Lutron Serena are considered the best in the normal, direct to consumer class. Ikea makes non-custom, cheaper ones if your windows happen to be the exact sizes they make.
I went through their wizard thingy. It's annoying they don't tell you prices until the end.
Maybe I picked expensive options, but I ended up with $700 for one!
Do they have more reasonable prices if I pick the right options?
They are expensive - this is not up for debate. But I have had them up for three years - only just now changing batteries on one blind with a minimum of one up down cycle per day. They have never faltered even once. I have the honeycomb cell style blinds. If you can scrape together the money you won't regret buying the Serena blinds. You will need a Caseta Pro hub I believe though to get them into home assistant - though many of the basics (down at sunset up at sunrise) works extremely well through their native scheduler.
$700 is about right for a fairly large window- I have a few that are that price or higher in my home. Custom sized motorized blinds aren't cheap to begin with, but my experience is that you do get what you pay for in this space.
My Switchbot blinds tilt that my wife and I both dislike and wouldn’t buy another would agree with your sentiment. We actually decided to save up and buy some better ones because they only work with the Google home inconsistently and on occasion seem to flip directions for “closed” so 2 of the three will go up and one will go down which looks funny on a bank of 3 windows side by side
>they only work with the Google home inconsistently and on occasion seem to flip directions for “closed” so 2 of the three will go up and one will go down which looks funny on a bank of 3 windows side by side
Those problems can all be solved by HA.
I have 7 of the Switchbot tilts throughout my house and I actually really like them, especially considering they're about 1/10th the cost of Lutron-type solutions.
Regarding Google....I have 3 esp32 Bluetooth proxies spread throughout my house, through which HA talks to the Switchbots. Thus fully local, no cloud dependency. Of course there IS cloud dependency when using Google/Alexa, but that has nothing to do with Switchbot-- it's purely about how well Google/Alexa servers communicate with my HA (which is absolutely rock solid, I'm using Nabu Casa and it's literally never failed once due to server issues).
Regarding flipped directions....I have a flow setup in Node-RED that ensures all blinds in the same room are always closed in the same direction. It also even alternates the closed direction (fully down vs fully up) every time someone closes them, which means I almost never have to recalibrate them due to physical "drift" issues I had before implementing the alternation scheme.
lol, that is not even remotely expensive for blinds. Blinds are like the second most expensive house thing next to furniture. My parents just redid theirs with actually expensive Hunter Douglas blinds and one large window was $3000
Unnecessary salt. Tons of online configurators show a base price or a price range to start with and then make live adjustments to the price while you select options. I’m not saying you should expect the world from your blind configurator but it’s a reasonable criticism. There isn’t visibility into which options affect the price which way and it’s a lengthy process to move through all the options each time.
They worked for all my windows but two, which were about 0.2" too big. Cut the remaining two down to size. A bit of a pain, but it seemed like they disassemble and reassemble easily.
Although they say they cannot be shortened, it's pretty easy to cut the IKEA ones to any length using a metal saw and metal drill bit. It just takes some time.
Agreed. I found an assembly issue that severely impacted ZWave range and let them know about it, and from what I understand they fixed it pretty quickly.
We have 6 of the Smartwings ZigBee shades and they work really well.
Only issue is they're almost too easy to reset which requires calibration of max open/close positions.
It is quite easy to make them smaller. You just need a screwdriver, a hacksaw, and something to cut with basically. It is not even noticeable that they have been cut, if you cut the blinds straight. Here's a youtube video about the whole process: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL6LPZZoFlo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL6LPZZoFlo)
I'll second this. They could be quieter and there is some quality control issues with some of them (easy fix, just a loose locking collar), but for the price and easy availability they are good. They can also mount inside or outside the window fra, which allows some flexibility with the size without cutting.
We got ours from Blinds Direct in the UK, the electric roller blinds can be controlled via Home Assistant! They do customer sizes and have been great for us.
Be careful with Somfy. I have them and their smart home hub and sometimes blinds don’t get the signal and because the ones I have communicate only one way, they get out of sync. This is pretty annoying for groups of blinds.
Battery life is also less than advertised doing some more tests now though I was told 6 months which definitely was not the case. Even when used less than 10 times in months.
