Reddit mentions: The best ceiling fan remote controls

Depends. Do you want to start automating your home? Or do you just want a solution to solve this particular problem?

Universal Thermostatic Ceiling Fan and Light Remote Control Conversion Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001RJ8X0M/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_4uR9wbY5WD66W

I have that in my guest bedroom and it works OK. You key in a setpoint. It will start to slow the fan down as it gets closer to the setpoint eventually turning it off when it reaches the desired temp.

If you want to start automating your home, what would you rate your technical skills like?

So assuming you have seperate wires for light and fan motor, you need a smart switch for LEDs (assuming LEDs), and a seperate smart switch for fan motors. https://smile.amazon.com/MOES-Ceiling-Control-Compatible-Required/dp/B07HQ95N69/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=wifi+ceiling+fan+controller&qid=1555516380&s=gateway&sr=8-9

You can also get a smart universal controller, which is a little box you wire into the fan housing, and pretty much all fans are designed to fit one (hence universal). https://smile.amazon.com/NFS20Z-Enabled-Isolated-Fixture-Mounted/dp/B00WXLRF2U/ref=sr_1_15?keywords=wifi+ceiling+fan+controller&qid=1555516380&s=gateway&sr=8-15 The downside to this option is you can't control either from the wall switch (except on and off).

I haven't done too much looking, yet, but I do know that fans are usually 3 or 4 speed, so I'd look for switches that match (as opposed to ones that let you set any voltage). The motors are engineered to specifically run at certain speeds (it's a frequency thing).

For everything to work properly, the pull chains need to be set to max speed, max brightness. I recommend not adding the extensions that are often included, so people don't mess them up on accident.

The dimmers that are made to be built into ceiling fans (that look like this are often not rated for much more than the lights that you can safely put in that fan.

Can you give us a little more information about how things are set up now?

Do you have 2 switches now (one for the fan and one for the light on the fan)?

What type of remote do you have now?

I have installed 3 of these and its a great budget fan. Good for a bedroom where you do not care as much about looks.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011Z22ZE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They also make light kids and remote kits

https://www.amazon.com/7787000-Ceiling-Light-Remote-Control/dp/B000BQY6DU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499043035&sr=8-1&keywords=westinghouse+fan+remote

You can add a remote kit to any ceiling fan install then buy a Bond Smart Home puck. It learns the rf frequencies from the remote and makes your fan "smart "

https://bondhome.io

https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Ceiling-Fan-Remote-Control/dp/B001I1M95E/ref=mp_s_a_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1543293378&sr=8-12&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=ceiling+fan+remote+control+kit

Redwood: your idea is great for the light. If anyone here also wanted to control the fan speeds as well, this kit is reasonably priced:

https://www.amazon.com/Flower-Angel-Universal-Ceiling-Control/dp/B001I1M95E

I think the OP's solution helps with fans that are also lights if I'm not mistaken. It looks like a hack to control one of those universal fan remotes using the Arduino and SmartThings.

I'd love to do something similar as I have five fans in the house that I'd like to control separate from the attached lights. I can add these (http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Ceiling-Fan-Remote-Control/dp/B001I1M95E) but that doesn't get me z-wave.

I got a remote fan controller from Amazon. It controls fan and light from a single remote (except we only have a fan). We just leave the switch in the on position and use the remote to control the fan. Not sure what happens if we turn it off and back on by the switch. Eogifee 53T Ceiling Fan Remote Control Replacement of Harbor Breeze Hunter KUJCE9103 FAN-11T FAN-53T 2AAZPFAN-53T

Technically you can. But this is also assuming that you have a separate wire for the fan control to your wall switch. This way, you can have a separate ZWave switch to control just your fan.

Alternatively, if you dont have that separate wire for the fan control in your wall switch, I would just get a universal remote control for your fan and call it a day. (https://www.amazon.com/Flower-Angel-Universal-Ceiling-Control/dp/B001I1M95E)

Very very much so! Our bedroom light came with one and I freaking love that thing. You can get the conversion kit on amazon actually. We have the same remote, and the thermostat part is great for night!

