I’ve been searching all over for advice on what to buy and how to integrate (set up) a ceiling fan solution that was fully controllable from Home Assistant, but after a long time searching - only to find half-breed semi-hacked home-made solutions, mostly adapted to the US (electricity wise and brands only sold in the US), I gave up.
Until one day, in august 2024, I stumbled upon a sales guy in a LeroyMerlin shop who knew a lot more then to just say “I’m sorry…”
He showed me a new arrival - among the zillion of other ceiling fans they had, all with proprietary remote controls using 433MHz with rotating key protocols! Useless!
But this new model, made in China (of course) offered additional remote control using a smartphone. And that’s a major step in the right direction, I thought - so I took my chances and bought one unit. It’s brand name was NERE SMART. Probably just an OEM name. It may exist under other names as well. Typically Chineese. The included user guide wasn’t all that bad either. It told me to scan a QR-Code to download an app named “LightForLife” (yes - spelled like that!). I have never heard of that app, and found very little info on Google Search. So, I didn’t have much choice but to follow the guide. During installation on my Android smartphone, I noticed that the Tuya logo briefly flashed across my screen. Now that’s a familiar name, I thought, and I terminated the installation and began searching for “Smart Tuya” to see what possible link there could be. And just as I suspected, this so called “LightForLife” app was just a lobotomized subset of the full Tuya app. I wasn’t able to find anything suggesting that perhaps I could use the Tuya app instead of the “LightForLife” app, and thus be able to integrate the ceiling fan into Home Assistant using the Tuya Integration (or Local-Tuya).
So, I gave it a shot and guess what!? The Tuya app immediately recognized my Ceiling fan after putting in pairing mode!
Long story short - I decided to use the standard cloud based version of the Tuya Integration, and everything showed up in Home Assistant, with all the whistle and bells (lots of entities) for fan and light control.
So now, I’m a happy camper after all.
That’s strange. Perhaps it’s because LeroyMerling is very picky about keeping strict country limits. You see, this is from LeroyMerling in Spain. Their offerings may differ from what they have in other regions. Anyway, this is what I get from this link:
I purchased an italian brand called “Lucci”. It uses an RF remote with no security so I was easily able to teach my broadlink RM Pro how to talk to the fan. Cost me about AUD150 from memory. Remote Model is SF-14-T3. 6 speed reversing with a cobb light in the middle. The light is 15w so we never turn it on. Its bright enough for tanning.
I ended up getting a Hunter ceiling fan with light kit along with a pair of Leviton decora switches to control lights and fan speed. I haven’t added them to HA yet, but I have the instructions and will add them in a bit.
Do you mind posting the list of entities? I have the same fan that uses RF remote but no app. I want to use my broadlink to add it to HA. I want to make sure i get all the entites.
I should get it tomorrow , and I can update this thread with the results. They also make an rpi gpio card ,
but I already have a POE Hat+ installed, so the gpio connection is taken.
Update - The zwave switches are not being cooperative. I got the one for the lights detected and working after I bought a Zooz z-wave 800 usb stick, but the fan switch still won’t detect.