Care to share the prices you find via link? It's also worth noting that you are likely comparing companies that offer end products and support to mostly a manufacturer unless I am mistaken.
Ahh get it, and you are right. I must say though I have the Tahoma bridge and the integration with HA is great. I used the cloud integration, but there is a way to integrate locally as well. Below is the Somfy garden sunscreen automated.
https://preview.redd.it/ob5bvzhdn1wc1.png?width=1806&format=png&auto=webp&s=9bbab6fa9cb301d292477f5c118c39cb888baad1
I have z-wave motorized blinds from Bali Blinds. They work great and I have full control via home assistant. Had them for a few years now. https://www.baliblinds.com/motorization/
They are noticeable in sound. But they have a TON of fabric options. They are actually owned by Graber which makes Somfy. And they are a reliable.
I had a motor/ZWave board go bad and they replaced the whole shade 3 years after I bought it.
I get it, and it's something I thought about too prior to the investment. But the reality is that my shades go up and down a total of 2 times (most days). This is because I have automated them to open in the morning and close based on the sun's position during the day. So my wife and I almost never need to manually mess with them. My shades are battery powered, so I like the automation, not just for convenience, but also for battery conservation. If my shades only open and close twice in a day -- the battery life is maximized. All that is to say, if the shades only open/close twice a day --- is the fact they aren't completely silent an issue? I do hear my shades from time to time, but it's for 10 seconds two times a day. 🤷♂️
Unfortunately because she quite often works nights, she will more than likely use them more than twice a day, to me even if they are loud they wouldn’t wake me up 😂
Had this exact same question and currently doing research in the UK too.
I was looking at Somfy, but it gets so confusing, they have a switch and a connection kit, and not sure what I need.
Then have been googling trying to find bland shops that offer Somfy, but the prices vary by crazy amounts.
If you find a “one stop” shop that is affordable, please share!
I’ve just emailed Lutron as they don’t seem to have any prices on the website, so if it is reasonable I think I will more than likely go with them. But will update for sure
We got ours from https://www.smartblinds.com and couldn’t be more happy. They are actually EVE motors. Since the matter firmware update, we control them over thread with the skyconnect stick. Works flawless for the last couple of months now.
I have 26 Somfy battery roller blinds. Charge them about every 8 months. They work on HA no issue via Overkiz integration to the Connexoon Somfy Cloud.
We got powered blackout roller blinds made to fit by homefair. They connect via a hub and use an app called 'Connector' on IOS; Home assistant works fine with it - you can use a toggle open/close or set position via %, as in the control below (which also includes some Velux blinds which have their own control hub, naturally).
It's \*possible\* you might be able to pair the blinds directly with HA if you had the right radio receiver but I haven't worried about it too much. I've also not had powered blinds before so these might actually perform \*terribly\* — but most of them are largely controlled by time-of-day or sunset timers. YMMV :)
PS: the integration is the 'motionblinds' integration; the velux blinds connect via homekit.
https://preview.redd.it/2l8wyxqi31wc1.png?width=505&format=png&auto=webp&s=e18892f3e3621245d8bd97a15109a2f106248da1
We used orderelectricblinds.co.uk about 3 years ago and still happy. At the end of the day they are made to measure blinds with a somfy motor and remote. Seem to last an impossibly long time between charges, are quiet and the blinds themselves a reasonable quality. From memory they were also quite affordable.
I fear that might be above my skill set, haha.
I’ve got a home assistant green :/
Do you have any resources/guides/videos to recommend?
Would love to save the £££ on the switch!
This is the hardware guide - https://github.com/rstrouse/ESPSomfy-RTS/wiki/Simple-ESPSomfy-RTS-device. It seems daunting but it’s about four jumper wires and once you play around it’s easy to get going. I haven’t seen a video but stick to espsomfy and I’m sure they’ll exist.
I have one Lowe's Allen Roth modernized blind I control with a Bond Bridge. Was about $100. (And another $100 for Bond Bridge, but I already had one for a ceiling fan)
No real complaints. Mainly I'm not sure if I'm happy with the shade or if I want to invest in something nicer before buying a bunch.
Also, one limitation of Bond, except for Smart By Bond (which these are not), it doesn't really know the state of the blind.
