Re: [misterhouse-users] Ideas for Ceiling Fan control

[Steve S. <st...@sw...>]

This will be determined by the type of dimmer: inductive or resistive. The
ordinary dimmers are resistive, which can easily cause an electric motor to
overheat and smoke.
You would definiately want to get something that's rated to control an
electric motor (usually specified as a ceiling fan controller).
All this said, some fan models will still hum audibly when they are being
slowed down by an external control.

YMMV

Steve

----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary Sanders" <gl...@ea...>
To: <mis...@li...>
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2003 1:06 PM
Subject: Re: [misterhouse-users] Ideas for Ceiling Fan control


> Matt Cleland wrote:
> >
> > They're all on regular wall switches right now, so the appropriate X10
> > wall switch module would work.  Anybody have any suggestions for the
> > right one?
>
> I found out the hard way several years ago, that the ordinary cheap X10
> wall dimmers don't like fans, at least some brands of fans. Others have
> had good luck with them, but when I used them with my Hunter fans, the
> fan motors buzzed badly, and the switching was very unreliable.
>
> Compose switches are supposedly designed to properly control fan speed
> without problems, but I haven't tried them yet. They do work well for
> lighting control though, and are X10 compatible.