Anyone using any smart powered blinds

gav_sw20

I have two battery operated Controllis blinds in my lounge, one of the best bits of kit I’ve bought. BUT I hate the way I need a separate remote (RF) and can’t control it through my Harmony remote activities

Are you saying there is a way to get these Wi-Fi without buying the stupidly expensive Somfy Tahoma hub?

PsyVision

IIRC the battery motors are typically RF (as you say) which means that my solution won't work.  I'm planning on buying the mains powered blinds which come with a 4-core cable that I can connect to a relay which is connected in-turn to my home automation hub.

I've seem some suggestions that the Broadlink RF hub (~£40) doesn't work but there is a product called RFLink that can be used in combination with home automation platforms to achieve what you want.

gav_sw20

Ah ok, I didn’t realise the battery powered one only supported RF. I’ll do some research.

I’ve had a look at the Tahoma hub but it’s crazy money.

SpaHill

Might be of interest, I recently refurbed my house and as part of the electrical wiring, had rings installed for hard wired motored blinds to every window, controlled by wall mounted switches. Behind the back boxes of the wall switches im planning on fitting Fibaro Shutter relays, which integrate with Smartthings. I'm sure they'll work with other systems too.

I'm lucky as I work in a company that installs blinds in commercial buildings, so I went with Yewdale motors and tubes, wrapped in Louvolite fabrics (huge selection of fabrics to choose from). All my windows are 2400mm wide with only 2 being slightly smaller at 1800mm wide.

If installing a new ring main is not an option, i'd recommend going down the route of sourcing the louvolite system - battery powered RTS motor and it comes with a remote that can be wall mounted. They have their own app for automation - but AFAIK it doesnt integrate with other systems.

Somfy is the other choice - but if I had to chose between Somfy and Louvolite - it would be the latter just from experience of motor failures.

If anyone wants more info on my system - vids photos etc i'd be happy to post - the house is still being worked on so only have 4 blinds up for now.

PsyVision

@SpaHill Who is providing the blinds?  I'm wired for the same but don't want a company to come and fit them and have all of that hassle, I want supply only and so far I only seem to be able to find Somfy available for such.

SpaHill

I work for a company that installs blinds in commercial buildings - so I just gave my buyers the specs and they ordered in the parts for me, separate tubes, head boxes, motors, fabric etc. I put them together myself.

If you know the fabrics you want from Louvolites range, drop me a PM with width and drop (and reveal depth) and i'll get my purchasers to price it up for you.

PsyVision

@SpaHill Thank you for the offer!  I literally purchased them this afternoon from newblinds.co.uk.  Just over £900 for the four blinds in total so I'm pretty happy with that.

Will be using them with Aeotec relays and a Hubitat controller.

matts360

FWIW
I have just retrofitted 20 x latest somfy roller blinds in all downstairs windows. Largest is 4m wide (2 x 2m blinds)
Batteries have a 6-8 month charge in them and are very quiet.
Controllers in each room for all blinds together
Connexoon hub attached to router means scheduled closing and opening, and app on phone to change when away.
8 months in, not had to recharge as yet
All working exactly as required, not had to think about manually opening in the morning or at sunset

Yes pricey, but I’ve not had to get off my arse to open or close anything downstairs since, priceless.
Oh, and simple to set up and add new ones. Look good too with blinds having upper plinths and matching header. Well happy.

shahedz

So has anyone bought the Ikea ones yet?

inkinoo

We have a few Lutron blinds. Expensive but worth it. Have two that have been working flawlessly for nearly 10 years.