If you have an RF ceiling fan and you want to make it smart, then this guide is for you.
Step 1 – Get your equipment
You will need a few items to make sure you can get this right and you can get all of them from our store.
1 x Milney Smart Hub
1 x Sonoff RF Bridge
If you don’t want to tasmotize your RF Bridge, buy the configured option
Step 2 – Tasmotize your Sonoff RF Bridge
We are going to use Tasmota on a Sonoff RF Bridge, cause its easier to use later and then it works very well in Home Assistant.
Pop the back open, flip the switch and connect your FT232RL to the Sonoff RF. Make sure the LED does not touch the antenna. When starting up the RF make sure to hold down the reset button. If you can see the port popup on Tasmotize on your machine you are good to go, if not try again.
Pro tip – If you are trying to flash and its not working, swop the TX and RX cables.
Step 3 – Configure MQTT and Home Assistant
While we technically don’t go into Home Assistant here, we will need the details to connect to the MQTT server.
Now get the device on the network by connecting the Tasmota SSID and adding your network SSID details.
Once connected change the module to RF Bridge via Configuration > Configure Module > Module Parameters > Sonff Bridge (25) and click Save
This should show once reboot has been completed.
Add the MQTT settings via Configuration > Configure MQTT > MQTT Parameters
Add Host, User and Password and click Save
Step 4 – Learn Codes
Go into the console and type the following to capture RfKey 1 for learning. Change 1 for the one of the 16 keys to learn.
Rfkey1 2
Wait for a beep and then push the button to learn, when you hear 2 beeps it has captured the code.
Step 5 – Add the codes to Home Assistant
In Home Assistant go to Configuration > Scripts and create a script for each code.
Turn Fan Off
Name it Turn Fan Off
Add the Icon ‘mdi:fan-off’
Mode Single
Under Sequence Action type ‘Call Service’
Service ‘mqtt.publish’
Add the TOPIC for the saved from the codes earlier.
Step 6 – Lovelace
Add a new Entities Card and search for the scripts you just created.
Step 7 – Show off
Turn on and off your fan whenever you need to Top Tip, if you have a humidity/temp sensor you can setup an automation to run based on a threshold.