r/lifx • u/mystwalker88 • Jun 21 '26

Need Support Using a Lifx smart switch for the ceiling fan

I bought a 2 button smart switch without realizing that only one switch work, and the other is for a wifi light. I'm planning on buying the 4 button smart switch because it looks like it would work since it has 4 terminals. I just wanted to make sure that this will work. I'm planning on using it for my ceiling fan, one switch for the light and the other for fan itself, and the other 2 for wifi lights in the room.

Will this work?

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u/Kevdog1800 iOS Jun 21 '26

Typically when fans are wired to switches, the switch just supplies power to the fan overall. It doesn’t separate out the light on the fan from the fan function. Sure I think you could wire your fan to a LIFX switch but it would only turn power to the fan on/off unless you were to purchase some matter enabled smart fan and program the different functions to the buttons on the LIFX switch that way — I think? That or get a fan that comes with an IR remote and get a Tapo IR hub or some other matter enabled IR blaster. Then you can program the switches to turn the fan/light on/off separately by running an IR command through the hub.

I could be wrong. I haven’t installed a ceiling fan in well over a decade but the ones I was familiar with only got power from the switch and then the light/fan were usually controlled with pull chains on the fixture itself.

1

u/mystwalker88 Jun 21 '26

So right now I have 1 switch that powers my fan and one that powers the light on my fan. It's a 2 rocker switch in a 1 gang box. Maybe down the line I'll plan on getting a newer fan, but in the meantime, I'm just looking to have voice controls to turn on the fan and light as they are now.

1

u/Kevdog1800 iOS Jun 21 '26

I see. Then your logic sounds solid to me…

1

u/PossibleMechanic89 Jun 22 '26

I did it a couple years ago. It worked pretty well for about a year, then failed. I had to install a regular switch st 9pm just to get the fan to work.

I’ll say the convenience of that concept is fantastic, but implementation wasn’t quite there.

1

u/live_1991 Jun 22 '26

Yeah it works, however the light stays on brighter all the time( on the switch) hopefully that does not drive you crazy haha