Ceiling Fan and CFL's Choice for New Home

S

shaurya

Member
Hello All,

I am finally diving in to buy 10 Celing Fan and CFL's for at least all bedrooms/Kitchen/Family.

Fan-
  • With Remote Control
  • W/O Remote
  • Would like to Automate it (On/Off and Speed) down the line (No pref for UPB/Insteon/z-wave at this time) and avoid issues like Humming/Heating etc.
  • Any other point that I missed from Automation perspective.
  • Any recommned website to buy Hunter/Harbour Breeze Factory Renewed products
Light Bulb/CFL-
  • Dimmable CFL or Not
  • Energy Star
  • Would like to Automate it (On/Off and Speed) down the line (No pref for UPB/Insteon/z-wave at this time) and avoid any issues.
  • Which particular Brand/Model...(Read some noise & Other issues somwhere)
  • Any recommended website to buy these for whole house other than HD/Sears/Lowes etc...

Thanks,
Shaurya
 
Only advice I can give is to avoid the fans/lights with remotes. We have one (existing when we moved in) and it's a pain. Control buttons are small - plus I'm not sure how to automate it. I plan on removing it and replacing with standard fan/light so I can automate it.

I use UPB - no issues with automating regular fans (so far)... although I just use the UPB switches to turn on/off - I'm not dimming the fan with them. I set the fan on the slowest speed and just turn them on/off. I do use UPB for dimming the lights - no issues.
 
I agree - fans with remotes stink - It's a pain to keep the remote and switch in synch. If you go with good quality switches that are remote-controllable (X10, Zwave, UPB, Insteon, your choice) you can have a more reliable way of controlling your fan (and can add a wireless remote if you want) Smarthome makes a very good (X10, I think) 3-speed fan controller that is hum-free.
 
I have to do some more wiring research in my house, but it looks minimal. I believe my Fan/Lights only have one power wire ran from the switch, so I think I am limited in my options.. =(


I seen the 3-speed switches mentioned earlier, but I take it you have to have seperate power lines to the fan if you want that and dimmable lights?

For people like me, are there any options besides using like two in-line modules? Even with the inline modules I would have sync issues because of the switch overriding them?

Thanks,
Vaughn
 
Thanks Mr John and Mr Fisher for your feedback. For Fan its clear that Remote is no no...So I will buy some good basic fans.

Any guidance for CFL's. I heard that CFL's cause some noise issue. Any particular Brand/Model for CFL's that can be recommended keeping a eye on automation down the line. Any opinion on some of the newer Dimmable CFL's?

Thanks,
Shaurya
 
shaurya said:
Thanks Mr John and Mr Fisher for your feedback. For Fan its clear that Remote is no no...So I will buy some good basic fans.

Any guidance for CFL's. I heard that CFL's cause some noise issue. Any particular Brand/Model for CFL's that can be recommended keeping a eye on automation down the line. Any opinion on some of the newer Dimmable CFL's?

Thanks,
Shaurya
Click to expand...
There are a couple of threads on the HomeSeer BB on users success with certian CFL's:
http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t...3&highlight=cfl
http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t...7&highlight=cfl
 
I am going to add my .02 here... since I just did this...

My house is all X-10, and at this point it would be to expensive and pointless to change to another protocol. Since the only thing I had left to control were the fans and their lights.

My house is a bit older, with fans in almost all rooms, 5 total. The fans were placed in by the previous owner, each powered with a single 3-wire cable (power, neutral and ground) some to a switch others powered all the time.
For the last couple of years I ran just ran standard Lowes/Home Depot fan remotes to control the fan and lights, cursing every use as I couldn't control from the computer.

I tried different X-10 solutions, fixture modules, switches, even the ocelot pushing fan remote buttons. Nothing worked reliably or well.

Recently I had my roof replaced and at the same time I ran an extra 4-wire to each fan box, pulled to a new 2 gang box for the switches. Then installed new Lightolier fan switches and Switchlinc switches for the lights at each location. I used a professional electrician, followed up by a drywall guy.... all in all this was not a cheap endeavor.

It is sad that I can only use 50% of the Lightolier switches as you have to run them in x-10 compatibility mode, plus I have found that they are x-10 signal suckers, and caused me to have to re-route some wiring at my panel. But the computer control of them is flawless and very nice, as I can control thee speeds...

I am finally happy, as all my lights and fans are computer controlled.

On a side note I am unsure why you would want CFL speed control...
:)
 
My thoughts:

1) For compact fluorescents, I really had to sell my wife on the idea, as she didn't want the light to be varied in any way as compared to what the incandescents were doing. I ended up buying a couple of lights from about 10-15 different brands, and we came up with (and only one) winner that satisfied her: Technical Consumer Products (TCP) line of SpringLamps. You can google for them -- they're available from a number of places, and quite inexpensive. The "warm" light is exactly like an incandescent, and they're instant on. There's a dimming version available too.

2) For ceiling fans, over three houses we've purchased six fans, and they've all been Casablanca Bel Airs with Intellitouch. Intellitouch is a X10-like protocol -- bulletproof since inherently the control is on the same extension as the ceiling fan is -- which allows for ceiling fans to be installed even if you don't have a third control wire running from the fan to the switch. The Bel Airs (and others in the Casablanca line) have industrial motors that run silent. We have the four fans in our house currently running all the time at low speed, and you just can't hear them. At high speeds, you just hear air moving, and never the motor unless you put your ear 6 inches away. They're incredible fans, although on the pricey side at around $500 each. Check online -- there's a few places that sell them at a discount. Our electrician who installed them said that they're the best fans he's seen.
 
I concure with the others about the Lightolier 3-Speed fan controller. I've got a couple installed and they work well. You will need to get another set of conductors up to the fan to control the light as mentioned before.

Something that hasn't been brought up. The last two fans I've purchased came with a wireless remote, but at the fan end, the controller was just wired up between the power lines and the fan. It was easy to leave out the remote and not use it. This may not be the case for all remote controlled ceiling fans, but if you find one that you like that includes a remote, see if it can be left off or if it's truley "built-in".

Cheers,
Paul
 
I use TCP dimmable CFL's pretty much exclusively at my house and I get them from BuyLighting.com. Here's a link:

TCP CFL link

These lights are much less prone to flicker as well as being completely dimmable. Because they run so cool, I've installed them extensively in all my recessed lighting fixtures in the finished basement too. I've had good luck using them with my X10 switchlincs as well as with my SAI UPB switches.

Interestingly, dimmable CFL's don't behave visually in the same manner as incandescent lights because their spectrum remains the same at all dim levels. Incandescent lights become more yellow as they dim.
 
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