In-Wall Ceiling Fan Remote Control | How To Install light Switch Remote 

Oh awesome. Thats really good information for people. Thank you for sharing that 🤙🏼

Yes and no. You wall outlet should have a constant power plug and the other plug that is controlled by the wall switch? So you have constant power at your wall outlet. You need a power source to your fan, however you get that is up to you. But once you wire in your remote wall switch that will need co stand power as well. Otherwise you’d just use the remote your fan came with. The remote and receiver will turn on/off the power to the fan as needed. Basically both need a constant power source. The remote part of the whole equation will control the on:off

The older fan with pull strings that operate speed of lighting may not be compatible with the remote operations. It could possibly work to turn the power to the fan on and off but it most likely won’t be able to change the speeds. A lot of the new fans only come with the ability to have a wired in remote because the fan motor is set up for a remote to control the speeds and no pull strings.

The set up you have is very common. I have a video showing how to install a fan and it covered the wiring of that portion. Wiring in the new fan with a remote using just one of those power sources. The other power source/switch is left capped and not in use. Then with that one power source/switch being used to power the new fan/light combo with a remote you can wire this wall remote in place of the switch if you want. This in wall remote acts as a power switch with an on/off ability and works as a remote for the fan. You can control fan speeds and light functions. At the end of the day you’ll only need one wall switch/power source up in the ceiling to run this whole system. And you’ll have a switch that isn’t being used anymore.

Excellent. One last question... is there any problem in changing the power source that is currently wired to the old fan switch over to the new remote switch? That's how I connected the new fan/light when I installed it in the ceiling and now I'm hoping I don't have to go back up there and change it back. Thanks again for all the help. @@FortKnoxCo

@@coolcoolh2o I’m assuming you have two wall switches originally. One for the fan and one for the light? That means you have two “hot” power wires in the ceiling at the fan. Usually that’s a red and a black. Then you have your white “neutral” and bare copper wire “ground”. What ever wire you used to power the new fan , the red or black, you will wire this new remote switch into that wall using the same wire, red or black. So whatever power switch is currently powering the fan you will wire the switch into that wire. You will have the other switch on your wall not turning on anything still.

If you are installing this you should be using a remote function on your fan. So there’s several ways to accomplish this. Two in wall remotes that both have the same signal, doesn’t have to be wired as a 3 way though, since it’s remote activated you can turn the fan/lights on or off with both remotes. You can set several remotes and in wall remotes with the same 4 digit pin and they will all work on the same fan. So you could simply have a remote mounted on the wall upstairs that works with the fan and have the in wall remote also working with the fan. Very easy to have separate location that work since you ultimately using the remote function. You don’t have to worry about complicated 3 way wiring.

Yes! Both with work. We still use the remote but now have the option of the wall as well. As long as the code is the same in the ceiling on the fan and the remote/wall remote, they will all talk to each other

@@FortKnoxCo thank you, that is very helpful and exactly what I'm looking for

The receiver, which is up in the ceiling in the base of the fan is wired into the fan and house wiring. That is why the remote that you put into the wall has the on off switch because it can still turn on and off the power that goes up to the fan like a light switch, but when left in the on position, it operates Like your remote for the fan.

These in wall switches act just like the remote that comes with those receivers. So if you already have one in the fan you can program it to match and work or you could add one and do the whole thing together

If that switch that you’re seeing these wires behind, works and controls a fan. Then you should be able to hook the white and the black wire to the two wires on your remote that’s going in the wall. That’s probably power in and power out kind of thing. So what that switch does is control between that circuit. So that electronic switch is working just like the switch that you’re removing. Then just make sure that the four digit code matches the one up in the fan and you should be able to control it there. These in wall remotes have an on off button to control the power just being on and off. So make sure that’s on and then it should work like a regular remote but in the wall.

This switch has a manual on/off toggle to turn power on or off to the circuit and power to the remote features. The remote buttons on the switch will control any fixture that has a receiver wired in with the same 4pin code.

@@FortKnoxCo Wow, thanks for the fast response! So the switch at the bottom would power the lights, then, assuming that bottom switch is on, the fan (and anything else with the 4pin code) would be controlled by everything above the switch?

@@SCOTUS404 yep. No problem. And yes you’re correct. The manual switch turns power on the that switch/remote. So if you have other things powered on that circuit from the switch it should turn it on/off manually with the toggle on the wall switch.

