Insteon FanLinc works without a dedicated switch

Many rooms have an overhead receptacle for either a light, a fan, or both. Some of those rooms have the wiring for two separate switches at the entrance – one to control the fan and one to control the light. A few rooms don’t have wiring for either light or fan in the room. In those cases, the switch on the wall typically powers the wall outlets in the room rather than the light or fan, and the light and fan are controlled by pull-strings on the fan itself.

Regardless of your configuration – whether you have two, one, or even zero switches that control that receptacle, the Insteon Dual-Band FanLinc will allow you to manage your ceiling fan and lights. The device basically has one input (for the incoming power) and two “dimmable” outputs – one for the lights and one for the fan speed. It is relatively small and fits inside the housing of the fan unit:
insteon-fanlinc-2475F.

My setup was a little unconventional because I fell into the category of “no wall switches”; the existing switch on the wall controlled the outlets rather than the overhead receptacle, but I wanted to control the overhead light with that wall switch. Interestingly, this means that when I turn the Keypadlinc switch on and off, what physically happens is power is turned on and off for the outlets in the room. But, I’ve also added that button on the switch to a scene called “Office Main”, and the FanLinc is a responder to that scene. So while there is no physical connection between the switch and the FanLinc, the light turns on just like it would have if there was a physical connection.
isy-994i-fanlinc

I control the fan with my RemoteLinc, dedicating a separate button for each fan speed as well as off. If you have two separate wall switches in your room, you could also go with something like a 6 button KeypadLinc and FanLinc Button Kit for a more permanent solution.

Finally, one last tip: before putting the fan housing back on, make sure to put a small piece of electric tape over the LED on the FanLinc – that little bugger is VERY bright, and makes the fan look a little creepy at night if it’s not covered up.
insteon-fanlinc-electric-tape

Posted by Matt Chiste
August 26
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