Vacancy fan control

[oomike]

Hello,
 
  I'm looking to automate a fan when exiting the room for a tenant's restroom. Light auto on with no fan > light auto off> fan for 1 min. I know this can be done Z-Wave with a motion sensor and relays. I'm wondering how to do it with UPB? Maybe a vacancy sensor and a relay, I'm not sure and when I look at parts the list expands quickly.

 

[wkearney99]

One minute is not a lot of run time for a fan.  Especially not if you're talking about after using a shower or bath.  For that you, generally, should let the fan run 30 minutes.  But it'd vary based on the size of the room and how many CFM the fan handles.   The same would apply if you're talking about clearing other restroom activities.
 
A point to consider is how to allow for overrides when fan/light action is or isn't desired.  As in, don't blind me in middle of the night.  Or don't run that loud-ass fan and wake everyone else up.
 
Me, I decided it was better to NOT automate the fans, but use a switch with a locally adjustable timer.  Lutron has several options, both as a timer alone and then also with a light dimmer in the same 1-gang unit.  
 
http://www.lutron.com/en-US/Products/Pages/StandAloneControls/Timers/MaestroTimer/Models.aspx
 
I have added some Lutron motion sensors to two bathrooms.  A powder room and the basement bath.  Neither of which would be sensitive to time-of-day light level variations.  Both are working out great for lighting control.  As I move forward integrating the RA2 lighting with 3rd party control I do want to look into revisiting fan automation.  I'll likely add some logic to watch how the lighting is used and adjust fan operation accordingly.  As in, the light in the shower was been on for more than 5 minutes, so plan on engaging the fan in 5 minutes and leave it running for 30 after that.  Not something I can do without external automation logic.
 
The same thing would apply with any other lighting/fan control.  But you really do want to think about how overrides and edge cases are handled.  Especially if you're dealing with a tenant situation where battery maintenance (or Hell, even idiocy like breaking sensors) comes into play. Sometimes it's smarter to just keep it simple and non-automated.

 

[Desert_AIP]

The new UPB firmware has built in timers.
So the switches can respond to a link and activate for a preset amount of time and then shutoff.
That logic is controlled inside the switch, so an external controller is not required for a small project like that.
 
You'd need a switch for the light and one for the fan.  Or wire a wired in module with the fan.
You need to be able to independently power the fan from the light.
 
The on function of the light would work normally.  Top press of the rocker turns the light on.
Configure the light's switch to transmit a link to the fan's switch when the light is turned off, bottom rocker press.
And configure the fan's switch to respond to the link and run for 5 minutes (my recommendation). 
The firmware has many time selections.
The fan's switch could turn the fan on and off manually as normal.
 
You should use a relay switch or wired in relay for the fan.
 
 
I use this logic in my master bath to run the fan for an hour after I turn off the shower light.

 

[oomike]

thx

 

[ano]

The new UPB firmware has built in timers.

Note that the Leviton 35A001CFL switch has this timer, but it doesn't work.  Leviton admitted this to me maybe 9 months ago, and said they would fix it and send me an updated switch, but they never sent the switch (and I don't know if they ever fixed it).  So if you want to use this timer, don't use this switch.  The timer on other switches, including SA switches seems to work fine.

 

[Desert_AIP]

Thanks ano.

I use SA switches almost exclusively, and can confirm the timer feature works perfectly in this application.

 

[cobra]

Yeah, saw the same thing with the Leviton switch.
 
I did something like the requested behavior in a guest bathroom.  Two UPB switches in the bath, one for light, one for fan.  Was planning to do timing in the switch, but the Leviton's didn't work and I had the Lumina system already, so moved the timing out of the switches.
 
Light off -> Fan switch on for 2 / 3 minutes.
Fan switch on -> fan on for timed limit as well
Fan switch double tap -> fan on without timer
 
The only thing I might do is add a minuter or two to the timer, other than that it works well.  We find that about half the time we don't want the fan on, and we just tap it off after turning off the light.
 
Guests have been somewhat confused by the Leviton paddle switches.  I think some of them hold that paddle rather than tapping, or the tap sensitivity is a little off in timing.  This leaves the light dimmed and not turning off or on.  Maybe I'll change them to not support dimming (which is also programmable in the switch.)
 
Make sure you turn off dimming or use a non-dimming module on the fan switch.  It's not recommended to run the dimmer on a motor.  That can lead to damage.