Please help me choose a ceiling fan replacement strategy

There are a couple threads about controlling ECM motors with I think, 0-10 V modules sold by the likes of Zooz. I recall one was for an air heat exchange/makeup system, whatever it's official name is. It was an excellent read. This is off the top of my head.

Too complex for me, however. :slight_smile:

Oh, I’m fully on board with going a different direction and trying to return these. I’m looking at AC powered with RF remote operating within 300-450mhz… now if there was only a way to find out the RF part by searching or looking at the specs. The frequency used by the remote to control the fan just is not a spec I can ever find unless a reviewer posts it in their review.

Search Amazon for anything ā€œRFā€ or Remote related is impossible.

I couldn’t find that spec anywhere on Home Depot’s site searching all last night.

Now I’m on Loew’s trying to search within the page for: ā€œRFā€ ā€œRemoteā€ ā€œmhzā€ ā€œBluetoothā€ ā€œBondā€ or ā€œfrequencyā€ and nothing seems to let me know.

It’s as if the only way to know if it works is to call customer service for each model you are interested in or buy it with hope and return if not.

Maybe I should wait for the Inovelli and see if that’s a better fit for me?

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Harbor-Breeze-A-60-in-Kenton-Flush-Mount-Ceiling-Fan-with-3-ABS-Blades-Black-Finish-6-Speed-Remote-Control-LED-Module-Included/5000276859

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Harbor-Breeze/5013781835

I hope you don’t mind one more question. I believe I now fully grasp what is needed for my living room in the Bond option:

ā€œAn AC powered ceiling fan that can be controlled by RF signals within the 300-450mhz range and a Bond hub to control it.ā€

The other option, which I definitely like better, would be to wait for the Zigbee Inovelli canopy module in Feb. which is compatible directly with HE negating the need for a Bond hub. Reading its help files, I’m a bit intimidated having never done this about the neutral / non-neutral settings, leading / trailing edge, and parameters 21 / 26 etc.

Basically, to use the Inovelli canopy module in my living room I would need:

ā€œAny variable speed, dimmable, AC powered fan with separate power inputs for the fan and the light.ā€

But is my two black wires in the ceiling enough? Would I need to put it in the wall instead?

Assuming the Inovelli option works with my house’s wiring and that ā€œAny variable speed, dimmable, AC powered fan with separate power inputs for the fan and the lightā€ is also correct, then I think all my questions have been answered.

Oh wait, in either scenario, Bond or Inovelli, I should be able to use my Picos as on/off scene controllers via HE and the Lutron Pro Bridge, right?

I hope I’ve captured it all correctly this time!

Thanks again!

Assuming one is line hot and the other is neutral, that should be fine.

No, that's not how the canopy module works - there's no wall-mounting option.

When integrated into HE via Pro bridge telnet, you can use Picos for just about anything.

ā€œAny variable speed, dimmable, AC powered fan with separate power inputs for the fan and the light.ā€ refers to the fan, NOT the wires coming from your ceiling. The ceiling fan should have 3 or 4 wires, One to power the fan, one to power the light, and either one or two neutral wires.

You will need to figure out which of the two black wires from your ceiling is neutral because you need to connect it to the neutral of the Innovelli module (white wire) and the neutral wire(s) of the fan/light. Then you will connect the line input of the Innovelli module to the hot wire from the ceiling and the two outputs of the Innovelli module to the light and fan control wires of the ceiling fan. If you mix up the line and neutral from the ceiling it probably won't work right. Do you have a hot wire detector (like this: Amazon.com)
You can use a multimeter, but a non-contact tester is much easier to use.

I have a multimeter but have been looking for a reason to upgrade and what do you know, I have 10$ in points in my Amazon account so that puppy just got ordered lol

Right, the Inovelli sits in the ceiling canopy between the house wiring and the fan wiring. The Inovelli interacts via for wires/terminals: two input from the ceiling and two output to the fan. One of the incoming wires should be hot (line) and the other a neutral (return). One of the outgoing wires will power the fan and the other will power the light.

I’m fairly comfortable that part will all go fine. I just have this once bitten twice shy feeling about selecting the right fan, at least if I go the RF/Bond route. Another reason I prefer the Inovelli option is that it will be hard to screw up fan selection. Sounds like I’d have to TRY and ā€˜eff that up to select wrong:

  • AC powered.
  • Accepts one fan power lead.
  • Accepts one light power lead.
  • Is dumb.
  • Is a fan.
  • has a light.

Actually, I’m not sure if it must be dumb so long as it can also be controlled by AC power fluctuations :thinking:

ā€œFluctuationsā€ isn’t the right word there.

just don't forget the the neutrals of the fan need to be tied to the neutral of the module and the neutral from the ceiling. All the neutrals tied together up at the ceiling fan.

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Got it!

I hope this isn’t a stupid question, but I have to ask it. I keep picking fans that say come up when doing searches for AC then after digging in find out they’re motor is DC. The most recent one the manufacturer was telling me that their fan wires directly into standard AC wiring in my ceiling only to figure out there’s a AC to DC transformer built into the canopy.

My question is, since I’m looking for a fan that can be controlled by the Inovelli fan controller we discussed above, would the addition of an AC to DC transformer break the ability for the Inovelli to control the fan?

I’m still not 100% sure I understand how an AC fan controller actually controls a fan. Am I right to assume it’s something as simple as ā€œcontroller sends little amount of power so fan spins slowly and controller sends large amount of power so fan spins fasterā€? Or are very specific patterns like some sort of code that an AC controller sends that tells the fan to do different things?

Into I hear different, I’m going to continue assuming these controllers simply send less power for slower speed and dimmer bulbs vs. more power for faster speed and brighter bulbs.

So, would putting a transformer in that path mess up the fan controller’s ability to control the fan?

Thanks!

Pretty sure the answer is yes. AFAIK fans with DC motors can be controlled with their remote controls (or a Bond hub), but not a fan control switch.

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I agree.

Basically this is true. An AC fan 'wants' to spin at a speed dictated by its winding and the frequency of the power applied, which for US line power is 60 Hz. The way that the power is reduced may vary between designs, but basically, an impedance (i.e. a resistor, capacitor, and/or inductor) is switched into the circuit path to reduce the power which causes the motor to slip and not spin as fast as the frequency due to lack of available power.

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