We are currently looking to get a new ceiling fan for our house and I am looking for one that has decent HA integration. Looking for a 60" fan that needs to hang from a high ceiling. I was going to get the BigAssFan however the one I was looking at has a base that is too large for our mounting location.
Note the current fan is a Casablanca (Hunter same thing) and has a wall control, I believe it is a proprietary control. Wife wants a new fan, so I want to get one I can integrate easily.
You want it controllable over WiFi or using an RF setup such as Bond or Broadlink?
Personally, I have a Minca Aire controlled with Bond and it’s great. It’s a 3 speed fan. I am finding anything that has a remote with up / down buttons on a remote to be a pain with Bond.
I also have a Modern Forms 6 speed fan setup directly with HA and it is good, but not as reliable as the Bond setup.
Bond controllable would be perfectly fine with me. Been looking into a Bond for other uses too.
I just bought 3 of these and I love them Smart Ceiling Fan 52’’ 5-Blade with Remote Control, DC Motor with 10 Speed, Dimmable LED Light Kit Included, Smafan Apex Works with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, Siri Shortcut.… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B098HH1MJ1/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_83YQXEQ9SAPPMVEE88ZX?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I have had 3 speed bond controlled fans and I have had 3/10 speed tuya controlled fans. I just unplugged my bond because I upgraded the last fan that was rf only to wifi which is controlled through local tuya.
I thought having a 10 speed fan was ridiculous but its been the best thing ever. HA checks the bedroom temperature periodically throughout the night and adjusts the fan as needed.
Every hunter integration I’ve ever had is garbage including one of even their most latest models and they’re terribly fickle to get into HA.
Bond works fine with HA as long as the fan isn’t too dumb (a Bluetooth fan). Tracking fan state and light state can be sketchy depending on your setup but not impossible.
Any ceiling fan with pull chains or a fan-shroud RF remote can be made smart using Inovelli’s Z-Wave fan/light switch - if they ever come back in stock. Z-Wave control of the in-wall switch and the switch communicates via RF to a fan-shroud receiver that controls the light and fan speed.
That fan looks awesome!
Am I understanding correctly that you integrated it with Home Assistant via Bond? Or are you using tuya?
Yes, I have 3 of these integrated through local tuya integration in HA with full functionality. I have 3 others fans routed through local tuya but they’re not as smart as the ones I recently installed. You don’t realize how useful 10 speed fan control is until you have it.
Thank you! I’ve got one coming in Wednesday, looking forward to it in my office where it’s pretty warm with eastern facing windows and my PC serving as a space heater.
Any fan can be integrated. I use both Kasa and Leviton. I have separate switches for the fan and light so it’s easy to use any WIFI dimmer switch (Kasa/TP Link) and something else for the fan. In the past I’ve used a KASA on/off WIFI switch and relied on the pull chain for speed settings, but I just replaced one with a new TP Link fan speed switch (works fine even though it’s not listed in the integration’s supported devices). This allows me to turn the fan on and off as well as set a fast, medium, or slow speed. Integrates perfectly with HA and Alexa. I do have a Bond controller for my Lutron controlled fan/light in one room. The only problem with Bond is that there is no feedback from the device to the bridge. You can turn the fan on/off with the app or HA integration and both will know the status as “on” or “off,” but if you turn it on with the switch or remote, the status stays as “off” in both the app and any integration.
No any fan can not be integrated. My current Casablanca fan uses a proprietary wall controller to send signals to control the fan. It does not support any radio or ir signals, and you can not just hook up a smart relay to control it.
It is a single wire from controller to fan that provides power and sends a signal over it to allow you to control the fan on/off, speed, direction and light.
Fine. 99.9% of fans can be integrated. Anything that uses a standard switch for control.
Casablanca and hunter (same company) have a ton of fans out there in the US at least.
Most fans use an RF receiver in the shroud. Maybe not 99.9% but at least over 90% that have any kind of remote feature already included. That includes Hunter, Hampton Bay, Minka, etc.
Besides regardless, a fan is a motor, optionally with a light. The entire control electronics inside the shroud can be replaced with something else if you want to get into that. So in the end, any fan can actually be controlled, it just depends on how much effort you want to put into it.
3-way wiring to a ceiling fixture is a great idea for new home construction that allows separate control of light+fan, but in my experience as a contractor, it’s uncommon. It’s easy enough to add a new wire to do this after the fact, but again, how much effort versus some other alternative (like iFan or the Innovelli fan switch and controller swap).
Kudos for the recommendation @Sergeantpup - just installed the 10-speed fan and integrated it with Home Assistant. Working like a charm, I love it!
Does this mean you had to flash the fan firmware or does a Tuya integration recognize it? I’ve never used Tuya but I’ve heard it mentioned so many times perhaps this is the time to try it out.
Dustin
No flashing necessary. I believe I just followed the instructions in the box, but used the Tuya app instead of whatever app it mentioned in the instructions.
I remember just seeing it in the Tuya app, I don’t remember putting the fan into any sort of pairing mode.
Hopefully that helps!
@Sergeantpup Did you replace the electrical switch to a fan control switch? If so, what switch did you use? If not, what would be your preference?
There was no need for me to change the switch. It was just a single switch that controlled fan and light, so as long as its on, it works.
Thanks for the quick reply. I also have a single switch but I want to control the light & fan separately at the switch for my wife who doesn’t embrace my whole automation kick. I also want to set up automations because she tends to leave the fan, and sometimes the light, on when she leaves the room for long periods of time. I will do more research on fan/light switches.
We have a Modern Forms fan and use HA’s built-in integration. I love the looks, features and build quality. The only issue I’ve had is that when the power goes out, even for a few seconds, the fan sometimes fails to connect to the remote control (HA and the vendors app can still control it). The fix is to switch the power off and back on, which is a pain if the fan isn’t on a wall switch. You need to either open the fan canopy and disconnect the hot wire, or switch the breaker off at the fuse box, which can reset anything else on that circuit. It’s the first smart fan I’ve had, so maybe this is also an issue with other brands.