Any thoughts on developing a BOND Remote?

Since state tracking of fan speeds, lights, heat settings etc. is a difficult challenge (understandably so) for BOND to address, and frustrating for consumers who use both the remotes that come with our devices and smart integrations such as Google, Alexa and IFTTT, has there been any thought of developing a “BOND universal remote?” For example, on a ceiling fan, instead of trying to track or read which state the light and fan speed settings are in when the user is using both the manufacturer’s remote and smart integrations through the BOND bridge, why not develop a ‘BOND Remote’ that sends the RF signal to the ceiling fan and simultaneously updates the device state in the BOND database via WiFi? This would allow consumers to still use a physical remote (in my case for my elderly mother who does not feel comfortable with apps or speaking to Google) and would allow BOND to properly track the state of the device being controlled. Then routines and automation would function properly much more consistently because BOND would always be aware of the correct device state.
Of course, this would require consumers replacing their manufacturer’s remote with a ‘BOND Remote,’ and connecting it to the BOND bridge, but I would be more than happy to do that so I could have the best of both worlds.

What we’ve done is, worked with ceiling fan manufactures to create new Smart by Bond fans which have Wi-Fi built into the fan itself, but still come with a familiar RF remote. – So the state problem is solved by design.

And, if you don’t want to change out the whole fan, there’s also a Smart by Bond retrofit kit that works for almost all AC ceiling fans, available at Home Depot:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Universal-Smart-Wi-Fi-4-Speed-Ceiling-Fan-Remote-Works-with-Google-Assistant-SmartThings-and-Alexa-99434/311264804

Note that the branding isn’t shown on the store yet, but if you read the product manual you will see that it mentions setting up with the Bond Home app.

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was happy to get the ‘back in stock’ alert earlier this week and ordered 2.

Anything for the home decorators DC fans from Home Depot?

The product I linked is only for AC fans. There is currently no DC retrofit kit, but you might reach out to the brand and let them know what you’re looking for…

I am very interested in this. Will the receiver be able to work and track the state of another universal remote?

Welcome Sonny!

Will the receiver be able to work and track the state of another universal remote?

Not really sure what you mean by that. The remote is not universal, it’s the receiver which is “universal” in the sense that it should work with any AC motor ceiling fan.

But yes, it is possible to have multiple remotes controlling a single receiver. But currently remotes are not available separately from the receiver kit.

Hey @merck. Thanks for the response!

I guess my question is would a universal remote like this one work with the kit?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-Bay-Universal-Ceiling-Fan-Wireless-Wall-Switch-68109/205846346

That kit is a non-smart universal AC wall control. The SBB kit linked above is a smart universal canopy-mount receiver with hand-held remote. So, you’d use one or the other, not both together.

Thanks for the information. Where could I buy just an extra remote for the Smart by Bond receiver?

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Does smarttthings integration work with automation’s and full fan control? Mind sharing a screenshot of what controls look like in smartthings app?

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Nice! This looks super promising. Finally an affordable way to integrate a dummy ceiling fan w/ light kit into google home and SmartThings. I ordered one to test out. If this works well, I’ll be sure to outfit the rest of my dummy fans that weren’t compatible with bond hub.

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Hey guys, just received the unit and going to install it this coming weekend.

Is there any software bypass to stop the light control on the remote? I am using LIFX mini color bulbs for my son’s room which need continuous power to run automatons. I wanna avoid accidentally killing the power to the bulbs or pressing the dimming controls on the remote.

Or can I just not wire up the receivers light wiring to the light kit within the fan?

Or can I just not wire up the receivers light wiring to the light kit within the fan?

This. We have (on SBB-only for now) a “Disable Light” option, but that actually leaves the light circuit de-energized, just the opposite of what you want.

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Got around to installing the remote control today.

Phenomenal product, to say the least. Love having 4 cooling options on a dummy ceiling fan.

I ended up hooking up the lighting wires to the receiver because I never want to go back up there to rewire it one day, if I change my mind… Just going to be mindful of not hitting it on the physical remote. I disabled dimmer option in the app settings. But that doesn’t disable it on the physical remote.

Integrating into ST went superb. Only wish there was an option to trigger breeze/circulation mode within ST’s automations. I’m only able to currently trigger that in bond app and physical remote. Can it be done through webcore? I’d love to be able to trigger that with GA and ST.

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Thanks for the kind words. We’ve put sort of an insane amount of attention into what appears to be a really simple product, and it’s always great when someone picks up on that. If you get a chance to write a review on HD that would be amazing.

Some recent increased flexibility on the ST side may let us do this now. But to be honest ST is kind of high maintenance for us and sadly is getting support for less popular features a while after the community-supported integrations like Hubitat, Control4, etc. — If somehow we missed the memo about how to do community-supported (read: awesome) ST support in 2020, do let us know!

Will do. I’ll submit it today to show my extended gratitude for releasing this product. As for breeze mode. Well I’ll just leave it on that mode within the bond app, and it will get triggered from my ST automation to just turn on the fan. Instead of turning it on and setting a level. It just resumes circulation mode. Worked well enough for my purpose.

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