White series on/off switch questions

Switches General Discussion
1

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:

  1. Is it relay-based or otherwise able to deliver clean power to downstream devices like the lightfan module?
  2. 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)
2

You are completely misunderstanding the proper wiring for the switch and canopy module. Both of those should be provided a hot and neutral (and ground) only. There is no load on the switch. So SBM doesn’t apply here as there is nothing on the Load terminal.

Take a look at the help page and wiring diagams.

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3

That is how I have it wired now. I don’t recall that being listed in the documents for the lightfan module (though honestly, when I received them, most of the docs weren’t available online yet, so I might have overlooked it in the paper document).

But that is disappointing, since there is no way to cut power to the lightfan module other than the breaker now. (which has been an issue since I’ve had to power cycle my lightfan modules a couple times to get them to talk again after they randomly drop off the thread network. Being able to pull the service disconnect at the switch would make that much easier).

4

The issue is at the fan, there are two types of loads, a lighting load and a motor load. The problem is that dimmers and fan switches are rated for one or the other, and even in the SBM, the routing goes through the switch.

I think that’s going to be your best option once it’s released. It is relay-based and rated for both motor and lighting loads. It does have a smart bulb mode. I don’t know if it has been beta-tested with a canopy module, but from what I understand about the switch, I don’t see why it won’t work in the SBM with the canopy as you want.

@rohan??

5

I’ve not tested the White series (I don’t own any thread products), but I’ve tested the Blue series with the canopy module and this works as expected. The on/off switch is a true relay switch that can power the the canopy module and it shows up as a dimmer to the hub for binding/smart bulb mode.

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6

Awesome, that’s what I wanted to hear. Thanks.

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