I’m hitting a brick wall with Alsteon integration to use an insteon 2413U Power Line Modem and Fanlincs. I’ve ended up with control of the dimmers and probably it is just hooking into the native paltry at best Vera Insteon integration so it isn’t picking up on the fan control.
I can install Z-Wave dimmers for less money and less hastle than this (are there smaller ones than wall warts though? I haven’t looked) and send all this back to SmartHome.
but…
How to use an in-wall Z-Wave switch to control multi fan speeds? I’m thinking of a 2x relay and a LV solonoid control stashed away up in the fan housing but there’d be two 2x Relays and 4x solonoids in there and I’m not sure there’s enough room.
I’ve posted in the Insteon/Alsteon sub forums and haven’t heard anything as most of the threads down there are old and it seems the project is partially or completely abandoned. It seems what I’m missing is some binaries compiled on an rPi or Linux machine which I don’t have… why cannot I just get the pre-compiled package somewhere? Is it taking set-up data from the Modem and compiling it into a package usefull to Vera? I’m perplexed.
We are developing a 4-5 channel Relay which was specifically designed for overhead fans. Good news is that it is Z-Wave Plus, but it could also be bad news as it’s based around a Z-UNO. which may not be available in your part of the world.
It is basically user configurable with 4 relays for switching the dump resistors in the controller with an optional ON/OFF for a light. This could be altered to a LED dimmer if there is interest. It’s a totally DYI kit that requires disassembly of the fan speed controller, soldering of connector wires etc. Not a plug & play with some electrical knowledge required. But it is a solution.
That seems pretty good but why do you say I can’t use it here? Wrong frequency? Can that be adjusted for North America? I’m already figuring that I’m going to have to do some hacking into the guts of the fan to do this project anyhow. The thing is I thought I’d have the five Fanlincs I bought connected to my Vera by now. I’ve found all the files to go into the vera and the alsteon source code but need to figure out how to compile it intl linux on my Windows machine so I can load it into Vera but I’m stuck right there.
The AU version may work, as it appears that you can set the frequency when the Z-UNO is programmed.
Unfortunately, I have no way of testing US frequencies.
These fans have always been controlled by remote control and there is no wall switch. Originally it was an RF remote that controlled all three at the same time. I replaced that with a z-wave switch some time ago. If the GE fan control fits inside the housing of the fan I’d sure want to look into it but it seems it might not fit. That said, these fanlincs might not fit either but they are a low profile form factor.
I do not have a deep knowledge of Insteon but I do have 1 controlling my garage door. From what I understand, Insteon is basically the old X-10 standard that communicated with the controller over the power lines. Insteon also uses RF to help communication.
So in my case, the garage door relay only communicates with the PLM over the wiring so the garage outlet and the Vera outlet both had to be on the same buss of the electrical panel. That took a little research for me but eventually located my Vera in my laundry room sharing the washer circuit which is on the same buss as the garage over head door outlet. So the relay communicates to the PLM and the PLM is connected via USB to Vera.
The PLM has RF communication so it can act as a bridge on devices that are on the other buss, if the devices are within range of the PLM. Some folks add a second PLM on the other buss or you can get a bridge to place in the panel. Like z-wave, you have to have a pretty decent network to get Insteon to work with RF.
After all that research into Insteon, I thought the Fanlinc is what I wanted to do, except, they are expensive and after putting in a new fan in my office, it is a PIA to install once a fan is already hanging and working. 2 of my 3 fans are up high in a cathedral ceiling.
In my case, I have 4 fans and my next project is to just get 4 z-wave switches so I can simply kill the power when we are not home or not in bed. In the summer, we run the fan at 100% in the living room, 100% in the master bedroom, low in the den, and manually turn it on 100% in my office when I am in there. With the remote sitting next to the switch and not used very often to control speed, we think the z-wave switch option works best for us.
Thanks Don. That is basically what I’m doing now. These are the fans outside on the back patio and there’s three on one ceiling and two on the gazebo.
Currently, the three on the patio ceiling are controlled by a z-wave switch that only turns them on and off but does not control speed or dimming of the lights. In order to do that, I am grabbing a fan remote all the time.
There’s three of them but they’re all on the same frequency so there’s only one remote. This has turned out to be more troublesome than I thought it would be because the lights get out of phase so to speak and it take several clicks of the remote to get all of them on or off at the same time.
There is a separate remote for each but lord only knows where I put the other two at this point! I’d have to climb up the ladder to adjust the dip swtiches on two out of the three fans to use this remote too. No biggie but I figured I’d try to get this all incorporated into my VeraPlus Controller.
Additionally, there is a seperate z-wave switch to turn the patio lights that are independent of the fans on and off.
The other two fans are at the gazebo area and are controlled much the same way as the three in the patio area but on a seperate z-wave switcht that also turns on and off the gazebo lights. These fans are small fans made for hanging in the center of a gazebo and in order to adjust the speed one must reach up and turn the knob on the bottom of the fan.
None of these five fans have wall switches and I deliberately had them installed that way. I know the NEC probably requires it but I didn’t want to have it. I can kill the power by other means when I need to work on them and all instructructions say to do it at the breaker for maximum safety. That said, I usually “work hot” anyhow.
