I have 3 light/fan combos on the patio that look like the image. Each light/fan combo has a light and fan pull chain. They work exactly as you'd expect. All 3 light/fan combos power off a single light switch inside the house.
I want to make the lights dimmable. If I were to replace the on/off light switch inside the house with a dimmer switch I think that this would. However, I'm also assuming that if the lights were dimmed to half power on that dimmer that the equivalent would happen to the power going to the fans (all come off same switch).
Before I try this, what do I look forward to experiencing? Am I just going to see a slower fan when the lights are dimmed? (I can live with that because the fans have 3 speed settings and high is way too fast to ever be used.) Or are there other consequences? And finally, is there a different solution to achieving dimmable lights on a light/fan combo?
Best Answer
A "regular" dimmer, when used on a fan, will slow the fan to whatever setting is selected. This is awesome except for the fact that most settings will set up a very unpleasant harmonic thrumming sound. That's why a "fan speed controller" will have 3 distinct settings on it that match precisely with the 3 distinct settings you get by pulling the fan control chain on the fan itself.
You can do this, but you probably won't be happy with the results.
Instead, what you'll probably need to do is find a remote control dimmer that can be installed in the light housing and will control the dimming from the remote. You would want to find a system where either
You would install the receivers in each fan, then use the one remote to control them all. You'd still have master control by flipping the switch on the wall to turn them all off/on (to the last brightness setting selected by the remote, assuming it has a "memory" function).