Ceiling fan questions

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1

It's been at least 20 years since I've shopped for a ceiling fan. Now I need to shop for several for a home under construction.

As is typical in my area, all ceiling fan locations have a 12/3 with ground switch leg running from the switch wall box to the ceiling fan, the assumption being that one conductor will control the fan and the other will control the fan light, and the neutral will be shared.

It seems most better/best quality fans today have remote controls and (maybe) wall box controls included with the fans, and the controls are somewhat proprietary. I would rather have a dumb 3- or 4-speed fan with a dumb light that I decide how I want to control, e.g., with smart switches/dimmers/fan controls, or maybe stick with off-the-shelf dumb controls.

Do most ceiling fans with proprietary controls today have the option to use dumb controls and/or smart switches/dimmers/fan controls, e.g., z-wave devices? I'm fine with not using a manufacturer provided remote control.

2

You have a related thread created:

Generally, yes. Most fans that come with a control do this by having a separate receiver that you wire between the box and the fan motor and any lighting kit.

So many great fan options in the last 10 years. Now you see more DC motors powered by AC connections. These often have the controls built into the fan and make it difficult or impossible to control the fan/speed with your own controls. These are a small percentage of the market, but they are out there on more expensive models.

If you are in the US most fans from Home Depot and Lowes can be wired however you want. Some cannot.