Automate roller blinds

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Automate roller blinds - options?

SpookyAwol

626 posts

Ultimate Geek

#311147 18-Dec-2023 09:59

I thought I might look at automating existing roller blinds, so interested in peoples experience.

I know there are various roller drive motors out there, but Im curious how they handle perhaps heavier blinds. Would the torque be sufficient?
Preference would be for zigbee protocol

My blinds are as below

Chippo

129 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

#3172933 18-Dec-2023 10:07

I, coincidentally, used Automate Roller Blinds in both my current and previous houses :)

The Rollease Acmeda roller blind motors have been great. I couldn't find any good battery powered Zigbee options so went with these instead. Only downside is that they do use their own protocol so need a hub. There is a custom home assistant integration which works great, and I bought remotes for a guest friendly alternative as well.

Most recently, I paid ~$4000 for 11 Motors + Hub and 2x remotes.

It helps that they seem to be the default option for most blind companies in NZ - so when my hub died earlier this year I was able to get a replacement same day.

I work for a global Data Protection Software company - But my opinions are my own.

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

eluSiveNZ

186 posts

Master Geek

#3172934 18-Dec-2023 10:13

What size (diameter) are the blind tubes, this will dictate you motor options.

Also, what is the size of your largest window?

SpookyAwol

626 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3172937 18-Dec-2023 10:20

Most of them are 2300 mm wide, and the tube is probably 40mm
So yeah, looking at cheaper options, but that may not be feasible for the size

Home Assistant compatible of course

amanzi

Amanzi
1277 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3172942 18-Dec-2023 10:46

I looked into this recently and was recommended to look at the Zemismart brand https://www.zemismart.com/. They do either battery or mains-powered roller motors and have good Zigbee support. I never went ahead with my project so I can't talk from first-hand experience, but a friend fitted out his whole house with these Zemismart rollers bought from Aliexpress and rated them highly. He had them fully automated with Home Assistant.

boosacnoodle

955 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3172945 18-Dec-2023 10:46

Aqara roller blinds motor ticks all the boxes and works well.

SpookyAwol

626 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3172946 18-Dec-2023 10:49

boosacnoodle:

Aqara roller blinds motor ticks all the boxes and works well.

Im guessing you mean this one?
https://www.thetechnologystore.co.nz/products/aqara-blind-roller

Any thoughts on the torque required to lift a blind for a 2300 wide window? thats what concerns me

fearandloathing

497 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#3172952 18-Dec-2023 11:12

Have a look at the options here https://www.autoblinds.co.nz/

tieke

673 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#3172975 18-Dec-2023 12:13

amanzi:

I looked into this recently and was recommended to look at the Zemismart brand https://www.zemismart.com/. They do either battery or mains-powered roller motors and have good Zigbee support. I never went ahead with my project so I can't talk from first-hand experience, but a friend fitted out his whole house with these Zemismart rollers bought from Aliexpress and rated them highly. He had them fully automated with Home Assistant.

Luckily for you, roller blinds are the easiest curtain option to automate :)

I've got a couple of zemismart motors from aliexpress and they work well with home assistant. Best to get the mains-powered ones if possible - I have a battery-powered one on a very high window but it ended up being a pain to recharge it, and a small solar panel trickle-charging the battery worked but was a bit obvious, so ended up just running power to it.

They're less than $100 shipped per window and I've had no issues with them - I use HA to close them automatically when the sun goes behind the horizon, but they are also voice-controlled/have the manual remote stuck next the window etc.

I'm sure that if you're able to easily open your existing ones with a standard cord that the motors shouldn't have any issues, but they're cheap enough to make it worth buying just one initially to give it a try.

tieke

673 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#3172978 18-Dec-2023 12:23

Just to add that one of my existing roller tubes was too small for a standard size motor (I think I bought the motor from this seller, which lists 36-38mm tube diameters) so I went to a local roller blind place and bought a correct diameter replacement tube for the blind, which cost (cut to length) less than $20.

tieke

673 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#3172990 18-Dec-2023 12:47

And regarding the Aqara blind motor you referenced, I would definitely get an in-roller motor rather than one of these external ones that you feed the cord through - I initially tried one of those and they are bulky and can be tricky to get the tension right (mine would slip every now and then, which would ruin the calibration for the opening and closing positions).

rphenix

983 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3173027 18-Dec-2023 14:57

SpookyAwol:

Any thoughts on the torque required to lift a blind for a 2300 wide window? thats what concerns me

If it helps I have no issue with the Zemismart units rated at 0.8Nm lifting 2000mm curtains I think they would lift 2300mm provided its a fairly standard curtain fabric weight.