No problem at all. I hope you get it done! You got this 🤙🏼

The remote does have a physical on and off switch to turn the power on and off to the switch/ remote. Depending on how you have your fan wired, you could still have constant power going up to the light feature of your fan so that when you flip the switch, it turns on the light as well as powering the remote. Then through the remote you could turn off the fan functions. It really depends on how you want to wire the fan up and your fan will allow you to do.

@@FortKnoxCo Thank you!

@@spitfyre1551 no problem at all

It should work so long as the code is the same on both. Make sure the switch is on. There is an on /off switch on the new wall remote. So sometimes that is off and your switch will not respond because it’s not receiving any power

I know exactly what you’re saying. Most new fans are built and wired to have that remote installed. So even if you try to hardwire it, you won’t be able to control the features of the fan like speed or dim. There probably is a couple ways that you could wire it, so that one switch controls each feature, but I believe you might not be able to dim the lights on a fan that is made to have the receiver do it, so by bypassing and wiring in the dimmer switch in the wall to control it you may or may not be able to actually dim those LED lights. They do still make fans that are meant to be hardwired with two switches. But I’m not sure if they have a dimmable light, I think they still have a pole string to control the intensity of light. But I may be wrong on that because I haven’t looked for the non-remote style fans. But I know that they are usually a little less money because of not having the remote in the package. There’s not that many of them, but they do exist. but if you install a remote for one portion of that again, I’m not sure if the remote will be able to control the fan speeds if the fan speeds are then meant to be controlled by a pull string. Unfortunately it seems like it’s all or nothing.

I’m not quite sure what your asking. But if your talking about the receiver that’s installed at the base of the fan being wired in but further away at a different location other that’s the fan base then technically it should make any difference so long as all the wires are the same and wired correctly. Usually there is the two wires (white and black) running in the walls and out of the junction box of the fan to the base of the fan, then the fan has 3 wires, a black/white/blue wires. White being the neutral and black for the fan motor speeds and blue for the light. So if you want to wire the receiver in a different location you’d need those 3 wires from the fan to be ran long/far enough to connect to the receiver. The receiver has two wires on one side and 3 wires on the other side. They correlate to the 2 wires from the house and 3 wires from the fan.

That may be for the option of you don’t have a power source and you want it in the wall. So you can batter power the device and mount it in a wall. If it gives you the option to hardwire the unit then you may not need the batteries. You could try it wired without and see if it works.

@@FortKnoxCo I literally tried everything I have two red wires and two black wires coming out of the wall that were connected to an old single switch the switch for the fan that has batteries also has two black wires and a green wire I tried to hook it up every configuration imaginable it doesn't pop the breaker it's hot the line so I just kept them and I'm using the batteries my house is not even 20 years old

@@thatguyjersey yeah that’s pretty weird. How old is the fan? I haven’t seen that configuration before with those different wires. I mean at the end of the day you just need a hot wire and a neutral wire, and the fan with its remote with matching 4-pin codes. Should be as simple as that. White to white, black to black.

In your switch box you should have two blacks and two whites. That’s the B&W coming in and the B&W going up to the fan. In this case you’d connect the two white wires together in your box, then connect the two black wires to the two black wires on the new switch your installing. One to each obviously. The white wires being connected, creates the path for the electricity to travel back out. The black wire supplying. The power goes in one side of the switch, and then the other black wire coming out of the switch is connected to the other black wire that goes up to the fan. This put the switch in between the path of the power coming in, and the power going up to the fan. Whether the switch is on or off, completes the circuit or disconnects the circuit. Most commonly in electrical wiring you’ll have all of the white wires bound together, and then you’ll have switches or dimmers or whatever type of brake placed in line of the black wires. I hope this all makes sense.

If it’s just the switch then you can replace that only. The receiver up in the fan can work with any switch that has the same code set. I think you can buy the switch by itself or the switch and receiver as a combo. Either way you don’t have to use both new. You just have the have the code set to match and any device will communicate.

By the control unit your referring to the remote ? Or did it come with a In-wall control to be wired in ? It’s hard to say what could be causing the problem. If it’s lighting up briefly but turning off then it’s getting some sort of power. Is there a code that needs to be set on the control unit and the fan? Maybe the code allowing the two to talk to each other isn’t set to match so it’s not connecting ?

it's likely the receiver is not compatible with your fan motor. The receiver type must match the fan type, solid-state versus capacitive. Check the back of the receiver and try the opposite variety.