I’d like to have these all controlled by z-wave and be able to control speed and dimmer independently for each fan or in groups as part of scene macros.
I have the Alsteon source code ver 0.08 and the Vera Files. Everything is ready to go but I need to get the source code compiled for my specific Vera OS and put it into Vera using WinSCP.
Anybody familiar with Linux or rPi that can assist with this compiliation?
The AU version may work, as it appears that you can set the frequency when the Z-UNO is programmed.
Unfortunately, I have no way of testing US frequencies.[/quote]
Interesting. I will keep an eye out for that but I bet it is more like October. Still waiting over a year for that YaleLook z-wave door viewer!
If the frequency can be adjusted there’s really no reason why it wouldn’t work.
I see that the Zuno shows up as a parent device then there’s child devices that are Appliance Modules. I assume these can control the multi-speed switch? I’d need some sort of resistor or coil or solonoid up there as well so that they can be wired to control speed?
What about the lights? Would that require a separate z-wave dimmer module? These usually seem to be quite bulky themselves but maybe there’s SFF ones available now?
It would seem that this would require a separate box at each fan and then have the wires from that box feed into the fan due to size, no?
I just clicked the link you provided and am researching more now. Maybe some of my answers are there.
So this is what is needed for the relays? Never coded in Adriuno before or C for that matter. My coding days stopped way back at Fortran 77 at least 2 years before graduating from college in 1992 so 27 years ago. Concept is the same, language has changed I suppose.
The kit will come with either 4 relays or 5 depending on whether you need light control. The 5th channel is a WIP as I’d like to see either a Dimmer or ON/OFF switch incorporated. That part is on hold until user defined parameters become available.
Up to 10 channels are available on a single device, more control is available if you want to explore with a port expander.
Control of other devices may require intermediate components, this project is being kept simple by using existing control circuitry but does need electrical knowledge to fit up.
[font=verdana]No coding is required for this project as the Z-UNO will come preloaded with the necessary code, OTA is available.[/font]
[font=verdana]With respect to US availability, the device has FCC approval. It may require other approval, it would be best to direct any questions to Z-Wave.Me.[/font]
The kit will come with either 4 relays or 5 depending on whether you need light control. The 5th channel is a WIP as I’d like to see either a Dimmer or ON/OFF switch incorporated. That part is on hold until user defined parameters become available.
Up to 10 channels are available on a single device, more control is available if you want to explore with a port expander.
Control of other devices may require intermediate components, this project is being kept simple by using existing control circuitry but does need electrical knowledge to fit up.
[font=verdana]No coding is required for this project as the Z-UNO will come preloaded with the necessary code, OTA is available.[/font]
[font=verdana]With respect to US availability, the device has FCC approval. It may require other approval, it would be best to direct any questions to Z-Wave.Me.[/font][/quote]
Some assembly required, eh?
I can do the soldering part on the board but having the code already done is pretty cool. I need at least 5 of these. I wonder if they’ll have a volume discount? I am going to keep trying with the Fanlinc and the PLM but if I don’t have a solution before the return deadline to SmartHome, they’re going back.
The kit will come with either 4 relays or 5 depending on whether you need light control. The 5th channel is a WIP as I’d like to see either a Dimmer or ON/OFF switch incorporated. That part is on hold until user defined parameters become available.
Up to 10 channels are available on a single device, more control is available if you want to explore with a port expander.
Control of other devices may require intermediate components, this project is being kept simple by using existing control circuitry but does need electrical knowledge to fit up.
[font=verdana]No coding is required for this project as the Z-UNO will come preloaded with the necessary code, OTA is available.[/font]
[font=verdana]With respect to US availability, the device has FCC approval. It may require other approval, it would be best to direct any questions to Z-Wave.Me.[/font][/quote]
Some assembly required, eh?
I can do the soldering part on the board but having the code already done is pretty cool. I need at least 5 of these. I wonder if they’ll have a volume discount? I am going to keep trying with the Fanlinc and the PLM but if I don’t have a solution before the return deadline to SmartHome, they’re going back.[/quote]
I got the email that this is now available in North America, including the U.S. Are there specific instructions on how to build it into a fan speed control combined with a light dimmer?
Can’t help with the dimmer function, it’s on the list.
You can use this code for a 4 channel relay with toggle switches, it’s easily expandable to 5.
To enable a dimmer function the INPUT PINS need to be relocated as one of the PINS A0 to A3 are required for the Dimmer Input unless you just would like to control the Dimmer function without a physical switch.
There are many options that will come your way as you explore Z-UNO.
[quote=“zedrally, post:15, topic:196634”]Can’t help with the dimmer function, it’s on the list.
You can use this code for a 4 channel relay with toggle switches, it’s easily expandable to 5.
To enable a dimmer function the INPUT PINS need to be relocated as one of the PINS A0 to A3 are required for the Dimmer Input unless you just would like to control the Dimmer function without a physical switch.
There are many options that will come your way as you explore Z-UNO.
I’ll have to look but they are “dimmable” LED’s from 1000bulbs.com.
The are screw in type but can be replaced. As a side note, these fans are down the road, all the ones I’m doing now are incandescent or have no lights at all.
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