Getting a fan to work with Alexa using emulated hue

i got a new a switch for a fan… the fan shows up perfect in HA with 3 speeds. Was hoping to control it with alexa.

when i try to discover it it doesnt seem to work… i am not using the cloud for HA / Alexa integration… i dont think i need to add fan or the entitiy name in the exposed domains as its just a switch.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

#alexa:
emulated_hue:
listen_port: 80
host_ip: 10.10.10.106
expose_by_default: true
exposed_domains:
- light
- switch
- vacuum
- fan
- fan.ge_14287_fan_control_switch_level

Thanks,
Jay

I can’t really help you ith your problem but if you don’t mind could you tell me what switch you are using?

I have a ceiling fan I’d like to switch over to be able to be controlled by HA.

emulated_hue pretends to be a hue light bulb, clue in the name :slight_smile: , so it supports on/off/dim.

To do what you want I think you’d need to set up three new entities to mimic the each level and name them accordingly so it seems logical in use.

GE 14287 Fan Control Switch

thanks Bobby_Nobble the light part makes sense… i’ll see if I can figure out the 3 different entities…

i am not able to get the right start to setup these entities any help you can provide?

thanks,

I have this fan switch… works great with alexa and emulated hue. I don’t think I’ve tried asking her anything other than turn on/ off.

So, question 1:

Do you have any overlapping names for emulated hue names? Naming is huge with emulated hue. If you have special characters or poor names, they just won’t appear. I had to remove many domains to make it work.

Do you have over 60 emulated hue items? The hue bridge has a limit of somewhere around 60 devices and alexa does not expect more than that.

Here is my emulated hue config section… including the fan.

  host_ip: redacted
  listen_port: 8300
  off_maps_to_on_domains:
    - script
    - scene
  expose_by_default: true
  exposed_domains:
    - light
    - switch
    - input_boolean
    - fan
  entities:
    fan.master_level:
      name: Master Fan
    switch.audio_1:
      name: Audio One
    switch.audio_2:
      name: Audio Two
    switch.pc:
      name: Computer
    switch.ps4:
      name: Playstation
    switch.switch:
      name: Switch
    switch.tv:
      name: TV
    switch.wii_u:
      name: Wii U
    switch.xbox_one:
      name: Xbox One
    switch.zone_1:
      name: Zone One
    switch.zone_2:
      name: Zone Two
    light.can_d_level:
      name: Can Lights
    light.chand_d_level:
      name: Chandelier
    light.hall_d_level:
      name: Hallway
    light.island_d_level:
      name: Island Lights
    light.living_room_d_level:
      name: Living Room Lamps
    light.master_can:
      name: Master Can
    light.master_closet:
      name: Master Closet
    light.master_level:
      name: Master Light
    light.master_sink:
      name: Master Sink
    switch.basement_l_s_switch:
      name: Basement Cans
    switch.basement_st_s_switch:
      name: Basement Stairs
    switch.cabinet_s_switch:
      name: Cabinet Lights
    switch.downstairs:
      name: Downstairs
    switch.entry_s_switch:
      name: Entry Lights
    switch.floating_outlet_switch:
      name: Echo Outlet
    switch.foyer_s_switch:
      name: Foyer Lights
    switch.garage_s_switch:
      name: Garage Fixtures
    switch.garage_sc_switch:
      name: Garage Sconces
    switch.hoilday_s_switch:
      name: Holiday Lights
    switch.hutch_s_switch:
      name: Hutch Lights
    switch.inside:
      name: Inside
    switch.laundry:
      name: Laundry
    switch.main_sc_switch:
      name: Main Sconces
    switch.master_bath_fan:
      name: Master Bath Fan
    switch.office_o_switch:
      name: Office Desk Light
    switch.office_s_switch:
      name: Office Light Switch
    switch.outside:
      name: Outside
    switch.outside_s_switch:
      name: Outside Outlet
    switch.pantry_s_switch:
      name: Pantry Lights
    switch.petro_awake_sleep_automation:
      name: Petros Automation
    switch.upstairs:
      name: Upstairs

i dont have any overlapping names

and i dont have over 60 items, current total 28.

here is my emulated hue config ( i do have a real hue too).

#alexa:
emulated_hue:
listen_port: 80
host_ip: x.y.x.z
expose_by_default: true
exposed_domains:
- light
- switch
- fan
- vacuum

i just retried and 1 fan shows up… now a total of 3 items with alexa… however the second one does not…

both fan switches are identical .

What does your json look like when you go to the emulated hue list of devices?

http://<HA IP Address>:8300/api/pi/lights

In your case it may be

http://<HA IP Address>:80/api/pi/lights

i’ll check that once i am able to get to my HA…

a related question… my fan on this switch works strange doesnt come up right away it is a fan that has a remote with 3 speeds… i am thinking something to do with that?

any suggestions

thanks,

Not sure, I bypassed my remote and use the GE fan switch which has 3 speeds. So in HA my fan has the 3 speeds and works fine with emulated hue. I’m thinking this has to do with what is reported in your api/pi/lights

i was asking using the switch with the fan- no HA / alexa integration…

I’m still not following. You are using the remote to control the fan and it’s slow?

I don’t know what you mean by this:

Doesn’t come up right away in HA when restarting?

sorry i mis-typed

the fan doesnt come on right away using the switch, have to hold it down for a while.

I don’t think that’s it. The switch doesn’t remember states? Typically with the GE switch, holding it down cycles from low to high fan speeds but a quick tap should resume it to the last set speed.

the JSON output has no sign of the fan switch…

Then you should try to implement individual sensors with names like my example. You can start with just this and see if it works:

emulated_hue:
  listen_port: 80
  host_ip: 10.10.10.106
  off_maps_to_on_domains:
    - script
    - scene
  expose_by_default: true
  exposed_domains:
    - light
    - switch
    - vacuum
    - fan
  entities:
    fan.ge_14287_fan_control_switch_level:
      #Change your fan name
      name: GE Fan 

thanks will give this a shot today…

This seems to be a very old thread, but seeing if you have had the same issue

I am able to use the Emulated Hue to drive my fans and set their speed, so that part is good.
I do have an annoyance though, which is that Alexa answers to my command “Alexa, Set Master Fan on Low” saying “Master Fan appears to be malfunctioning”, however she is able to turn on the fan at the right speed.

Do you have any recommendation on how to avoid this annoyance?

My fan switches are a GE 14287/ZW4002 and an Enbrighten 55258/ZW4002.
My yaml configuration as follows:

‘# Amazon Echo thru Emulated Hue
emulated_hue:
host_ip: 192.168.0.103
listen_port: 80
off_maps_to_on_domains:
- script
- scene
expose_by_default: false
entities:
switch.in_wall_paddle_switch_500s:
name: “Camilla Fan”
hidden: false
fan.in_wall_fan_speed_control_500s:
name: “Master Fan”
hidden: false
fan.in_wall_fan_speed_control_500s_2:
name: “Living Fan”
hidden: false’