I've got it hanging outside the wall but still intact, nit pried open

If it’s 13 years old my guess is a part inside is just work out and may not be a simple fix. May have ran its course. But if your willing to replace it worst case scenario…. Take it out, open it up carefully to see if is something obvious that needs fixing. & if not, you can buy a new one and replace it

@@FortKnoxCo thank u!!

The second switch goes to its own circuit, so I just used the one black that the switch I was replacing was using. It supplied the power to the fan and I just used that one only. As far as the 5 pin or 1234D receiver I’m not familiar or have seen those before. If your able to, you can replace the receiver up in the fan with a 4 digit pin model and it should work with the wall switch. Sometimes the wall switch comes with a receiver to swap out too

I just happen to buy one that came with a new receiver, but as long as it has the same for pin code, you should be able to program it to connect to any receiver that you have up there in the fan already. I was able to do this. All I did is install the new remote in the wall and made sure that it had the same code that was on the remote that I was using previously. So now I have a remote that can be kept over by the couch, or I can use the wall remote as well. You can technically have multiple remotes with the same code that can control the fan. I like this option because if you lose the remote, you’re still able to control the fan from the wall worst case scenario.

If the fan has the dimmable led light then it should control that as well. You just hold down the light button and it dims it just like the stock fan switch does. It worked with my fans.

But if your connecting dimmable recessed lights in the ceiling to the switch I’m not sure. My guess would be it can control those like a switch would, because this is a switch, but I haven’t tried to install this fan/light switch to just control lights.

@@FortKnoxCo Thanks so much for the fast reply.

@@JustStuffAndThings yep of course. Happy to be of any help

With how many switches you have you have a couple options. The 3 way switch is the tricky part because you have a circuit that runs across the room to another location. So if you wanted to wire in this remote switch and you wanted to keep both locations there to turn the light and fan on, you’s first need two of these in wall switches. Depending on the fan you might have to use a remote device like the one it asks you to wire in if you want the adjustability on the light settings and/or fan settings. So really I think the best thing to do is wire it in with the wall remote and just use the single power source up in the ceiling for the fan. That remote in the wall will control the receiver in the fan for both fan and light settings. And if you want the other location to be able to adjust the fan as well you wire in a remote at the other location and make sure the 4 digit code is the same. Basically making the fan have two remotes.

@@FortKnoxCo Thanks for the quick response!

@@Purbanii no problem at all

I have the same problem for 8 years and no one can help me to to tur the light and fan using the wall remote control WITHOUT USING A CONTROL RECEIVER, again, no control receiver just wall control switch . What can do to help me I will appreciate it, Juan.@@FortKnoxCo

@@juanortiz7745 the problem is that almost all wall controls are using a radio type signal to communicate to the receiver they want you to put up in the fan. This is mainly because it’s telling the fan motor how fast it needs to go and controlling how much electricity to the motor. Without the receiver wired into the fan you can’t communicate. I don’t know if any switches that control the power from the wall and adjust the amount of electricity to the fan through the wall and up to the motor and in this case the light as well. There would be nothing separating the power control from the light feature and the fan motor. So this can cause a problem if the amount of electron going to the fan is reduced and increased and not controlled between the motor or light. It’s kinda all or nothing in this case. So if your completely against installing a wall switch with a receiver up in the fan, your only other choice is to install a regular wall switch then, and you turn you switch on and your fan goes 100% speed and light 100%. Then you buy a fan that has a manual pull string that controls the fan speed and light intensity. They still sell those manually controlled fans.

I’m not quite understanding the question. You already have a fan installed? But no switch to it? How is it currently powered & controlled ? If you have one switch then you should be able to add another if you want. The power is there in the wall switch. But as far as getting another power line ran from that new switch and up to the ceiling that could require you running a new wire from the switch up the wall and over to the fan or location you want it at.

Fans work with remote control only but I will like to have a wall switch

@@ricardofudrini4047 is there a switch on the wall that controls the power to the fan at least? I’ve never seen a fan with power and no switch that at least controls the on/off power to the fan location. If you have a switch that turns the power on/off to the fan then this wall remote switch would work. You wire this in, you set it to the same code as your current remote and then your wall switch remote and old remote will both work for the fan. And this remote switch has all the setting and adjustments as you Lt regular remote.

