Google’s new smart ceiling fan demonstrates how Google is a leader in smart home technology, with its famous Nest range
Designed by Joseph Morlote, the Nest Ceiling Fan is a natural addition to a range that already controls your climate at home, like the thermostat.
Except it is more than simply a fan you can control via an app. It is actually a smart hub with many functions:
- omni-directional speaker
- smart light bulb
- microphone
- sensors for the thermostat
- alarm
- smoke detector
It doesn’t have a camera because photos of the top of people’s heads isn’t very appealing.
Unusually for a hypothetical product, it comes with an image, which is the whole point – it looks great!
There are however real-world ceiling fans that can connect to Google Nest, they just are not a product made or designed by Google:
- For ceiling fans, certain smart fan brands such as Minka Aire (with Bond bridge), Fanimation (with fanSync), Big Ass Fans (Haiku series), and Hunter (Romulus and other smart models) offer Wi-Fi-enabled controls that can be integrated with Google Nest or directly controlled via Google Home/Google Assistant
- Smart Wi-Fi fan switches (like those from Lutron Caseta or universal Wi-Fi fan controllers) can make conventional ceiling fans compatible with Google Home, and thus, by extension, controlled alongside Google Nest devices
- Many retailers also offer smart ceiling fans specifically described as “Google Home compatible” or “Works with Google Assistant,” which can be used with the Nest ecosystem for voice or app control