I have a Panasonic bathroom exhaust fan/light that has three separate "circuits". Bottom of page 5 in this manual shows the wiring diagram. The circuits are fan, light, and night light, and all can be controlled by individual switches.
I'm using a ZEN30 to control the light (dimmer) and the fan (relay). I don't want to have a physical switch that controls the night light. Instead, I want the night light on/off to be controlled by the hub. It looks like the ZEN51 (in the same wall box) could be a solution, but the documentation implies that a physical switch is required by the ZEN51. Parameter 7 (external switch type) implies the same thing, i.e., there's no value for "no switch".
Can the ZEN51 be used without a switch? If so, is the S pigtail capped or does it need to be jumper'ed to something? How should parameter 7 be set?
The walls are open, so assume that that the wiring isn't a problem.
Also, the doc says "14 AWG wires only". Do they mean that literally, or do they mean 14 AWG or larger? All my wiring is 12/2 NM-B.
Do you mean the ZEN51? If so, yes -- but you would, of course, lose control if your hub is down. This is how I'm using one to control my kitchen fan (on/off only--this seems to be gap in the market now) until the new Inovelli model gets released...
What you set the external switch parameter value to doesn't matter--just just affects how it senses whatever you connect to the external switch terminals if you do. No connection, no problem.
You can use 12ga wires on it, but I am guessing the ZEN51 is not rated for 20amps, that may be what the warning is about. As long as the device attached is not over the specs of the device the wire being larger does not matter.
Interesting range of decisions wrt the three 'circuits' available to wire with this fan. (Ignoring the 'red' signal wires.)
In my case, I only had room in the wall for a 2-gang box, so I chose to wire the fan and the night light together, leaving the 'bright' light for a separate switch. I figured that any late night trips to the loo could activate the fan and night light together, leaving the bright light as optional.
Are you planning on activating the night light on a time and/or motion automation? Those may be compelling options should I choose to revisit the wiring in there some day. Good idea with the ZEN51!
@vitaliy_kh My initial plan was to do the same thing you did. However, when I bench tested the main light, it was still brighter at 2% than I wanted for a night light. It flickered a bit at 1%. I wired up the night light and found that it is quite a bit dimmer than the main light at 2%, so I wanted to explore options. I also found out that the main light won't turn on to the last level if the last level was less than 3%. It takes about four seconds to turn on at 3%. The time to turn on gradually reduces until the last level is about 10% or greater, at which time it is fairly fast.
@JB_TX Since the walls in the house are still open, my current plan is to do the rough-in wiring so that all options are available. I plan on using 12/2/2 (4 conductors plus ground) between the fan/light and the switch. Black wire will power the fan, red wire will power the main light, White/red wire will power the night light, and white wire will be the shared neutral. I will also run a couple of 14AWG THHN red conductors between the switch box and the fan box "just in case". I think this will allow for pretty much all wiring possibilities including if I decide to run power to the fan first and control it with the signal wires (although I may never do that). Haven't fully verified that, however. I also need to make sure I don't exceed box fill.
I'm about to order a ZEN51 to test it with the night light. I also came up with a way to give limited on/off capabilities for the night light via a physical switch. The ZEN30 dimmer will control the main light and its relay will control the fan. The ZEN51 will control power to the night light. I will use a HE/RM rule to toggle the ZEN51 relay (night light) via a double tap on the bottom of the dimmer rocker. Obviously that won't work if HE is down, but it at least allows manual/physical control of the night light when HE is up.
My wife will ultimately decide if the night light will be controlled by motion, time of day, how much light is in the room, or something else, or a combination of things after we move into the house. She may decide to forego the night light in favor of a receptacle wall plate that has a built-in light/motion sensitive night light, e.g., the SnapPower wall plates. The cool thing is that there are so many options.
Well, I am not surprised. The different behavior could be related to a different Light/Dimmer
combination which is actually and unfortunately very common case.
And even two different sets of the same Light/Dimmer combo may act a bit differently.