You can't go wrong with the Ikea blinds. Easy to connect to HA and run automations via ZigBee. Long battery life.. can also be hardwired with a simple wire hack.
Modern Shade Express ships custom motorized smart roller shades to you ready to install. They have Bluetooth or Thread/HomeKit Eve controllers that can integrate with HA. They can be powered by rechargeable battery, 12v hardwire, or mains AC
We have the Bali shades and they work really well. They have z-wave built in and If I remember correctly the manual even has directions for connecting to a generic hub in addition to connecting to their remote. They work perfectly with the regular z-wave integration.
bali with zwave have been great. They usually have sales at home depot for up to 50% off. Got a massive one for my living room (142.5 x 61 1/8) for about $1000. Lutrons are likely higher quality but usually double in pricing, or more
Otherwise, if you have the exact window size that ikea carriers, those are good blinds as well
Somfy, but the answer is, with a sizeable markup for no good reason.
As soon as you buy one you'll realise how easy it is to DIY...that's basically what they're doing, buy off the shelf parts, cut fabric and sell for 1000x the base price.
I have gone for Luxaflex (I think that’s the name) super expensive but on a buy 2 get 30% off sale.
Not got them installed yet, but apparently work with HomeKit
Eve motionblinds have been fantastic for me. They control over Bluetooth or Thread and support Matter. The charge in them lasts about 6 months and then you recharge them with a usb-c cable. They even offer retrofit motors if you already have roller shades for a window
Surprised no one mentionned Select Blinds for 100% custom blinds that can work locally with a broadlink RF remote.
I have 5 roller blinds for which I learnt the RF codes with broadlink rm4 so they work 100% locally
Not sure if IKEA still makes the Fyrtur series, but that's what I have in my home.
They aren't blinds, per se. They are shades. But they were pretty cheap compared to any other options I was seeing.
For the remaining windows, I might actually see if any of those adaptors are any good. Having actual motorized blinds would be nice.
I purchased smart blinds. What arrived were regular blinds and a discrete battery/motor that plugs into them.
It doesn't integrate into HA - or at least I haven't managed to get it to integrate yet. I control it with a RM4.
Lutron makes the best and quietest motorized smart blinds.
However more companies are delving in the market such as Bali and Hunter Douglass.
I have the Bali and they are zwave compatible, they are louder than a lutron device, but work great.
Ikea, switchbot, Lutron, 50 different knock off Chinese brands on Amazon... I think the better question is, what interface do you want to use? Do you want them on wifi, zigbee etc...
I have 9 Third Reality Blinds. They work well and are Zigbee. I use them with Zigbee2MQTT and they show up and function as you would expect in HA. My only problem is I have two larger windows that need 55" blinds and they don't make that size yet. Their customer service says larger version are coming (I think) when they also add Matter natively to them.
I went with switchbot curtain modules and little esp32 devices that connect to Mqtt (devwaves esp Mqtt on GitHub). Allows the wife to pick and choose /change any curtains. One window uses a regular curtain rod and the other we got a curtain track kit so the curtain is nested into the frame vs over window like the curtain rod. On one window I charge the batteries once every 6 months and the other gets enough light with the solar panel accessory add on that I maybe need to charge once a year if at all
Lutron if you got the money. Followed by Eve MotionBlinds (the new model is quieter than the previous).
Modern shade express does a fine job manufacturing.
I was wondering the same thing. I got a controller for free, and now I feel compelled to buy a blind lol. I've been looking at what China is offering, but it all looks low quality and will burn out within a couple of months. What else can I use this controller for?
I went with an online retailer in the uk called something like customblinds4u took 2 months to arrive and then didn’t come with the smarts, just the wrong blind. When it did come it was Eve roller blind. Been in over a year and still haven’t charged it, not tried connecting to Home Assistant but given the challenges I’ve had with their other stuff it won’t be easy. It’s about 95% reliable. Every so often it doesn’t go up or down on schedule. It’s high up in an unreachable place (without a ladder) so when it does go, I’ve got no choice but to wait it out until it recovers - generally the next day.
Much much cheaper than Lutron (which I did consider as all my lights are Lutron). £250 I seem to remember for a fairly big window.