I’m not familiar with the Litex brand remote. Are you saying it doesn’t have the 4 PIN code on the side to match up to your receiver in the fan housing, and it asks you to hold the fan off button to electronically sync to the receiver? If that’s the case then I’m not sure why it wouldn’t work the way it says it’s supposed to. I’ve always had in wall remotes that have a manual 4 PIN code to set and matching that up with the code in the fan receiver has always worked. If it’s hooked up correctly and your following their directions it may be the unit is defective. If that’s the case then use return through Amazon, that one of the reasons I like using Amazon, their return policy is great

@@FortKnoxCo Yep, no DIP switches on the receiver, and the instructions say nothing about it. I actually ordered 2 units, and neither worked. I'm outside of the return window, unfortunately.

@@jmd12127 yeah then I’m not sure. The connection with the two main wires is pretty straight forward. And if it has an learning ability to program then I’m not sure how capable they are. I’d assume they can learn any 4 pin sequence and they are built for that. But maybe go over the instructions and see if there’s something your missing in the step by step to set it up. Power on toggle in a certain position, or if there is a unique step they as you to do before pressing a button to learn the code to connect.

If the fan currently has a remote and you want to install this in the place of the wall switch it should work as your describing. Mine is able to adjust the light brightness and fan speeds still. It literally is just replacing the switch and turning it into a wall switch/remote combo. You can turn the power on and off on this switch with a little toggle at the bottom.

@@FortKnoxCo As I tried to explain, the current ceiling fan/light is AC. It is hard wired to a wall switch. The current wall switch has a separate control bar for the light and a separate control bar for the fan speed. The current (old) unit does NOT have a remote control in the bell housing! The new ceiling fan/light kit is a DC unit with a remote. That remote has a setting for three levels of LED light AND six (6) fan speeds. So, again, can I replace my old AC ceiling fan/light unit with the newly purchased DC unit, and operate it from the existing wall switch and NOT use the remote it came with? I don't think I can. Please advise. Thanks, Bernie

@@LTCBO I understand. In general I wouldn’t wire in a DC fan in a residential electrical system as they are commonly AC. That is the first it the problem. If you replace or use a newer fan that has a remote that is AC and want to use this switch then it will be able to replace the remote or work in conjunction with it. But I probably wouldn’t wire in a DC fan in place of an AC fan.

The switch it powered through the black hot wire and the circuit is completed by the white wires. The switch is only in-Line on the “hot” or black wire. The wire wire is connected in the junction box to the other white wire. So it goes black wire from the house to black wire on the switch, black wire on the switch to black wire going to the fan. Then fan white wire coming back down to the wall/junction box connected to the white wire going back into the house.

If your fan has a remote that uses the same 4 pin code system then yes. It’s basically just a wired in remote. It’s powered by electrical in the wall /house rather than batteries. If your electrician wired your switch to be constantly on so your fan has constant power then this still should work. You’re just wiring this into a place there’s power available. You could wire this in place of a wall outlet and it would still work with your fan. So long as as your fan is getting power.

Thank you! Follow up question, my ceiling fan remote doesn’t have the pins… at least not near where the batteries go. Any suggestions?

@@DonneishaSmith I’m sorry, I would not be entirely sure, without knowing exactly which van you have and seeing it I know every fan and brand is slightly different these days

Assuming you have a fan that has a remote, you could use just one power source and the other switch would not be used. The single power turn on or off the power to the base of the fan, it’s wired into the remote receiver and controls the fan speed and light intensity from there. So with newer fans that require the use of the remote/receiver combination this would be an add on feature to turn your switch in the wall into a remote itself and still control the overall power to the fan

It's a 3 way switch controlling a ceiling fan with light kit. It has two black wires, a red wire, and a ground. @@FortKnoxCo

@@Rob111270 this may not work on a 3 way circuit. I believe this model is made to replace a regular switch. I don’t think it has the spot for the 3rd wire or bridge.

If the wall remote your wiring in does not have an On/Off switch then when you wire it into your fan circuit it will just be always powered and almost like a live loop controlled by the remote buttons. The one I installed had those control buttons for the fan and light but also has the manual on/off toggle most likely just as an added feature by the designer/manufacturer. It’s not necessary. Once you wire in your remote and there’s no manual switch integrated in it then the wires in remote just control weather the power is flowing or not to your fan.

