new z wave user couple easy questions

[ozorowsky]

Hi everyone, I have a harmony 890 remote, and currently have a harbor breeze TRC-100L RF remote for my fan/light. I can't figure out how to get the harmony to control this so I assume this is not doable right?

That said, is there a z wave device I can get to control my ceiling fan/light?

Also, I bought the jasco/GE z wave 3 way light switch set and after I received it tried to installed it, with no luck on the "aux" switch working. Doing research apparently its not uncommon for this switch. I got the 45609 switch if anyone is wondering. What is the recommended 3 way switch setup for a z wave setup?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Odeen]

Hi everyone, I have a harmony 890 remote, and currently have a harbor breeze TRC-100L RF remote for my fan/light. I can't figure out how to get the harmony to control this so I assume this is not doable right?

That said, is there a z wave device I can get to control my ceiling fan/light?

It depends on how your fan and light are wired.

If your fan and light have on/off wall switches, you can replace those with a dimmer for the light and a switch or Leviton fan speed controller for the fan. Note - do NOT use a regular dimmer for fan control - the motor will run noisily and either the motor or the switch may burn out.

If your fan is wired straight into the ceiling, and does not have a wall switch (i.e. it's operated by a remote control, or by pull chains only,) you need to use a wire-in module. The only one I'm aware of for Z-wave is the ACT HomePro ZRF113.

The ZRF113 is essentially a switch without the physical switch part. You wire one in to control the light (so it goes "between" the wall supply wires and the light socket), and a second one "between" the wall supply wires and the fan motor to control the fan. Then you can use a Z-wave remote or a wall controller to activate the ZRF113s, which will turn on the fan, or the light.

 

[kertofer]

On this topic, does anyone know if there are there any z-wave devices to control a fan and light kit from a single switch? My bedroom has a fan/light kit but only 1 switch, fan and light control being pull string right now, and with it being a downstairs room running new wire to allow for the second switch to control the fan and lights separately is more work than I am willing to put in right now...

 

[mikejrc]

On this topic, does anyone know if there are there any z-wave devices to control a fan and light kit from a single switch? My bedroom has a fan/light kit but only 1 switch, fan and light control being pull string right now, and with it being a downstairs room running new wire to allow for the second switch to control the fan and lights separately is more work than I am willing to put in right now...

a failrly new remote control for your fan will split your hot feed in 2 at the ceiling fan box without the need of a second hot wire allowing you to control independently fan and light.
what I don't know is if you can get a zwave device that could do the same.

 

[Odeen]

a failrly new remote control for your fan will split your hot feed in 2 at the ceiling fan box without the need of a second hot wire allowing you to control independently fan and light.
what I don't know is if you can get a zwave device that could do the same.

How about two ZRF113's and a Leviton VRCS2-MRZ two-button scene controller triggering them?

If you're not dead-set on Z-wave, and you have a neutral wire in your wall box, you could go UPB. Simply Automated and Web Mountain sell a dual load switch for one wall box. I believe that's the only home automation wall switch that can control two loads from a single gang.

You could also forego Z-wave and get an Emerson fan controller. The receiver mounts inside your fan canopy, and use use a wall-mounted or handheld remote to control the fan and the light:
http://www.emersonfans.com/Pages/Accessory.aspx?Name=Controls

 

[ozorowsky]

Right now I have the harbor breeze remote that controls my fan. Basically it mounts up by the ceiling between the ceiling wiring and the fan. Basically the wiring comes down from the ceiling to the harbor breeze module (Which is proprietary RF) then to the fan wiring which links itself down to the light fixture attached to the fan. There is no wall swithc.

So in short my fan is on a newer remote setup, but I bought the harmony 890 remote to avoid having 10 remotes sitting in my lap. I am down to 2 now, but want to somehow figure out how to cut it down to 1 and get rid of the fan remote. I will research the ACT HomePro ZRF113 today.

Thank you for the tips all, and if anyone has any other tips I'm all ears. Thanks again.

 

[electron]

Worst case, you can automate the remote, depending on how brave you are

 

[pbeaulieu]

How about two ZRF113's and a Leviton VRCS2-MRZ two-button scene controller triggering them?

If you're not dead-set on Z-wave, and you have a neutral wire in your wall box, you could go UPB. Simply Automated and Web Mountain sell a dual load switch for one wall box. I believe that's the only home automation wall switch that can control two loads from a single gang.

You could also forego Z-wave and get an Emerson fan controller. The receiver mounts inside your fan canopy, and use use a wall-mounted or handheld remote to control the fan and the light:
http://www.emersonfa...x?Name=Controls

Point of clarification. The Leviton VRCS2-MRZ can control 2 loads in one wall box. But the wiring for both loads has to be in the wall box.

 

[ozorowsky]

Hey everyone,

I am researching your suggestions and the ZRF113 appears to only have on/off functions.

Wouldn't I want some form of hi/medium/low for the fan and a dimmer for the living room light?

All the people on this board, I'm sure someone has done this, can't be that uncommon to control the living room light/fan combo from harmony remote/z wave

 

[Odeen]

Hey everyone,

I am researching your suggestions and the ZRF113 appears to only have on/off functions.

Wouldn't I want some form of hi/medium/low for the fan and a dimmer for the living room light?

All the people on this board, I'm sure someone has done this, can't be that uncommon to control the living room light/fan combo from harmony remote/z wave

Controlling the speed of a motor (such as your fan) is different than controlling brightness of incandescent light bulb. Because of this, only "fan control" dimmers will run your fan correctly.

Here's a thought. Rather than installing a pair of ZRF113's, get a Leviton VRF01 Z-Wave Fan Control and a matching VRI06 light dimmer. You'd need to figure out a good place to install them in the CEILING near the fan.

Disconnect the canopy-mounted fan controller. Determine which wires in the fan power the motor, and which are for the light.

Once you have a 2-gang electrical box set up near the fan, and the wires from the ceiling are routed to it, split the hot, neutral and ground wires as needed (by attaching short pieces of an appropriately-colored wire to the wire coming from the wall using wire nuts). Then simply connect the fan control to the hot and fan motor wires (and neutral and ground as needed), connect the dimmer to the hot wire and to the light kit (again, ground, neutral, etc as needed), pair the Leviton devices with your Harmony 890 and enjoy.

I'm not an electrician, so I'm intentionally omitting the precise wiring arrangement. You may wish to have this done by someone qualified.


Assuming it's safe, you may also want to get a larger decorative canopy for your fan, or some sort of a paintable plastic cover to cover up the switches...

Edit:
Arlington TV Box
This is meant as a recessed electrical box for wall-mounted TV's, but you can use it in the ceiling by attaching it to a ceiling joist. Install the fan control and dimmer into the fully enclosed "power" mounts, cover the whole box with the cover plate, and paint the cover plate to match your ceiling.

 

[intozwave]

As of today there is only one device for fan speed control the VRF01-1L which doesn't control lights - the solution that Odeen suggested about the 2- gang box and using the VRF01-1L to control the fan and a VRI06-1L to control lights has been implemented in many homes. Or you can wait for a while as I saw a couple of in-line Z-Wave modules - dimmer, relay and contact at CES2011 by a couple of different manufacturer's that were on there way to UL testing - a VRF01 on the wall and a inline dimmer module up in the fan housing, canopy or ceiling and there you go - I waited almost 18 months for the the 2 and 4 Button Local Control Controllers to hit the market to be able to control lights in the master bathroom