[ANSWERED]Thoughts on ceiling fan control

My next HA area is going to be our great room. Where I have a ceiling fan and fan lights that I would like to automate. I've been looking at the FanLinc but notice it is setup to control the fan and the fan lights via a KeyPadLinc. My wall plates has two rotary switches and a 3way toggle switch. One rotary switch controls some down lights, the other rotary switch controls the fan. The toggle switch is a 3-way switch with the other switch being located at the other room entry. Is the Insteon FanLinc my only option? If I choose to go with this would I just leave the wire for the lights capped? What switch would I use for fan control? Was hoping to hear from others who may have had a similar set or who may have suggestions on how to handle this.

Thanks,

Larry

I'm guessing nobody has any advise on how to approach this setup.

[jay (support)]

Yeah, I don't know how those knobs work, but I suspect that automating with those left in place is going to be pretty difficult if not impossible.

I don't know if your existing ceiling fan would work with a FanLinc, but if so if it were me I'd just replace the existing controls with KeypadLincs that control the ceiling fan's fan and light.

Hi Jay,

Sorry I must have not been clear on my intentions, I'm not planning on keeping any of those switches. I know I'll need two of the 2477D switches to replace the 3-way light toggle switch. I'll also replace the down lights rotary switch with a 2477D as well.

So I'm left with the fan speed rotary switch. What are my options in replacing this switch to control my ceiling fan speed.

Thanks again,

Larry

[jay (support)]

In that case, you have several options actually. I personally like having a 6 button KPL to control the FanLinc because the top/bottom buttons control the light on the fan and the 4 in the middle control fan speed (High, Medium, Low, Off) - you can even get engraved buttons which say this.

That would leave you with one extra spot in the jbox for another switch that you could use for just about anything - remember, INSTEON switches don't necessarily have to be directly wired to a load (light, etc) for them to be useful - you can link them to other INSTEON devices to supply control.

If, however, you want to keep the lights on the fan as a separate switch, then you can just use a SwitchLinc in the 3rd spot. In the second spot, which would control the fan, you could then put a KPL and use the other buttons for other things. You could put a SwitchLinc there too (no connection to the load) and be clever about what happens when Indigo sees an ON/OFF command (and Instant ON/OFF). For instance, when Indigo sees an on it could increase the fan speed by one and decrease fan speed by one when it sees an off. An Instant ON (double-tap on top) could turn it on high and an Instant OFF (double-tap on bottom) could turn it off. Lots of possibilities.

Note however - before you do anything, you should confirm with Smarthome that it will work with your fan. The FanLinc isn't exactly universal, and given the controls that you have yours may not be a standard fan.

Thanks Jay, I think I'll go with the switchlinc option for now. I'm not sure how I would get full use of a KPL at this stage of my implementation of HA.

Larry