If you are willing to get a Bond fan controller and assuming you either have a wireless controller for your fans or are comfortable installing one, you can set up an IFTTT rule to turn the fan on or off at a specific time.

Here's what I would get as a budget option. The products posted are just examples, not necessarily something I would recommend. Just what I came across with a quick search on Amazon. I did something similar in my bedroom by dropping strips into crown molding that I put up about 6" below the ceiling.

LED strip lights, this will let you make 2 lines of them on top of the beam. Lay them out and test them before you tape them down, you may find that you need to mount them on something to give them a little angle to get full coverage. Your just going to have to experiment.

Jumper cables. These will let you cross the bumps in the beam without the lights sticking up and looking ugly, and then turn around to power the 2nd line. Get enough to make all the jumps you need, the turn and a couple extra.

Finally ditch the cotroller they come with. Those IR remotes are all crap and don't work very well. You have to end up standing in just the right spot with the controller pointed just right to make changes. Next I tried a wifi option with an app to control the lights. It worked ok, and being able to set them to turn on and off at certain times was nice. The problem was that it was slow, I found myself not turning them on very often because it would take a minute or two to open the app, wait for it to find the lights and then turn them on and change colors. I ended up with a remote similar to this one that was RF with a color wheel. It's not as precise as the wifi app and doesn't have lots of nifty features, but it's simple and easy.

From what I can tell, you would need to add both a fan RF Control Kit and some thing like Bond Ceiling Fan Controller, which is Alexa compatible.

The RF Control kit turns your old dumb fan into a fan controllable by a remote.

The Bond clones the RF signal from the remote and will work with Alexa so you can control it with voice.

I have 3 of these. Have been using for over 3yrs with no issues. They also have a temp sensor so if set you can have them go on and off at a certain temp. My daughters room gets hot in the summer so turns on in the day and off in the late evenings.

Aihasd Sonoff IFan02 Convert Non-Smart LED Ceiling Fan To WiFi Smart Ceiling Fan APP Remote Control ON/OFF https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G3YQM6Z/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_b02-Bb9JFSPZ6

https://www.amazon.com/Westinghouse-Universal-Ceiling-Wireless-Control/dp/B07DD9F1BK/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=qiachip&qid=1564673865&s=gateway&sr=8-4

​

i think that the ceiling fan light can help you solve your question

If I may rant for a second, the integration in home automation is an absolute disaster these days. I freakin hate it. Nothing works together. Everybody wants their service online (you don't mind paying $2.00 a month do you, it's only $2.00 a month). So frustrating.

I think you are kind of stuck with the Insteon solution. I have seen some solutions where you can add a remote to a ceiling fan, something like this (not an endorsement of this product, just the first one on amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Eogifee-Universal-Replacement-KUJCE9103-2AAZPFAN-53T/dp/B07H72HJ87/ref=sxin_2_ac_d_pm?ac_md=2-1-QmV0d2VlbiAkMjUgYW5kICQ1MA%3D%3D&crid=3242GZXAQSBNO&keywords=ceiling+fan+remote+control+kit&pd_rd_i=B07H72HJ87&pd_rd_r=5cb350f4-3771-4410-8df3-9a10c2addf86&pd_rd_w=dWLZf&pd_rd_wg=VeXxd&pf_rd_p=be5d8dec-444e-4770-91df-1e16a8c46da8&pf_rd_r=Q2Q1KAWB3VNK7BPWGF9Q&qid=1564488780&s=gateway&sprefix=ceiling+fan+remote+%2Caps%2C258

which would end up being cheaper with the bond than the Insteon, but still not ideal of course.

I too don't have a good zwave integration. It's something i'd like to get going, really because I want a front door lock that I can access remotely, but then do I want to set that up. What i'd really like is something that opens the door and boots the cat outside, but that doesn't seem to be a thing. lol.

I believe this is the one I got for my dumb 2 wire fan.

https://www.amazon.com/Enabled-Universal-Ceiling-Premier-Control/dp/B077ZHDLY3/

it's zigbee, so whatever works with that should be fine. I use it in homeassistant.

I also bought the wall control, so I control it at the wall switch as well as a remote control by the bed.

works nice enough. fan speed and light dim all controllable through automations or alexa.

