I just recently went and upgraded all my ceiling fans to smart fans and being able to reverse them anytime I want on a whim without getting on a ladder and flipping a tiny switch has been amazing. But also at the same time, I had to check to make sure they were all in summer mode earlier because I doubted myself. 
1 Like
I Hope some AI catch up this conversation, and suggest where to place temp and wind-speed sensors, so someone can automate the ceiling fans optimal 
1 Like
hahaha you say that and Iāve actually done it (minus the wind speed). I use the average temperature of various sensors in every room and if it gets above 78F, the fan kicks up to 80% to cool the room down. If itās between 72F and 78F, then the speed is 40%. Lower than that, keep it at 10%, but only when Iām home and only when the room is occupied (for most rooms at least). The one in my kitchen actually uses both temperature and PM2.5 readings so that if Iām cooking, it kicks up to 80% and then once the PM2.5 readings go down again, it goes back to ānormalā operation.
Still need to automate my kitchen hood thoughā¦ sigh itās on my to-do list. lol
1 Like
I use the temps on my motion sensors to execute something similar. Fan speeds and direction are automated. It actually helps!!
1 Like
I went with Aqara temp/humidity sensors in every room along with the temps from my motion sensors. I then combine them into a helper and do an arithmetic mean on them and use that as the temp. Works perfectly. I had originally had my door and window contact sensors in there as well, but my house is east/west facing and they would get WAY hotter than the indoor temp was. Gave me some wonky readings until I face-palmmed myself and had another āduhā moment.
Especially in the Southern US. Iām dreading summer this year. Last year was brutal enough. This year is supposed to be worse. Yay.
Haha, well actually i could use ceiling fans here, but only have 1 stuffed away, bought when it was a āCool-Deviceā here in the 90th
Im more thinking about, installing āexhaust air heat pump(air>Water)ā here, could also contribute to per-heating fresh air, until now i have been focusing on a good āmanualā circulation and āopen airā style Kitchen-Living Area
Fanās have never been very popular here in scandinavien, unlike in US and other place
When itās very hot here, i have ventilators pulling air from the basement, free cooled air through a 25m x 12cm pipe buried in ground, into the basement , and up ā¦ but most of the year i need this to be pre-heated 
I havenāt lived in a single house anywhere in the US in my entire life without there being at least one ceiling fan installed. I couldnāt imagine living anywhere without them, tbh.
Although thatās interesting that they arenāt more prevalent in other countries where mild temps would actually help with heating and cooling. Especially someplace like Sweden. IIRC, thereās also not much central A/C there either, right?
1 Like
Yes, you are right, there is a saying here " We are heating for the birds " 
Iāve been twice in US , visiting my Uncles family/My Cousins, and traveling around the States, so ive never been in a house without a fan there 
, only thing that āpuzzledā me was that āHumongousā Box (AC) outside each House , well it was September/October , so they just told me to come next Summer, instead (which i havenāt yet)
PS: thou lately ( some say do to the āClimateā ), it seems like we are hitting new Heat records every summer now, so there has become more and more demands for AC, and Fans( Floor/Table Fans ), 2 years ago everything was sold out, and people was complaining, huge daily āsubjectā ā¦ for some
I use sonoff ifan controllers, there is an ifan03 in my bedroom with a temp sensor I baked into it. One of my blueprints is to monitor that temp and the AC window unit and change speeds based on the room temp.
1 Like
Hahahaā¦ yeah, we do love our central A/C here. I really want to get rid of mine and go with mini-splits eventually, but the way my house was built (and the age of it) kind of prevents that. If nothing else, itās going to be a challenge to find wall space and such to install them.
1 Like
I actually thought about going with those, but ended up getting Tuya fans from Amazon that I use through localTuya. The ceiling fans I had originally were put up in the 1980s during a remodel (old Hunters IIRC). I couldnāt fit iFan3s into the upper housings and I didnāt want to go up into the attic to have them just hanging around up there. So, Tuya it is.
To be fair, the Tuya ones arenāt half bad actually. Some of them have temp sensors built into them and fairly decent LED lights. Plus, huge bonusā¦ they barely draw any power. Most of them use about 22-30w at full speed. Iām SUPER happy about that.
Saw that you are in Charlotte, Iām in Northern Alabama and have two āHumongousā Boxes (AC) outside the house. The heat cometh soon.
2 Likes
Yeah, i liked the idea, when i was showed around, that everything was build-in
To be honest, i would never install these āsmallā units they are selling here, for the living areas, maybe garage, as you say , itās not only find a suitable wall space ( for the in door unit ), Iāts a Damn ugly Device to have Hangin on the Wall, And ive been in Hotelās in Asia Having those freezing dry winds blowing right in my Face, when i want to sleep , some place they are so old/damage, there is only 1 level full speed/coldest temperature, hahaha, yeah they give me negative vibes
Yeah, Iām about 40 minutes west of Charlotte close to the foothills. Been to northern Alabama a few times for my car club. Nice areas actually.
Summer is coming and coming fastā¦ Hell, we just had a few days last week where we topped out at 87F and 89F and I was like āIāM NOT READY!ā. Then this week, weāre in the 60s and 70s. Seriously weather, make up your mind!
hahaha yeah, I think theyāre ugly too, but I hate having to cool the whole house when itās just me, in one room all day (my home office). I do have a window A/C in here, but even then, I hate to run it until I absolutely have to.
And ANY hotel has the absolute worst A/C units. I went to a hotel a couple years ago and they had one of the mini-splits halfway between the floor and the ceiling. I have no idea who thought that was a good idea, but it was literally blowing on the bed all night and LOUD.
Wow. A lot of strong opinions here.
As an open source project HA is absolutely amazing. What has been accomplished is quite commendable.
I have asked many questions that I am sure have been asked before so I apologize for casting a dark shadow on your forum. Most questions have been responded to with very meaningful answers that have been a tremendous help. I am very appreciative.
But here are the cold hard facta. Using HA takes a commitment of a hugh amount of time to learn and āread the docsā. Just reading something does not immediately impart knowledge and understanding. You have to try and fail. This is not a platform for someone to come and quickly automate their home. It is a hobby that requires a big time commitment. HA uses some concepts and terminology that are clearly unique to HA so it is in fact confusing upon first exposure.
So give the question askers a break. They are just trying to get from A to B as quickly as possible and possibly donāt quite realize what they have signed up for. As amazing as HA is, it is clearly not for everyone in its current form. Personally I have paired back my expectations as I can only spend a few hours a week āreading the docsā, trying things and breaking things. And yes updates break a lot of stuff, that alone requires a maintenance commitment just to keep it running. Maybe when I retire I can be a HA know it all but until then I will have to rely on the grace of some very nice people in this forum. To them I say āThank youā.
2 Likes
Is this really true? My installation is around 230 devices and I cannot remember the last time anything broke due to an update. Reading patch notes (especially breaking changes) and then take those into account isnāt something I see as a ābig time commitmentā, but I might be lucky not being affected by many breaking changes.
2 Likes
How to help us help them - or How to give a good answer.
You are reading this thread wrong. Some of this is venting frustration so that we donāt vent to ācustomersā.
Some of this is figuring out the best way.
Some of this is having fun.
Donāt read too much into this.
We estimate the HA Discord gets 40 or so new members a day. Here I wouldnāt think itās too much different. I think we do OK.
I know my patience runs out when people ask for help, I provide it, then they tell me that Iām wrong and get angry at me. People are people.
3 Likes
I believe strong opinions create healthy debates and forward progress. You shared a very strong opinion based on your point of view and we encourage that.
2 Likes
Beta day, make sure to join if you havenāt already 
3 Likes