Can Matter be Used with Smart Ceiling Fans?

One of the ways a smart home can make life easier is to ensure the devices that make you feel good are interconnected. Take ceiling fans, for example, particularly important in warmer months and often found where air conditioning is unsuitable or impractical.

As smart home technology becomes more popular, devices like smart ceiling fans become more enticing. Rather than using a standard pendant switch to start or stop the fan, you can use a mobile app or smart speaker to control function and speed.

Since Matter 1.2 (October 2023), pedestal and oscillating fans have been supported by the unifying smart home protocol. Similarly, Matter 1.3 added support for kitchen extractor fans.

But can you use Matter with smart ceiling fans?

Understanding Matter

As you may know, Matter is a smart home protocol that aims to simplify the integration of hardware. The outcome of this should be that regardless of which company manufactured the smart home or Internet of Things device, you should be able to communicate with it from the same app or smart speaker as all of your other smart home gear.

This interoperability makes life easier, and makes building out your smart home project simpler. By definition, there must be multiple labels involved as not all smart home companies provide tech for all purposes. By switching to using Matter, your smart home can become simpler to use.

At the time of writing, Matter offers a simpler set of controls than the app that your device manufacturer recommends. That should change over time, as more device specifications are added and enhanced.

Potential Benefits of Matter for Ceiling Fans

Smart ceiling fans are not yet that popular compared with dumb ceiling fans. Both come with light fittings, and it might be that you’re happy to plug in a Matter-compatible Wi-Fi lamp and leave it at that. However, smart ceiling fans can be controlled over Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and they’re not significantly more expensive.

But are they supported by Matter?

The idea of a Matter-compatible ceiling fan is pretty compelling. Easy integration with popular smart speakers, a single app to control it, and integration with temperature sensors to trigger a specific mode when required.

You could also – potentially – integrate the smart ceiling fan with other devices. Perhaps activate the device along with your robot cleaner to freshen up a room before you arrive home. Or set a scene to close the blinds during hot weather and activate the fan. You might imagine a scenario for s ceiling fan to activate in a bedroom.

Matter can handle these types of integration via a suitable hub app. But can it be done with a smart ceiling fan at this time?

Current Smart Ceiling Fan Compatibility with Matter

The short answer to the question above is that Matter can be used with ceiling fans. But no smart ceiling fans are currently available. This is a product type that needs to be added to future Matter specification.

Remember that while fans are short supply, Matter-compatible ceiling lights are increasingly popular.

No doubt this situation will evolve and Matter-compatible smart ceiling fans will appear. Non-Matter smart ceiling fans are an option, remember, and can be controlled using the usual smart speakers and smart home apps. These devices may be upgraded to become Matter-compatible at some point in the future, when the specification is expanded to include them.

What Happens When Matter Ceiling Fans Are Available?

You can check the listings on Amazon and other electronics outlets when new devices are released. Where a device is Matter-compatible, it will be mentioned in its hardware specification. The packaging should also feature the Matter logo (below).

If you already use Matter, keep an eye on your chosen hub app. Support for new devices can be found in the add hardware screen, where you can see what type of smart home gear can be controlled by Matter.

One Day, Ceiling Fans Will Matter

The lack of any Matter-compatible smart ceiling fans at this time should not discourage you from buying one, as there are some good options available. If installing a new ceiling fan isn’t how you want to spend your weekend, some smart wall controllers are also available.

Matter ceiling fans don’t yet exist because the device type has not been added to the Matter specification. At some point, this will change, and when Matter-compatible ceiling fans become available, we’ll feature the news here.