ZigBee Fan Switch | Project Zephyr (Blue Series)

HAHAHA Actually… almost. The double is on the bottom and the single is at least centered with it on top :rofl:

I have a very similar setup in one location, and would very much benefit from a similar light+fan dimmer replacement. I’m picking up some Inovelli Blue switches for standalone (recessed) lights, but I think I’ll need to hold off on the fan + light setup until there’s something to combine the two.

Looking forward to a lot of upcoming things, but consider this a request to look into a single gang light+fan dimmer combo Zigbee switch.

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@Eric_Inovelli I noticed on the Red/Blue comparison chart you posted you have SmartBulb mode marked as “N/A” for the Blue Series Fan switch.

Would it be possible to actually implement something similar to a “smart bulb mode” (call it Smart Fan mode) for that switch?

Here is the use case: DC fans w/ integrated smart controllers (like those from Modern Forms.) They have terrible wall control options, plus I don’t want mismatched switches throughout the house. If the fan controller had something similar to Smart Bulb mode, I could use the fan controller switch and use scene control to on/off (single tap) and change speed (double-tap up/down) and sync the LEDs to the set speed.

More and more fans, including most of the new releases from Home Depot are going DC and/or with integrated smart controls that you can’t wire around. Long-term it might be a good idea to think about solutions for those, otherwise ALL of your current and planned smartswitches for fan control will become obsolete.

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I’m at least curious about this as well. I’m in the process of building a house (expected to be done in January, maybe) and trying to figure out smart house as part of it. I’ve ordered a bunch of blue 2-in-1s and some aux switches, but I’m still trying to figure out bathroom and ceiling fans. The bathroom fans are single speed with lights, and I think I understand that well enough (just need a switch that will handle the current of the fan, and then a separate one for the light, right?), but the ceiling fans seems to be more complex. I’m trying to figure out if DC fans are worth it, understanding I’d basically just have them ‘on’ all the time and control the light on/off and fan speed via a switch that leaves the load on. But I don’t know that I could even run that through a blue, or if I need a separate switch for control (and a ‘normal’ switch for power for the fan), or what. But I feel like having a fan switch would be helpful for at least one of those two cases…

Yes

DC fans are typically powered full-time and controlled by a remote. You will typically have an on-off wall switch that will serve as a current disconnect. You won’t be able to use the blue 2 in 1 as it’s not rated for a fan loads.

What I am unsure about is if you were to use a Smart switch as the current disconnect, would turning the Smart switch on also turn on the fan, or would that just provide power to the fan and the fan would still have to be turned on using the remote. If that is the case, then having a Smart switch as the current disconnect is of no value.

If I recall correctly there is talk about getting a future batch of switches certified for basic fan (on/off) loads. If that does happen the Blue 2-in-1 could be a nice option for DC Fans. The maximum inductive load of 1 amp in on/off mode (~220 Watts) should be more than sufficient. One of my fans in the largest 60" size draws ~41 watts (max fan and light), which would be within the limits.

I do NOT recommend this until the switch is certified for this purpose (if it’s certified).

The main reason I would consider leveraging a smart switch for a fan load would be to control the fan. One of the DC fans I use is controlled via a Bond hub, and if you use the included remote the bond hub loses sync. So, Bond might think the fan is off, but it’s actually running full speed. Naturally, the spouse approval factor requires something “physical” to control the fan.

One of my other DC fans is smart, so switch-based fan control is less important - until guest come over and they lack a remote to use. (…I may have forgotten to put it back out, and then they turn off the fan manually…)

You can definitely count both cases as massive overkill and/or creative justification to further smartify something :smiley:

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Thank you (and amdbuilder both); my current thought for the ceiling fans would just be a dumb switch for power to the fan, and then a blue 2-in-1 for the light and control the fan through a bond remote and double taps (or something like that). Just have to figure out an appropriate way to keep people from turning off the main switch, which I’d want to keep as a paddle and not a rocker (for symmetry reasons, I suppose).

Now ‘patiently’ waiting for the blues so I can start playing some at the current house! (and, you know, reading a bunch about HA, zha, zigbee2MQTT, etc etc etc)

The blue series for sure has smart bulb mode. Not sure about the fan switch though, but you wouldn’t necessarily need the fan switch to do what you’re looking to do.

Since the switch won’t be directly controlling the fan, you could wire the line and load together so the fan is constantly powered and because it would be, you could hook any smart switch up with no load and use it as a scene controller. You mention Home Depot, a lot of their smart fans use Zigbee so the blue series will be perfect for this. You should be able to use binding (at least for on/off) and then you can setup double/triple taps etc for controlling fan speed through a hub automation.

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I know I’m way late on this, but specifically for fans, I find the “hold paddle to adjust speed” behavior to be really annoying. The lack of instant feedback is a big part of it. If the LED strip shows the current setting, that would be better, but I find the way the Leviton ZW4SF-1BW does it with the main paddle for on/off and the side rocker for increase/decrease to be quite intuitive and easy. I would love if the Inovelli switches had something like this. Even better if the LED strip itself functions as the increase/decrease rocker.

The LED strip shows the level in thirds (since there are only 3 speeds.)
Low speed is 33% led strip
Med speed is 67% led strip
High Speed is 100% led strip

With that said, I agree holding the paddle seems a little bit weird for a fan. But it is the same method used on dimmers so its not completely foreign.

You could create scenes where 1-tap=slow. 2-taps=med 3-taps=high. Or any number of custom button presses that you like. That’s part of the power / benefit to having a smart switch with with Scenes

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What I think would be really cool is like that Leviton design but instead of buttons have a little touch panel that you can slide up or down and have the led follow your finger.

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When is this coming out?

That would be cool :slightly_smiling_face: But would also add $$$$ :frowning_face:

I like the current price point of Inovelli’s. I consider that to be one of their primary selling points. It’s a full-featured smart switch for a reasonable price. I think of the Inovelli’s as the “Goldilocks of Smart Switches” … Juuuuust Riiiight. :laughing:

I’ll take your LZW36 off your hands if you are getting rid of it (as long as it still works) :wink:

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I’ll keep this in mind. Just got to get fan switches on order. I have one being used and one in a box for “in case first one breaks”. I’ll definitely be willing to let them go in the future.

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I agree that the way the Leviton works is easier and more intuitive…but it’s BUTT UGLY. The Inovellis are gorgeous.

Love seeing updates to the weekly recap, but I don’t see any changes to the Timeline estimations. I’m hoping you guys are super busy with Project Linus for all the reasons discussed elsewhere, but it’d be great to get some more context on the other products too since we can see that there is progress being made.

Thanks & love you guys!

Yeah, I keep dropping the ball on this one. Ugh, my bad.

I have a meeting with our operations guy tomorrow – I’d like to hear what he has to say about when he thinks we can get these delivered. As per the norm, we can’t keep up with demand and most money has gone into a re-order of 2-1’s. The MOQ (minimum order qty) on these is 10k units so it will be semi-difficult to pull that off. Granted, we could do pre-orders, but I don’t think that will cover the MOQ.

But, we’re basically done with everything on this switch aside from the certifications. So, once we do figure out funding, we can get these delivered quickly as the lead times are back to normal on Zigbee (7-12wks).

I can appreciate it is tough with a lot going on. I am building a house and have decided to fully outfit with Blue 2-1s and Auxes I ordered. But need to find a 10-pack of fan/light switches ;). I literally have 10 switches I need, and looking at the fact this can also do 3-way, that helps seal the deal. Only thing in my way is they are not available… yet… (no pressure)

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Just wondering if this fan switch is going to be converted to zwave like the 2in1 switch?

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