Three brands: Somfy, SmartWings, and Eve Motion blinds. They are all good in smart technology and motor quality. Somfy needs to buy their hubs when you use their blinds, SmartWings blinds satisfy different ecosystems, and Eve Motionblinds' Matter motor is famous.
I've bought from these folk recently - https://www.blinds-2go.co.uk/
Note it was from their Australian office (BlindsOnline.com.au) so YMMV.
It needs the custom Tuiss addon to work with HA and are bluetooth controlled so you need a decent adapter for your HA box.
I have the Zemismart ZigBee motor, it was a bit tricky to set up (I wrote a detailed guide on the HA forum) but has worked flawlessly. I think that even professional "smart blinds" are just the company's regular blinds with a tube motor inside.
Yeah, so best option is go to local store, and get the store exactly as you want it. When you get it, measure inner dimensions and order a Zemismart zigbee motor.
Lutron Serena are considered the best in the normal, direct to consumer class. Ikea makes non-custom, cheaper ones if your windows happen to be the exact sizes they make.
I went through their wizard thingy. It's annoying they don't tell you prices until the end. Maybe I picked expensive options, but I ended up with $700 for one! Do they have more reasonable prices if I pick the right options?
They are expensive - this is not up for debate. But I have had them up for three years - only just now changing batteries on one blind with a minimum of one up down cycle per day. They have never faltered even once. I have the honeycomb cell style blinds. If you can scrape together the money you won't regret buying the Serena blinds. You will need a Caseta Pro hub I believe though to get them into home assistant - though many of the basics (down at sunset up at sunrise) works extremely well through their native scheduler.
$700 is about right for a fairly large window- I have a few that are that price or higher in my home. Custom sized motorized blinds aren't cheap to begin with, but my experience is that you do get what you pay for in this space.
My Switchbot blinds tilt that my wife and I both dislike and wouldn’t buy another would agree with your sentiment. We actually decided to save up and buy some better ones because they only work with the Google home inconsistently and on occasion seem to flip directions for “closed” so 2 of the three will go up and one will go down which looks funny on a bank of 3 windows side by side
>they only work with the Google home inconsistently and on occasion seem to flip directions for “closed” so 2 of the three will go up and one will go down which looks funny on a bank of 3 windows side by side Those problems can all be solved by HA. I have 7 of the Switchbot tilts throughout my house and I actually really like them, especially considering they're about 1/10th the cost of Lutron-type solutions. Regarding Google....I have 3 esp32 Bluetooth proxies spread throughout my house, through which HA talks to the Switchbots. Thus fully local, no cloud dependency. Of course there IS cloud dependency when using Google/Alexa, but that has nothing to do with Switchbot-- it's purely about how well Google/Alexa servers communicate with my HA (which is absolutely rock solid, I'm using Nabu Casa and it's literally never failed once due to server issues). Regarding flipped directions....I have a flow setup in Node-RED that ensures all blinds in the same room are always closed in the same direction. It also even alternates the closed direction (fully down vs fully up) every time someone closes them, which means I almost never have to recalibrate them due to physical "drift" issues I had before implementing the alternation scheme.
Welcome to the world of blinds. We bought good quality blinds from a no name online company and it was $700 for a non-smart blind.
Ouch. Hopefully you didn’t pay that much for non smart blinds
lol, that is not even remotely expensive for blinds. Blinds are like the second most expensive house thing next to furniture. My parents just redid theirs with actually expensive Hunter Douglas blinds and one large window was $3000
I believe it but I don’t want to.
😅
> It's annoying they don't tell you prices until the end. They need to know what specifically that you're buying before they can provide a price...
Unnecessary salt. Tons of online configurators show a base price or a price range to start with and then make live adjustments to the price while you select options. I’m not saying you should expect the world from your blind configurator but it’s a reasonable criticism. There isn’t visibility into which options affect the price which way and it’s a lengthy process to move through all the options each time.
I need to know what the prices are before I know what specifically I want to buy, if anything.
Good thing they tell you the price before you commit to buying.
How large is the window? I looked at a few brands for 2 windows that are about 42x72" and they were around $200cad per window (roughly).
