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Author Topic: x10 control of ceiling fan/light  (Read 8612 times)

rickschuff

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x10 control of ceiling fan/light
« on: August 20, 2011, 09:14:25 AM »

Relating to providing environmental control for my quadraplgic son.  He has an environmental control unit capable of voice control of X10 and infrared remote units.
1. I have a ceiling fan with single on/off switch control.  Unit has pull chain to turn light on/off and chain for fan high/medium/low/off.  I have purchased an x10 switch but that is only going to turn on/off plus dim entire output to fan/light, dimming fan and light equally.  The fan and light are not wired separately to switch, for a number of reasons (rental with plaster walls, etc.) I would like to avoid rewire from fan to switch. I can obtain a hand-held fan remote control which is wired into the fan/light, but that operates by radio frequency (I think) and I don't know if it can be controlled by x10.  Suggestions other than rewiring light/fan?

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dhouston

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Re: x10 control of ceiling fan/light
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2011, 10:09:42 AM »

Several years ago, I wrote some software that let people who had lost the ability to speak to use a PC or laptop with text-to-speech software. Looking to extend it for some environmental control was my own introduction to X-10. The Lernout & Hausbie scam monopolized all the text-to-speech engines at the time. That and my own failing health made it impossible to continue. Today, there are other relatively low cost methods for text-to-speech.

I did become acquainted with a couple of groups that dealt with issues like this but cannot recall details. And, as most of those I was in touch with had ALS, I doubt any are still around.

Most of the ceiling fans and RF remotes are made by the same company in Taiwan. Adding a remote to an existing fan/light usually involves adding the RF receiver to the fan housing also - it may be a much bigger job than you are anticipating. The frequencies used are documented on my website (although this may not be up to date) and I think I have the RF protocols (I'll just have to find them).

     http://davehouston.org/frequency.htm

I cannot think of any simple way to accomplish voice control of the RF since the frequency and protocol are different from X-10's frequency and protocol. While there are some Hunter fans that use the same 310MHz frequency, the protocol is certain to be different than X-10's.

If the voice controlled unit that sends RF and IR can be programmed (i.e. to add the fan protocol) it may be possible to hack something together to control the fan. Most RF transmitters of the type used here switch rather slowly so you can feed them an IR code and they will spit it out as RF. Or, it's not too difficult to build a small IR-to-RF repeater that would receive IR and retransmit it as RF.

Can you provide details on the voice controlled RF/IR unit?

Also, everything depends on whether the fan/light is RF-capable. Odds are they are not, based on your description of current operation.
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dave w

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Re: x10 control of ceiling fan/light
« Reply #2 on: August 20, 2011, 10:17:56 AM »

I can obtain a hand-held fan remote control which is wired into the fan/light, but that operates by radio frequency (I think) and I don't know if it can be controlled by x10.  Suggestions other than rewiring light/fan?

It will be very hard to marry one of the ceiling fan RF remote controls to X10.
 
You can use a XPDF to control and dim the lights and a XPFM to switch the fan motor off and on but they must be wired in the fan ceiling box, so you need a lot of room. http://www.x10pro.com/pro/catalog/receivers.html#wire

There is only one wall switch made by X10 that can control an inductive load like a fan motor. The XPDI3 (same link ast above, with out rewiring fan box, it will control lights also. All other dimming X10 wall switches are designed for incandescent lights only.
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Jason B

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Re: x10 control of ceiling fan/light
« Reply #3 on: December 08, 2016, 01:44:00 AM »

I know this is old, but I'm trying to do the same thing. I have a hunter fan that has a RF romore with it. Has anything come out to control this via x10 that is simpler?
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Brian H

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Re: x10 control of ceiling fan/light
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2016, 06:14:27 AM »

I have not seen any new X10 devices. Designed for Fan Speed and Lights.

I have seen an Insteon module that is designed for fans, but they no longer support adding an X10 address to them.
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Jason B

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Re: x10 control of ceiling fan/light
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2016, 06:35:14 AM »

I have not seen any new X10 devices. Designed for Fan Speed and Lights.

I have seen an Insteon module that is designed for fans, but they no longer support adding an X10 address to them.

Damn. I asked this same question like 6 years ago and figured there be a good way or nice trick by now. Thanks.
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Brian H

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Re: x10 control of ceiling fan/light
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2016, 06:48:07 AM »

There still maybe a good way. I just have not seen it.
Hopefully someone may have your solution.
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Jason B

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Re: x10 control of ceiling fan/light
« Reply #7 on: December 08, 2016, 07:12:17 AM »

Yea. Hope so. Thanks. Man, you get spoiled when your fireplace, pool lights,etc is controlled via x10.
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dhouston

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Re: x10 control of ceiling fan/light
« Reply #8 on: December 08, 2016, 09:58:15 AM »

What is the FCC ID number on your Hunter remote? With that we can get the frequency it uses which might lead to a solution.

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bkenobi

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Re: x10 control of ceiling fan/light
« Reply #9 on: December 08, 2016, 11:48:57 AM »

It's always possible to use a controller that transmits the code the fan wants to see.  One way I've seen people here use was to hack the remote by soldering to the button pads.  That will effectively destroy the remote, but if a backup could be sourced then it's an option.  I thought about doing something like that with a fan I have, but I never did.  Heck, the fan is still sitting in the basement as I don't have a good spot to install it in this house.   :'

toasterking

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Re: x10 control of ceiling fan/light
« Reply #10 on: December 12, 2016, 06:38:51 PM »

I was working on the same problem about 5 years ago and ended up building my own receiver for every ceiling fan in my house.  The receiver consisted of two X10 Pro XPFM fixture modules, two 120V DPDT relays, and a couple of capacitors to switch in and out of the supply line to the fan motor to control its speed.  By sending a combination of ON and OFF commands to two X10 addresses per fan, I can set a fan to high, medium, low, or off.  An advantage of this approach is that it works with almost any fan.  Disadvantages of this approach are that you must build it yourself and work around dangerous voltages, it's not UL listed/safety rated and may not be covered by your homeowner's insurance, and you might have to figure out how to create some interesting macros to set the fan speed.

If you're really interested, I probably still have a circuit diagram and photos that I can dig up.
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toasterking

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Re: x10 control of ceiling fan/light
« Reply #11 on: December 12, 2016, 06:40:21 PM »

It's always possible to use a controller that transmits the code the fan wants to see.  One way I've seen people here use was to hack the remote by soldering to the button pads.
I ended up doing the same thing with some motorized window shades.  :)
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bubbah

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Re: x10 control of ceiling fan/light
« Reply #12 on: October 22, 2017, 03:28:42 PM »

So now on to the next logical step, the echo watch...
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dave w

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Re: x10 control of ceiling fan/light
« Reply #13 on: October 22, 2017, 06:16:14 PM »

So now on to the next logical step, the echo watch...
Don't laugh. The new Motorola "Moto X" phone has "Alexa" built in. So a smart watch connected to a Moto X and you are there.  :)%
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BackAgain

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Re: x10 control of ceiling fan/light
« Reply #14 on: October 22, 2017, 07:27:38 PM »

Old thread but .....

My fan remote has a temperature sensor.  Set the target temp and when the room reaches it, the fans comes on.  Or goes off.  Dimmer and sleep timer for the light too.  Receiver/control unit mounts in the fan base, so no wall wiring.

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