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Lutron Caseta has long been the most elegant and user-friendly HomeKit lighting solution. Lutron makes the wall switch smart and works with standard dimming bulbs; other solutions put the intelligences in the bulbs, then require remote controls on the walls and never turn off the wall switch.
Lutron's new fan speed control complements the existing range of dimmer switches. The fan speed control works with the same Lutron bridge that supports Apple HomeKit smart home control, making this new wall switch the best way to upgrade existing ceiling fans with the Home application. and Siri control.
Intelligent ceiling fans with integrated HomeKit stand have been around for years. I've been looking at the Hunter SimpleConnect, a ceiling fan replacement with an integrated LED lamp, in 2017. My main complaint was how it affected the wall control, replacing the functional light and fan switches with a remote control that can be attached to the wall.
Others have hesitated on the starting price of $ 299, the design of the fan or the idea of replacing a perfectly fine ceiling fan. (Personally, I can change a wall lamp or a fan myself, but I have hired a friend to take care of installing the ceiling fan.)
The Lutron fan speed control works with your existing ceiling fan, and each wall switch is sold starting at $ 59. You can opt for a version that includes a second remote for $ 89, but my basics are covered between wall switch, voice control, application control and automation.
The fan speed control also maintains control of the wall switch as it is in fact a replacement wall switch. No need to mount a separate remote on the wall or abandon the wall control.
As its name indicates, the fan speed control allows you to set the rotation speed of your ceiling fan. The switch buttons allow you to turn on or off the fan in one click, to increase or decrease the fan speed by 25% at each interval or to assign a preferred fan speed to the central button of the switch. The green lights indicate the state of the fan speed.
Fan direction control is the only feature of HomeKit dedicated ceiling fans with ceiling fans that retroactively add intelligent control to Lutron. You should always change the direction of the fans with a manual switch on existing ceiling fans, but this is not really a decisive factor. (When are you supposed to change the direction of the fans anyway? I keep a note about it for reminding me: clockwise, winter at low speed to suck the ambient air and force the air warm, and counterclockwise in the summer effect.)
The other adjustment is that the fan speed is controlled from the switch or the home automation control, but not through the ceiling fan pull chain. For the speed control to work, the pull chain must be set to the highest speed (the speed control then adjusts from there). Ignoring the fan pull chain is a minor adjustment for me, especially since the wall switch is accessible and easy to understand for guests.
Lutron provides documentation for installation of fan speed control, although you may need to consult an electrician or a more experienced person if the work is outside your comfort zone. Once installed, the fan speed control is assigned to a Lutron application part.
If your Lutron Bridge is connected to Apple HomeKit, you can also assign the HomeKit fan to a room in the Apple Home app. This is how Siri knows which fans are in which rooms when using voice control. If you have a HomePod in the same room as the HomeKit fan, you can simply refer to the fan without specifying a part now.
Fans made smart by Lutron fan speed control work just like HomeKit fans from the Apple Home app, without the fan direction option. This means that you can press the fan mosaic to turn this feature on or off, press long or deep to call up the speed control slider to change the speed setting between 0/25/50 / 75/100, include fan control in HomeKit scenes with other accessories, or include fan control in HomeKit automations.
In scenes, you can assign room fan, living room fan, and all lights with a single "Good night" command, then turn off the room fan with a "Bonjour" command when you wake up.
I like the ability to control ceiling fans with voice control via Siri (Alexa and Google Assistant being also supported) and Home application, and HomeKit automation is the Cherry on the cake. For example, you can automatically turn off the ceiling fan when you or everyone in your family leaves home so you never waste energy. Automation allows HomeKit to do the work for you without any voice or application being required each time.
I tested Lutron Fan Speed Control on two ceiling fans. Functionally, both fans work perfectly without problems: no buzzing, delay or hiccups.
The only thing I've found is that the fan speed control works with ceiling and light fan combos with their own dedicated wall switches, but two of my ceiling fans have a single wall switch – the lighting and fan control is then delegated to pull the strings. the ceiling fan once the switch is turned on. In these cases, I use a Lutron dimmer to control the light, but I sometimes use the pull cord to control the fan, but as a rule I do not use these fans.
You need Lutron's Smart Bridge to run the Fan Speed Control, which adds at least $ 79 to the initial cost in addition to each $ 59 switch, but you can buy a $ 20 Starter Kit. including a dimmer and a 3-way remote control kit that would otherwise cost $ 59, which would save you about $ 40 if you also need the dimmer.
Even between $ 140 and $ 180 to start using Lutron, smart fan control is competitive for $ 300 HomeKit smart fans if you want to save money and have better wall control. I highly recommend Lutron Caseta and Smart Fan Control for HomeKit enthusiasts – the setup requires a bit more work, but the user experience afterwards is arguably the best on the market so far.
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