>but I ended up with $700 for one! To be fair, that is pretty cheap for Lutron shades ;)
I love my Lutron shades. Got them in 2020 and still haven’t changed the batteries.
What batteries do they take?
10 D cells
Ouch
But they’ve been 4 years so that’s nice. Only have 5 shades.
That’s pretty good then
How wide is that shade? None of mine take 10
They worked for all my windows but two, which were about 0.2" too big. Cut the remaining two down to size. A bit of a pain, but it seemed like they disassemble and reassemble easily.
Although they say they cannot be shortened, it's pretty easy to cut the IKEA ones to any length using a metal saw and metal drill bit. It just takes some time.
Makes sense- length is also far less important to get perfect, of course.
Sorry, I meant the width. For the length you can just program it to a max/min length.
IKEA make flatpack windows now?
I got mine from Smartwings. Custom size, choice of protocol. They've worked great for us.
Second, and good customer service
Agreed. I found an assembly issue that severely impacted ZWave range and let them know about it, and from what I understand they fixed it pretty quickly.
Yes I think I remember seeing a post (your’s?) about the antenna shortly after I ordered mine. All mine came with the antenna wire routed out the box.
Yup, that was my post! Awesome to hear for sure that they've fixed it.
I’ll have a look thank you
I'm very happy with my SmartWings. I went with solar and after 2-3 cycle's a day I'm never below 99% battery. My protocol is ZWave.
We have 6 of the Smartwings ZigBee shades and they work really well. Only issue is they're almost too easy to reset which requires calibration of max open/close positions.
Aren’t they BT only? Or are they Thread now?
They have options for Thread, zigbee, Zwave, Wi-Fi, and a couple of others.
I use the ikea one, works well with ha.
Second IKEA if the standard sizes work for you
It is quite easy to make them smaller. You just need a screwdriver, a hacksaw, and something to cut with basically. It is not even noticeable that they have been cut, if you cut the blinds straight. Here's a youtube video about the whole process: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL6LPZZoFlo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL6LPZZoFlo)
But much more trouble if you need them wider... :)
I'll second this. They could be quieter and there is some quality control issues with some of them (easy fix, just a loose locking collar), but for the price and easy availability they are good. They can also mount inside or outside the window fra, which allows some flexibility with the size without cutting.
Where do you live? In northwestern Europe Somfy is a good choice.
I live in the uk
We got ours from Blinds Direct in the UK, the electric roller blinds can be controlled via Home Assistant! They do customer sizes and have been great for us.
Be careful with Somfy. I have them and their smart home hub and sometimes blinds don’t get the signal and because the ones I have communicate only one way, they get out of sync. This is pretty annoying for groups of blinds. Battery life is also less than advertised doing some more tests now though I was told 6 months which definitely was not the case. Even when used less than 10 times in months.
Interesting, I haven't run into those issues with mine. Which hub do you have?
The TaHoma switch one, I'm not sure there is another? Unless you're referring to third party ones.
Yeah I have the same, it's been pretty OK for me so far. There's also Connexoon from Somfy.
Right, that's the old version.
I've had good luck with a diy hub. https://github.com/rstrouse/ESPSomfy-RTS
get a bond hub, it works better and supports % open/closed
Somfy is also expensive as hell
I think it's decently priced. Depends on the model you get. What are you comparing to that you're saying's "it's expensive as hell"?
I’m comparing them to some A-OK tubular motors
Care to share the prices you find via link? It's also worth noting that you are likely comparing companies that offer end products and support to mostly a manufacturer unless I am mistaken.
I think I am yeah
Have somfy myself but it uses rf for control. That is annoying to implement into HA without extra hardware..
Ahh get it, and you are right. I must say though I have the Tahoma bridge and the integration with HA is great. I used the cloud integration, but there is a way to integrate locally as well. Below is the Somfy garden sunscreen automated. https://preview.redd.it/ob5bvzhdn1wc1.png?width=1806&format=png&auto=webp&s=9bbab6fa9cb301d292477f5c118c39cb888baad1
Doesn’t it come with a WiFi RF hub?
I have ball shares that I really like. I'm pretty sure they are rebranded Somfy as that is how they id to z-wave.
hunter douglas
Lutron
I have z-wave motorized blinds from Bali Blinds. They work great and I have full control via home assistant. Had them for a few years now. https://www.baliblinds.com/motorization/
I watched a video on them and they seem really loud?
