I have a standard 3-speed fan and dimmable light bulb that I would like to control independently using this specific “dumb” switch, with two independent dimmers for the fan speed and light intensity.
The switch takes a 120V line input and outputs two load outputs, and therefore requires two separate load wires, for the fan and for the light. However, my switch box only provides a single load wire, which I happen to also want to use for a different purpose.
Without having to run new cable to add more wires between the switch and the fan, which setup would allow me to control the fan/light combo using this dumb fan control switch?
Some ideas I have considered:
treating the switch as two independent dimmers, install two remote AC dimmer pairs, each consisting of a transmitter and receiver, to relay the voltage from the dumb switch to a module connected to the fan/light combo. Does something like this this exist, to remotely relay dimmer voltage from one location to another? I imagine a transmitter with 4 inputs: a line, a neutral and two loads coming from the “dumb” switch, and on the other side a line, neutral and two loads connected to the ceiling fan/light combo. I’ve searched the Internet for things like “AC dimmer relay” but haven’t found anything that meets the requirements so far. Ideally the pair would work without being connected to the Internet or a hub.
somehow wiring the “dumb” switch to a universal fan/light remote inside the switch box. This would require fitting the remote control inside the switch box as well as translating the two AC dimmer signals into the remote somehow, which seems complicated or not feasible.
running new cable with more wires. This is a lot of work probably including opening the walls considering the switch location, and I would like to avoid this.
A1:
There are remote controls available for the fan that control the fan speed as well as the light and have dimming capacity.
Some are hand held such as this fan remote and there are some controls that can be mounted into the wall box. ( you will have to shop for those yourself, but they are readily available.)
To install any of these you will have to install a receiver ( included with the remote) in the canopy of the fan. You will also have to have constant power to the fan. That means you need to tie the hot lead in the switch box to the load wire of the fan.
You mentioned that you wanted to use the load for another purpose, but it goes to the fan, so you are limited there. There is no magic to make the fan run with no power lead.
A2:
In order to install this particular switch, I could not find any other solution other than to run 2 load wires all the way from the switch box to the fan.
Since there is a ceiling light box in between the fan and wall switch, I had to:
Replaced the existing 14/2 with 14/3 NMB cable between the fan and ceiling light box to provide 2 load wires for the fan. This was not too difficult since I have attic access.
Repurposed the ceiling light load wire controlled from the same switch box to provide a second load wire for the fan.
I am still able to control the ceiling light from the switch box using a remote switch
I placed the desired new receptacle on a different circuit due to different amperage requirements for serving the kitchen counter.
Unfortunately, the remote ceiling switch I ordered was not made to be placed inside an electrical box, so in the future I may need to either run another cable or conduit in order to add one more load wire, or replace with a remote switch that does fit inside the box.
Another minor aesthetic issue is that the switch is almond-colored instead of white, but I can live with this
Fan and Light switch