You need to look at "ceiling fan remote control kit". These are kits that go into the fan housing itself, and control the speed; you leave it on all the time at the wall switch and have the chain speed set to max.

For example (just picked at random from Amazon, so I don't know if this is a good model): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TRTG8PS/

I just did all 3 bedrooms in my house with this:
http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Thermostatic-Ceiling-Control-Conversion/dp/B001RJ8X0M/ref=pd_sim_60_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=41WNDd2QxYL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=165QQHATDRWQX9HPEW10

Its half the price, light dimmer, built in thermostat and better light timer...

oh well. each room gets its own thermostat this way.

> I took the multimeter I just bought, set it on AC/V, took the caps off the wires in the picture, touched one probe to one wire and touched the other probe to the other wire. The display read approx 120.

I wonder if that was just induced voltage. The light wouldn't work because there isn't a neutral in that box but the multimeter shows voltage. If there was a ground in the box and you touched the hot wire and the ground, you would get 120 or so volts.

If there isn't a neutral in the box then you could use a switch to 1.Turn on the light while turning on the fan with its pull chain/string. 2. Turn on the light and the fan with the switch. 3. Turn on the fan while turning on the light with its pull chain/string(not recommended). 4. Buy a remote control.

Make sure power is fed into ceiling J-box first and switch end is a dead end. Turn off the power and look into ceiling J-box. I think you have what on this page they call end-line switch. It's common.

Don't know exactly how old since the fan was here when we bought this house last year. The house was built in 2005, so I'd assume the fan was installed around that time (possibly 06/07 even). The remote model is a UC7078T

Only controls fan speed. Was thinking something more along the lines of this, but with built in z-wave compatibility. Ceiling fan Remote Receiver Hampton Bay / Harbor Breeze https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BW8SIIY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_2PuxzbNQCTWXM

https://www.amazon.com/Lutron-Wireless-Single-Pole-PD-FSQN-WH-Assistant/dp/B07N1GXM38/

https://www.amazon.com/MOES-Ceiling-Control-Compatible-Required/dp/B07HQ95N69/

???

don't see why it would be any different than controlling a ceiling fan.

I posted before but just thought of something.

You can do two things to solve this relatively easily.

1: Buy a new fan that comes with a remote, mount remote on wall where you want switch.

2: Buy a remote module and add it to your current fan.

This wouldn't help with automation in the future much, but solves your current problem!

No. That is just my personal usage.

There are other options. Probably a good choice GE Switches.
If you don't want added automation, I believe the GE Remote should be able to join and group the switches and then work as remote.

Thinking you'll want a tool like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zji6A5T8As&t=1m12s and use the remote control fan

A universal kit will do that for you.

Another option is a smart switch.

Yes, it would be. https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Ceiling-Fan-Remote-Control/dp/B001I1M95E

Ceiling Fan Remote Control and Receiver Complete Kit Replace Hampton Bay UC7078T UC7067RC with Up Down Light L3H2010FANHD Fan-HD6 -Pikeman

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073VRQ8CK

What about a universal wireless remote?
Universal Ceiling Fan Remote Control Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001I1M95E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_6ii7BbHJ2ZKJ8

This may solve all your problems

For less than $20.00. Never fuck with chains or strings again. It even glows in dark. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00150AVUI

https://www.familyhandyman.com/electrical/how-to-install-a-ceiling-fan-remote/view-all


https://smile.amazon.com/Universal-Ceiling-Fan-Remote-Control/dp/B00A2WU4CK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491010107&sr=8-1&keywords=ceiling+fan+remote+retrofit

Remote

vs Wall Switch

what do you suggest?

This with this and this will do what you are doing without the soldering iron.

I've got a fake wemo device defined, that triggers the broadlink to send RF or IR commands to any compatible device.
This, these, and these work really well for us.

In the world of tablets a used iPad or bare bones Android would cost less than a real remote and do other things like angry bird on the toilet.

Plus I just found this GE remote

I don't know. I grew up in the US, where every fan has a chain. I'm not against running wire, but it's a bit inconvenient. There's also another solution, though.