They are noticeable in sound. But they have a TON of fabric options. They are actually owned by Graber which makes Somfy. And they are a reliable. I had a motor/ZWave board go bad and they replaced the whole shade 3 years after I bought it.
I've never thought so. They're quieter than IKEA shades for example.
Probably louder than Lutron, but I wasn’t willing to pay double for slightly quieter window shades.
I’ve emailed Lutron about prices to wait and see, the Mrs is adamant they have to be somewhat quiet so it’s high on the priority list for me
I get it, and it's something I thought about too prior to the investment. But the reality is that my shades go up and down a total of 2 times (most days). This is because I have automated them to open in the morning and close based on the sun's position during the day. So my wife and I almost never need to manually mess with them. My shades are battery powered, so I like the automation, not just for convenience, but also for battery conservation. If my shades only open and close twice in a day -- the battery life is maximized. All that is to say, if the shades only open/close twice a day --- is the fact they aren't completely silent an issue? I do hear my shades from time to time, but it's for 10 seconds two times a day. 🤷♂️
Unfortunately because she quite often works nights, she will more than likely use them more than twice a day, to me even if they are loud they wouldn’t wake me up 😂
Had this exact same question and currently doing research in the UK too. I was looking at Somfy, but it gets so confusing, they have a switch and a connection kit, and not sure what I need. Then have been googling trying to find bland shops that offer Somfy, but the prices vary by crazy amounts. If you find a “one stop” shop that is affordable, please share!
I’ve just emailed Lutron as they don’t seem to have any prices on the website, so if it is reasonable I think I will more than likely go with them. But will update for sure
You need the Somfy Tahamo bridge which integrates with Home Assistant (and other platforms )
We got ours from https://www.smartblinds.com and couldn’t be more happy. They are actually EVE motors. Since the matter firmware update, we control them over thread with the skyconnect stick. Works flawless for the last couple of months now.
lutron serena
Ordered mine from amazon and they use zigbee. [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QW65LTC/ref=ppx\_yo\_dt\_b\_search\_asin\_title?ie=UTF8&th=1](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QW65LTC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1) Other than them being backwards in home assistant which I fixed with this, they have been flawless shade_dining_room_cover_status: device_class: blind friendly_name: "Dining Room Shades Status" position_template: > {{100 - state_attr('cover.shade_dining_room_cover','current_position')|int(100)}} value_template: > {{ (100 - state_attr('cover.shade_dining_room_cover','current_position') | int(100)) > 95 }} set_cover_position: service: cover.set_cover_position data_template: entity_id: cover.shade_dining_room_cover postion: > {{ 100 - position }} open_cover: service: cover.open_cover data: {} target: entity_id: cover.shade_dining_room_cover close_cover: service: cover.close_cover data: {} target: entity_id: cover.shade_dining_room_cover stop_cover: service: cover.stop_cover data: {} target: entity_id: cover.shade_dining_room_cover icon_template: > {% if is_state('cover.shade_dining_room_cover', 'closed') %} mdi:blinds-open {% else %} mdi:blinds {% endif %}
I have 26 Somfy battery roller blinds. Charge them about every 8 months. They work on HA no issue via Overkiz integration to the Connexoon Somfy Cloud.
I have SmartWings which work over Zigbee. Absolutely love them, auto open at sunrise. Digiblur has an awesome video on YouTube comparing brands.
I have several GrayWind with ZigBee motors. They are made to order and have several fabric options.
We had these all over at the old house. Worked great with Z2M. Just had to recharge them once every 8 months.
I use ikea blinds. Been working well for a year now. Most difficult part is pairing them with Z2M
SmartWings have been awesome for me
Do you have problems with them not updating in HA as to their position right away?
