Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

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Mon Dec 03, 2018 1:50 pm
TwitchCaptain offline
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Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

Hey guys,

This thing looks dope: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HR13SRF - HomeSeer HS-FC200+ Z-wave Plus 4-speed Fan Controller

It brings up one question: Will these switches become part of the fan control UI elements in Indigo, or is that reserved only for FanLinc Insteon Controllers?

I just bought 3 and will have them Thursday. If these work as well as I think they will I'm going to have 4 GE fan controllers for sale; if you're interested in them hit me up.

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Posted on
Mon Dec 03, 2018 5:11 pm
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Re: Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

I just bought one because of their sale. So I've got that one and the GE one as well to test with. My hope is that we can make them use the same fan control UI that the FanLinc uses. Haven't gotten them to a state in which we can start working with them though.

Out of curiosity, why would you replace the GE ones? Do they not work well?

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Posted on
Mon Dec 03, 2018 8:39 pm
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Re: Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

I'm absolutely in love with the homeseer RGB dimmers. You posted about them a few months ago and I bought one immediately. Indigo 7.2 made them even easier to play with it, thanks!

I'm hopeful the fan devices have similar features (controllable LEDs). Most of all, my fans are legit four speed fans and connecting them to a 3 speed GE controller just feels wrong. Homeseer has it right if you ask me. I'll be replacing everything with their dimmers in time, and I'd sure like to do the same with the fan switches.

EDIT: Specifically about the GE dimmers: they actually work perfectly well and I've been quite pleased with them. They're kinda clumsy when adjusting speed locally, but I doubt Homeseer is any better (I'll know Thursday). I really like the idea of controllable LEDs and 4 speeds; that has me sold.

Posted on
Mon Dec 03, 2018 9:28 pm
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Re: Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

I'm curious -- do they use a canopy module like the Insteon FanLinc module? I had really bad luck with the Lutron Maestro wireless fan controls that used a similar type module. We get a fair number of brown and black outs here which can wreak havoc on the modules. The last time one died, I replaced them with Maestro hardwired 4-speed controls which have been bullet proof (although don't allow for automation). That experience shied me away from the Fanlincs.

I'd be interested in hearing how you like these.

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Posted on
Tue Dec 04, 2018 11:42 am
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Re: Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

DaveL17 wrote:
I'm curious -- do they use a canopy module like the Insteon FanLinc module? I had really bad luck with the Lutron Maestro wireless fan controls that used a similar type module. We get a fair number of brown and black outs here which can wreak havoc on the modules. The last time one died, I replaced them with Maestro hardwired 4-speed controls which have been bullet proof (although don't allow for automation). That experience shied me away from the Fanlincs..


No - they are just the switch itself, nothing goes in the ceiling.

FWIW, I've only had 1 FanLinc to ever fail (the oldest) and I had 4 in my previous house for many years and have 4 (3 the same from the previous house and 1 new one) in the current house. The FanLinc/KeypadLinc solution is, IMO, the best use of Insteon (along with the hidden door sensor/SwitchLinc combo for closets/pantry). These 2 solutions are the primary reasons why I still use Insteon. I have lots of other SwitchLincs but will likely eventually replace those (as they fail) with Z-Wave alternatives (probably the HomeSeer switches).

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Tue Dec 04, 2018 11:44 am
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Re: Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

TwitchCaptain wrote:
I'm absolutely in love with the homeseer RGB dimmers. You posted about them a few months ago and I bought one immediately. Indigo 7.2 made them even easier to play with it, thanks!

I'm hopeful the fan devices have similar features (controllable LEDs). Most of all, my fans are legit four speed fans and connecting them to a 3 speed GE controller just feels wrong. Homeseer has it right if you ask me. I'll be replacing everything with their dimmers in time, and I'd sure like to do the same with the fan switches.

EDIT: Specifically about the GE dimmers: they actually work perfectly well and I've been quite pleased with them. They're kinda clumsy when adjusting speed locally, but I doubt Homeseer is any better (I'll know Thursday). I really like the idea of controllable LEDs and 4 speeds; that has me sold.


Thanks for the info, I'm sure others will find it useful.

We will definitely add the ability to control those LEDs when we add official support for the fan controller.

