How To Make Your Dumb Ceiling Fan Smart
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It’s understandable that so many people are wondering how to make their old dumb ceiling fan smart!
I’ve tried a few different ways to make my dumb ceiling fan smart. I’ll go through your options and give you a guide to show you exactly how to do that!
Why A Smart Ceiling Fan?
Because you can!
No, I’m just kidding. There are a lot of reasons that you might want to make your old ceiling fan smart.
For example:
- You want to be able to set it on a timer.
- You need a solution that will make your fan turn on when the room hits a certain temperature.
- You may want to use Alexa to control your ceiling fan.
These are just a few of the reasons that people want to make their old ceiling fan smart. I’m sure if you think about it, it really makes sense as long as you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg.
I didn’t want to either, and that’s why I’m making this guide for you. That way you know what your options are before you go out and make the wrong decision or just buy something that doesn’t work with your existing fan.
Converting An Old Ceiling Fan
For the last 5 years, I had been staring at the old ceiling fan in my dining room during dinner. Thinking about what a pain it was to have to go find the remote (which the kids lose all the time) so I could change the fan speed.
But I also had other smart home projects going on. Like figuring out how to make my smart tv turn off and on with Alexa. So I decided to go out and make a purchase that I had been putting off for a while that would hopefully be a solution for both issues.
So what did I buy?
Logitech Harmony Hub
I bought a Logitech Harmony Hub. I thought that this would be the end all / be all for two of my smart home needs and that I’d be able to put the whole ordeal behind me with one piece of technology.
In a perfect world, that would have been great! But not all things in the smart home universe work well together. As in this case, my particular ceiling fan was not compatible with Logitech.
You can check out their compatibility list over here if you want to see if you can accomplish this feat of killing two proverbial smart home birds with one stone. If you’d like to know more you can read my full review on the Logitech Harmony Hub.
However, thank goodness there are other options, so I moved on.
Bond
In my particular case, the best solution for me (as many others are finding to be true) was to buy a Bond.
What is Bond you ask?
Simply put it is a smart hub that allows you to control your ceiling fans and fireplaces from your smartphone.
You can even control up to six different ceiling fans with this one beautiful device. It also integrates well with Alexa (it also works with Google Home), which was my real endgame so that I could just use my voice to control the fan rather than going on the fun little scavenger hunt that my kids had created.
The Bond doesn’t have any particular compatibility chart, because it is designed to learn and control your current ceiling fan’s RF frequency.
The hitch is you need to have a ceiling fan that already has a remote control. Unfortunately, it needs an RF connection and if it can’t find one, then Bond will not pick up on a ceiling fan that is cord operated only.
If you think the Bond is something you’d like to learn more about, you can check out the reviews over on Amazon.
What If My Ceiling Fan Doesn’t Have A Remote?
However, if you don’t have a ceiling fan remote, it is possible to wire one in if you don’t mind dealing with the electrical work. Hunter makes a neat little RF connector that you can wire right in, called simple connect which you can find here on Amazon.
It uses a Bluetooth receiver wired directly into almost any ceiling fan with pull chains. There’s a Bluetooth controller that plugs into an electrical outlet and a remote control for quick adjustments. Then you just control it with the Hunter SimpleConnect App.
Buying A New Smart Ceiling Fan
As with anything these days, you may not feel like adding another piece of technology or another hub to your smart home array. If that’s the case then you can always buy a new smart ceiling fan.
There are a few brands out there that make one, you’ll just want to make sure it is compatible with any smart home hubs that you are currently running. Like the Wink Hub, or Samsung Smarthings.
Personally, I’m a big fan of the Hunter brand in general. They make a few different SimpleConnect fans that work very well and have a broad compatibility range. The price point for these fans is definitely within the affordable range as well.
They work with Alexa right out of the box and that’s good since a lot of people aren’t big fans of the SimpleConnect app.
What Is The Best Smart Ceiling Fan?
If you are straight up looking for the best smart ceiling fan and are looking for top of the line, then you should consider picking up a Haiku Home L series of smart ceiling fans. You can find them over here on Amazon if you are interested in checking them out.
There are some reasons I say that they are the best though. I’m going to highlight them here so that you know what’s behind my reasoning. There is nothing additional required to use this fan with Alexa. Right out of the box a WIFI module is included with the Haiku Home L series.
This fan is insanely cool to look at while it’s spinning and has zero vibration or wobble that you can see at all. It is literally the quietest fan I have ever owned and I’ve owned quite a few over the years. But as with most of the smart fans, it can get fairly loud on higher speeds mostly because of the amount of air it’s pushing around up there.
I find this fan fairly attractive. Obviously, that’s subjective, but it looks much different than most traditional fans. I love the integrated lighting which can be extremely bright on high or dimmed down if need be. You also have quite a few levels between the high and low.
It comes with two down rods, a 3″ and an 8″. For my ceiling, I used the 3″, because it’s a lower ceiling. It comes with two light covers, a smoky one for a more faded light and a regular white one.
Lastly, one of the coolest features that this fan has is the “whoosh” mode. When in this mode the Haiku Home L series changes it’s pace every so often so that you actually feel like you are enjoying a summer breeze rather than a gush of constant air on you. That by itself makes this smart fan worth buying.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, it comes down to what your needs are. There is a laundry list of growing options out there folks. I can tell you from my experience it has made my life a lot easier having something that allows me to control my smart ceiling fan with my voice. I don’t have to yell at the kids as much either.
These also make great Christmas Gifts! You may want to check out my full smart home gift buying guide for the best smart home gifts.
If you liked this article please feel free to check out some of my other articles on the website or my Recommended Tools Page.