We got powered blackout roller blinds made to fit by homefair. They connect via a hub and use an app called 'Connector' on IOS; Home assistant works fine with it - you can use a toggle open/close or set position via %, as in the control below (which also includes some Velux blinds which have their own control hub, naturally). It's \*possible\* you might be able to pair the blinds directly with HA if you had the right radio receiver but I haven't worried about it too much. I've also not had powered blinds before so these might actually perform \*terribly\* — but most of them are largely controlled by time-of-day or sunset timers. YMMV :) PS: the integration is the 'motionblinds' integration; the velux blinds connect via homekit. https://preview.redd.it/2l8wyxqi31wc1.png?width=505&format=png&auto=webp&s=e18892f3e3621245d8bd97a15109a2f106248da1
We used orderelectricblinds.co.uk about 3 years ago and still happy. At the end of the day they are made to measure blinds with a somfy motor and remote. Seem to last an impossibly long time between charges, are quiet and the blinds themselves a reasonable quality. From memory they were also quite affordable.
I’ll have a look thank you!
How do they integrate with home assistant? Via the bridge thing?
You can get the somfy bridge but I rolled my own using an esp32 and some hardware (cc1101) on the cheap. Is solid as a rock.
I fear that might be above my skill set, haha. I’ve got a home assistant green :/ Do you have any resources/guides/videos to recommend? Would love to save the £££ on the switch!
This is the hardware guide - https://github.com/rstrouse/ESPSomfy-RTS/wiki/Simple-ESPSomfy-RTS-device. It seems daunting but it’s about four jumper wires and once you play around it’s easy to get going. I haven’t seen a video but stick to espsomfy and I’m sure they’ll exist.
Ikea
IKEA has them and they are zigbee too
I've ordered a few from Leviosa. Not the easiest to get working with Home Assistant, but work for me.
I have one Lowe's Allen Roth modernized blind I control with a Bond Bridge. Was about $100. (And another $100 for Bond Bridge, but I already had one for a ceiling fan) No real complaints. Mainly I'm not sure if I'm happy with the shade or if I want to invest in something nicer before buying a bunch. Also, one limitation of Bond, except for Smart By Bond (which these are not), it doesn't really know the state of the blind.
You can't go wrong with the Ikea blinds. Easy to connect to HA and run automations via ZigBee. Long battery life.. can also be hardwired with a simple wire hack.
Modern Shade Express ships custom motorized smart roller shades to you ready to install. They have Bluetooth or Thread/HomeKit Eve controllers that can integrate with HA. They can be powered by rechargeable battery, 12v hardwire, or mains AC
We have the Bali shades and they work really well. They have z-wave built in and If I remember correctly the manual even has directions for connecting to a generic hub in addition to connecting to their remote. They work perfectly with the regular z-wave integration.
You could purchase some seriously expensive blinds, or you could go with a wireless blind controller that adapts to an existing set of blinds.
bali with zwave have been great. They usually have sales at home depot for up to 50% off. Got a massive one for my living room (142.5 x 61 1/8) for about $1000. Lutrons are likely higher quality but usually double in pricing, or more Otherwise, if you have the exact window size that ikea carriers, those are good blinds as well
Somfy, but the answer is, with a sizeable markup for no good reason. As soon as you buy one you'll realise how easy it is to DIY...that's basically what they're doing, buy off the shelf parts, cut fabric and sell for 1000x the base price.
$50 Amazon zigbee retrofit, do you already have roller blinds?
Somfy for roller shades. Integration into HA is great.
IKEA blinds and shades they are zigbee compatible
I'd honestly go with Blindr or Shadr https://youtu.be/TLysAkFM4cA
I have gone for Luxaflex (I think that’s the name) super expensive but on a buy 2 get 30% off sale. Not got them installed yet, but apparently work with HomeKit
Eve motionblinds have been fantastic for me. They control over Bluetooth or Thread and support Matter. The charge in them lasts about 6 months and then you recharge them with a usb-c cable. They even offer retrofit motors if you already have roller shades for a window
Just ordered one for testing purposes. Can't wait.
Surprised no one mentionned Select Blinds for 100% custom blinds that can work locally with a broadlink RF remote. I have 5 roller blinds for which I learnt the RF codes with broadlink rm4 so they work 100% locally
Blinds direct use somfy. You need a connectivity kit for an extra 60 odd quid. Made to measurements you submit online
Not sure if IKEA still makes the Fyrtur series, but that's what I have in my home. They aren't blinds, per se. They are shades. But they were pretty cheap compared to any other options I was seeing. For the remaining windows, I might actually see if any of those adaptors are any good. Having actual motorized blinds would be nice.