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Tue Dec 04, 2018 12:20 pm
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Re: Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

jay (support) wrote:
No - they are just the switch itself, nothing goes in the ceiling.

Thanks Jay. Glad to hear that, when the time comes, I'll have a couple good options to choose from.

I must admit that I've often wondered why it's so hard to make a wall-mounted fan control to handle speed, direction and light all from one controller. The circuits aren't that complicated, so all I can come up with is price.

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Wed Dec 05, 2018 10:13 am
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Re: Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

DaveL17 wrote:
jay (support) wrote:
No - they are just the switch itself, nothing goes in the ceiling.

Thanks Jay. Glad to hear that, when the time comes, I'll have a couple good options to choose from.

I must admit that I've often wondered why it's so hard to make a wall-mounted fan control to handle speed, direction and light all from one controller. The circuits aren't that complicated, so all I can come up with is price.


What I'd like to see is a 6 button KeypadLinc like device that is in fact just a fan controller device. The top and bottom buttons control the light, the 4 buttons in the middle control fan speed. But without the FanLinc box necessary in the Fan's ceiling mount. Seems like it would be relatively straight-forward.

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Posted on
Wed Dec 05, 2018 12:51 pm
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Re: Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

GE finally integrated z-wave into PIR motion sensor/light switch (great for small walkways, hallways, laundry rooms and bathrooms). I imagine they're not too far off from making a combo switch that'll do a light and fan. I'm so happy with all the new things coming out!

Posted on
Tue Jan 15, 2019 12:07 pm
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Re: Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

DaveL17 wrote:
I must admit that I've often wondered why it's so hard to make a wall-mounted fan control to handle speed, direction and light all from one controller. The circuits aren't that complicated, so all I can come up with is price.


Fans are old-construction installations, so without re-wiring the (usually) single romex run to the fixture, it's not going to be possible to control light/fan separately without it being by remote control. I suppose the market for new-build multi-wire fan installations is too small. All the wall-mounted switches I know of are actually remote controls that need a switching module installed in the canopy.

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Tue Jan 15, 2019 12:23 pm
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Re: Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

I found a Leviton dumb wall switch that can do fan and light with no remote. Of course, without Indigo control.

I keep forgetting that not everyone has conduit—I pull new wires all the time.


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Posted on
Tue Jan 15, 2019 3:55 pm
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Re: Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

DaveL17 wrote:
I keep forgetting that not everyone has conduit—I pull new wires all the time.


I'm jealous. If I were building my own home that's something I'd plan. Also multiple furnaces to service different parts of the home and a manifold system for water supply with dedicated runs to every fixture. Ah, dreaming... :)

Posted on
Tue Jul 02, 2019 11:13 am
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Re: Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

i'm just setting one of these up for the first time.

i see that there is an Indigo action type called "Set Fan Speed (Fan Speed Controls)", however I can't select the Homeseer HS-FC200+ device to perform this action (the pull-down menu for selecting the device is empty). it appears the same is true for all of actions in the "Fan Speed Control" category including Increase, Decrease, Turn Fan On/Off, etc. are the fan controls exclusively for Insteon FanLinc's?

I can do a "set brightness" command on this device. possibly the device does some sort of rounding to the nearest discrete fan speed? - i tried set brightness to 20% initially and the command did not generate any error, but nothing changed on the device. then tried 40% and the fan turned on to low. so perhaps it is just rounding to the nearest of {0, 33, 66, 100).

Posted on
Tue Jul 02, 2019 12:55 pm
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Re: Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

Correct - it currently behaves as a dimmer and the behavior as you describe is expected. At some point we will switch them over to the built-in fan device, but we wanted to get usable support in there as fast as we could.

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Posted on
Fri Jul 05, 2019 12:30 pm
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Re: Brand New Ceiling Fan Controller: HomeSeer HS-FC200+

Regarding Homeseer's latest gen of switches... this device seems to work well and has pretty good build quality. This is my first HomeSeer device, and I'm considering what I want to do in the future. One thing I noticed is that this device is bulkier (deeper in particular) than Insteon devices. That can create a challenge during installation, especially in crowded 3- and 4-gang boxes. I was wondering whether my FC200+ is the same size or larger than the dimmer unit WD200+ - anyone know? HomeSeer doesn't seem to list physical dimensions in their spec's.

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