Yes, you just need to make sure the 4 PIN codes match. I had a different receiver in the fan on this one already installed that came with the fan. I just set the same code on this switch. Then I had the wall switch working and the remote still wired too.

Thanks that’s what I thought

@@TheAllen0712 your very welcome

I’m not familiar with the 220v circuits with fixtures like fans. Everything here in the states are 110-120v. But the remote switch is a direct replacement with the standard switch. Same wiring with a hot and neutral wire and a ground. It still functions as a switch but just has the other features and ability to be programmed as a remote. So there’s nothing special or different going on with the wiring.

So thinking about a bit more… the switch may not be the problem in my situation, it the receiver (fan unit) that might give me some trouble… Any suggestions?

@@nelsondog100 it all should wire up the same. I would just check the packaging and see if it can handle the 220 you have.

@@FortKnoxCo it can’t, 120 only. But… if I use a 220v receiver, there should be no problem… Thinking out loud on your channel! Hahahaha

@@nelsondog100 it’s all good man. That’s what I’m here for. Puttin info out there, working through problems. Other people will find it helpful too. Let us know how it went

I don’t believe these wall switch remotes work with the style of fans that have pull chains. These are to replace or add to fans that already have remotes and receivers in the fan. Most new fans come with a remote and the motor and light are configured to have an electrical receiver control the speeds and intensity of light all from a receiver. If the fan has pull chains i don’t believe it can have a remote wired in as it’s a manual drive motor and light.

@@FortKnoxCo Thanks, I have another Hampton Bay fan that does not have a remote but it works with a wall switch that can control the fan speed and dimming of the lights.

@@edgetown1 if the fan does not have a remote function then yes you will need to install the receiver box in the base of the fan and then the wall switch with the remote functions will work. Make sure they have the same 4 digit code set. If the fan is just a pull string or regular fan with no remote with it then there is nothing to set a code to or receive the remote functions. This wall switch is acting like a wireless remote control. It is not co trolling the speeds or functions via the wires connected to the fan. That is only to supply power. The fan needs some type of receiver/antenna to receive the function commands.

@@FortKnoxCo Thanks, I am not confident enough to drop the fan and add the remote. I might as well get a new fan. Is there way to repair the pull chain not functioning properly?

@@edgetown1 to repair the pull chain mechanism you’d need to take the fan down and take apart part of the fan and might involve some wiring. So that may be more intense than just wiring in a receiver or just replacing the fan all together

Yep. Sure can.

It’s allows you to dim and turn on/off. And Then fan fan speeds

If there is a black and a white attached to the switch then I’m assuming the black is the power from the house and the white is the power going to the ceiling. There should be a neutral (white ) somewhere in the junction box tied to other white wires. And usually bare copper wires also tied together in the junction box. But the only way to tell is with using a volt meter and seeing which wire does what.

Yeah, that would be annoying. I’ve never heard of it doing that. It sounds like a malfunctioning receiver for the remote. Because most of these fans are made to have a remote installed they almost always have to have it, and then, if that receiver for whatever reason is malfunctioning or cycling on its own I’m guessing something like this could happen. if you’re 100% sure that the wires are connected correctly then it sounds like it’s somehow turning itself on and off. They don’t have automatic features. So my next step would be to replace the receiver in the fan and the remote. Start with a whole new set. If you just purchased this fan and it’s doing this when I’d be returning the fan for a replacement or contacting the manufacturer to see if they can send a free new remote set.

My apartment complex remodeled everything which was a joke but anyways... when they put in ceiling fans everyone was so happy until we all moved back in and thought we had ghosts in our apartments! I figured out these are just like garage door openers... There are only so many codes you can use however in my case the idiots that installed all of these didn't bother to change ANY of the codes so we now have 138 units all using the same code so our lights turn on and off, the fan comes on and off and at different speeds... you name it at all hours of the night, the day, whenever. I can be standing right at the remote switch in the wall and it will do something before I even touch it! I am about to take the fan down and change my code because I'm tired of my neighbors controlling when I have light or fan lol Just thought that might be your case but I'm not sure of your living situation... Maybe Casper came to visit or maybe you're stuck with neighbors on the same code too. Good luck

The ground wire is going to the copper wire. It just has some paint and drywall material on it making parts of it look white. They painters and drywaller’s are notorious for overspray and covering connections with material. But it’s going to the bare copper wire.