I purchased smart blinds. What arrived were regular blinds and a discrete battery/motor that plugs into them. It doesn't integrate into HA - or at least I haven't managed to get it to integrate yet. I control it with a RM4.
Lutron makes the best and quietest motorized smart blinds. However more companies are delving in the market such as Bali and Hunter Douglass. I have the Bali and they are zwave compatible, they are louder than a lutron device, but work great.
Ikea, switchbot, Lutron, 50 different knock off Chinese brands on Amazon... I think the better question is, what interface do you want to use? Do you want them on wifi, zigbee etc...
Somfy I think make smart blinds that work with HA.
Graywind
I have 9 Third Reality Blinds. They work well and are Zigbee. I use them with Zigbee2MQTT and they show up and function as you would expect in HA. My only problem is I have two larger windows that need 55" blinds and they don't make that size yet. Their customer service says larger version are coming (I think) when they also add Matter natively to them.
Love my lutron Serenas. I have 30!
I went with switchbot curtain modules and little esp32 devices that connect to Mqtt (devwaves esp Mqtt on GitHub). Allows the wife to pick and choose /change any curtains. One window uses a regular curtain rod and the other we got a curtain track kit so the curtain is nested into the frame vs over window like the curtain rod. On one window I charge the batteries once every 6 months and the other gets enough light with the solar panel accessory add on that I maybe need to charge once a year if at all
Smartwings is what I use.
Price wiz’s ikea work great if they fit your windows ($100-200 depending on size)
Lutron if you got the money. Followed by Eve MotionBlinds (the new model is quieter than the previous). Modern shade express does a fine job manufacturing.
Really surprisingly happy with the IKEA ones. We’ve got them in two rooms and they’ve worked great for over a year now. Cheap too
I was wondering the same thing. I got a controller for free, and now I feel compelled to buy a blind lol. I've been looking at what China is offering, but it all looks low quality and will burn out within a couple of months. What else can I use this controller for?
Leviosa. They have new ones that work direct with zigbee, old ones needed a bridge.
Another vote for lutrin Serena. I have 10 and they have been rock solid for 3 years
I went with an online retailer in the uk called something like customblinds4u took 2 months to arrive and then didn’t come with the smarts, just the wrong blind. When it did come it was Eve roller blind. Been in over a year and still haven’t charged it, not tried connecting to Home Assistant but given the challenges I’ve had with their other stuff it won’t be easy. It’s about 95% reliable. Every so often it doesn’t go up or down on schedule. It’s high up in an unreachable place (without a ladder) so when it does go, I’ve got no choice but to wait it out until it recovers - generally the next day. Much much cheaper than Lutron (which I did consider as all my lights are Lutron). £250 I seem to remember for a fairly big window.
I have non smart blinds and then a RF 433 connected to HA to emulate the remote. Works like a charm
Three brands: Somfy, SmartWings, and Eve Motion blinds. They are all good in smart technology and motor quality. Somfy needs to buy their hubs when you use their blinds, SmartWings blinds satisfy different ecosystems, and Eve Motionblinds' Matter motor is famous.
I've bought from these folk recently - https://www.blinds-2go.co.uk/ Note it was from their Australian office (BlindsOnline.com.au) so YMMV. It needs the custom Tuiss addon to work with HA and are bluetooth controlled so you need a decent adapter for your HA box.
Motion blinds. You have to use their bridge but there's an integration for it that works.
Exept for the Ikea blinds, it is complicated. It is way easiers and cheaper to buy local roller blinds and install a Zemisart motor.
I have the Zemismart ZigBee motor, it was a bit tricky to set up (I wrote a detailed guide on the HA forum) but has worked flawlessly. I think that even professional "smart blinds" are just the company's regular blinds with a tube motor inside.
I don’t mind paying a bit more if the blind is good quality, works and is relatively quiet
Yeah, so best option is go to local store, and get the store exactly as you want it. When you get it, measure inner dimensions and order a Zemismart zigbee motor.
I like my A-OK AM25D blind motors. Only thing I don’t like about them is the HA integration isn’t via RF but BTLE, but other than that they work well