where they only ran a single hot wire to the fan, so the lightfan modules are a great option to give me smart control of the fan/lights independently. However, I discovered some problems when using the white series dimmer switches or smart fan switches with the lightfan modules.
Originally, I bought the dimmer switches and tried using them in ‘smart bulb mode’ with the lightfan module fed from the load side of the dimmer switch. This caused a horrible buzzing noise when the fan was on. I think this may be expected, because the dimmer switch is not a true on/off switch.
I also tried the smart fan switch, and put it into smart fan mode. This did not have the horrible buzzing, but the lightfan module is unable to drive the light and the fan at the same time if it’s fed from the load side of the smart fan switch (in smart fan mode). (Specifically, while the light seemed to work, but as soon as the fan turned on, the light dimmed to an unusable level, even at 100% light setting.) Also, the smart fan switch in smart fan mode doesn’t support behaving like a dimmer switch, only on/off or 3-speed. Since the light will be used far more often than the fan, I want the on/off paddle to control the light, and be a full dimmer switch.
So I’ve settled on using the dimmer switches in ‘smart bulb mode’, but bypassing the switch (basically connecting the load wire that feeds the fan to the second terminal on the line side of the switch, just connecting it to line power 100% of the time).
This works, but it means that pulling the service disconnect on the smart dimmer does NOT de-energize the wiring at the fan. I can work around that, but I worry that a future homeowner / electrician may not expect that and I would rather be able to use the service disconnect.
So, I feel like the ‘best’ answer would be an on/off switch that has a relay in it. So in ‘smart bulb’ mode it delivers 100% unmodified power to the load side. However, I can’t tell from the product page if the white series on/off switch is relay-based (or otherwise compatible with having a lightfan module downstream). Also, in smart bulb mode, will the on/off switch support acting as a dimmer switch? That’s really my ideal: the switch is just a smart controller that has all the dimmer control features, but on the electrical side, it delivers 100% power downstream when in smart bulb mode.
To summarize/tl;dr:
For the white series on/off switch:
- Is it relay-based or otherwise able to deliver clean power to downstream devices like the lightfan module?
- When in smart bulb mode, can it send dimmer control events, and have the dimmer functionality of the smart dimmer switch? (things like the light bar tracking/showing the current dimming setting, remembering the last used brightness, etc)