How to automate pull cord horizontal blinds? Without 'external' blinds motors

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › How to automate pull cord horizontal blinds? Without 'external' blinds motors

timbosan

2028 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#304390 30-Apr-2023 10:33

Hey all,

My house has these blinds throughout the house, and I would like to automate them. I have tried one solution - using a Tuya based blind motor (from DickSmith) screwed to the wall, and then adding beaded cord to the end of the pull cords. Worked but looked janky as!

Ideal solution would be:

motor hidden, either in the 'top' unit, or behind the blinds
(SwitchBot type solutions are fine)
A solution that removes the need for the cords that open/close the slats
Awesome solution would be to get rid of the cord that raises and lowers the blinds
Homekit compatible (I can live with Homebridge, but ideally native / Matter)

It would be good if this was NZ / AU based, I don't mind Amazon / AliExpress etc. just don't want to wait weeks for shipping (I have a target date for this).

Anyone done this before, and have recommendations? Or even things to stay away from?
Anyone know of NZ / AU based shops for this?

Many thanks :-)

mdf

3321 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3069490 30-Apr-2023 12:49

I've been looking at something similar off-and-on for a while.

The short answer is the only in-blind, lift and tilt option I know of is Somfy. Which I don't own, since it seems extremely spendy and its own ecosystem. I don't use Apple but it seems to be homekit compatible. There is also a lot of heft in lifting bigger venetian blinds; even Somfy only claims to be able to lift smaller venetians.

There is also this NZ outfit, though the website doesn't exactly describe how it works nor if it is able to be DIY retrofit to existing solutions, or if they only supply new blinds to order: https://www.ismartwindow.co.nz/motorised-venetian-blinds.html

There seem to be a lot more options if you're happy with tilting only (though with varying degrees of internal versus external drive units). Other than the first one, I don't own any of these

https://www.smarterhome.com/products/mysmartblinds - I have one of these - pros: nice unit that fits inside 2 inch / 50 mm blinds replacing the tilt cord with a manual control cord, good scheduling, lots of adapters for different drive rails, cost effective. Cons: Bluetooth only, very proprietary, integration with HASS (which is what I use) was very hacky last I looked, required cloud servers
https://us.switch-bot.com/products/switchbot-blind-tilt
https://www.somasmarthome.com/products/soma-tilt-free-solar-panel
https://www.dicksmith.co.nz/dn/buy/kogan-smarterhome-smart-blinds-driver-kogan/ - this style is also available from Ali / ebay under various brandnames (e.g., Zemismart, Aqara) with choice of BLE, wifi and Zigbee compatibility

Another GZ thread here, though looks like have already seen this one: https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=73&topicid=290182

Mighty Ape

Shop Mighty Ape for electronics, games, computers books and more (affiliate link).

timbosan

2028 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#3069870 1-May-2023 10:27

Thanks @mdf, awesome information!

Based on those links I was able to find 2 important items:

fixmyblinds.com have a product that changes a pullcord blind to a 'twist' blind Wood, Faux Wood & Venetian Blind Tilt Mechanisms – Fix My Blinds
Using the above means I can get the Some Tilt 2 to automate, and they are solar powered so no messy wires!

Anyone here brought the Soma products? They don't seem to shop to NZ - I have emailed them asking for confirmation.

mdf

3321 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3069891 1-May-2023 11:31

👍 Keen to hear how you get on.

If I can ask a tangentially-related question about the Kogan/Dick Smith/Tuya one you already have, did it come with a selection of drive wheels? And if so, what did they look like?

timbosan

2028 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#3072108 4-May-2023 09:47

mdf:

👍 Keen to hear how you get on.

If I can ask a tangentially-related question about the Kogan/Dick Smith/Tuya one you already have, did it come with a selection of drive wheels? And if so, what did they look like?

Hi,

Yes, it came with 4 wheels from memory - they all had different teeth and different gaps to fit different blinds cords (I have a combination of plastic and metal, so ended up using different wheels on the 2 blinds I automated).

Sorry I don't have the other wheels - but you can see them here (but it only shows 2 for some reason) Shop Kogan SmarterHome™ Smart Blinds Driver - Dick Smith. .

mdf

3321 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3072179 4-May-2023 11:04

I've got blinds like yours with pull cords rather than beads. I want to use a zigbee based solution, and all of those are in the same form factor as your Kogan one. I feel like you should be able to use cords directly in the drive motor if there was a slotted rather than beaded wheel, but I've never been able to figure out whether there was a slotted wheel option (or if I could homebrew something to work). So it got put in the too hard basket until threads pop up on geekzone reminding me to do something about it.

timbosan

2028 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#3072195 4-May-2023 11:45

My 'Version 0.1' solution for the pull cords was to attach a plastic blind cord (like this Windowshade 6 Metre Vertical Blind Chain White (spotlightstores.com) ) to the end of the pull cords, then use the DickSmith motor to open / close. It does work but the WAF is very low as it looks crap :-)

Also I found getting the pull cord attached to the plastic beaded cord was hard - it would slip over time and then the blinds didn't close properly.

Also, I would prefer a tidier solution, and ideally not have to use HomeBridge as I cannot seem to get Toya solutions to work with commands like "Siri, open the blinds 50%" - its either open or close.

timbosan

2028 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#3076949 16-May-2023 22:42

Just an update, to help others who may be looking or interested.

I have narrowed this down to 3 options:

Sunsa Wand Amazon.com: Sunsa Wand – Simple Retrofit Smart Blind Solution to Automate and Motorize Your Existing Blinds, Compatible with Alexa & Google : Home & Kitchen
* Top of my list. Replaces the 'tilt wand' on a standard blind
* Wifi - so no bridge required for bluetooth, zigbee, etc.
* can be added and removed easily without taking the blinds down or apart
* There is a HomeBridge addin to allow for HomeKit support (since its Wifi, not hub is needed)
* Its available!
*Price - approx $370 NZD landed for one, with a 4 pack of the tilt control (changes from pullcord to wand - I have this on all my prices)

Soma Tilt 2
* Would be great if it was available anywhere - even Soma don't have them in stock as they are focusing on the Soma Smart Shades 3
* Does have the Soma Bridge (more money) for native Homekit integration, no need for HomeBridge
* Can ship to NZ, but only place I have found is Soma themselves (they are quite responsive on emails)
* Lots of reviews on Youtube

Somfy Clever Tilt Amazon.com: Somfy Clever Tilt Blind Motor Kit - Fits Your Existing 2" Horizontal Blinds - Smart Blinds for Security, Glare, & Natural Light - Automatic Blinds Opener - Includes Remote, Motor, and Charger : Home & Kitchen
* Very clever design - it replaces the cord / tilt unit in the blind header with a motorised unit, for 100% discreet look. However you have to take the blinds down again if you want to replace it, sell, etc.
* Very pricey! $539 NZD landed for one (and the tilt control)
* Also I cannot figure out the Homekit intergation - it looks like the optional Hub can do it via HomeBridge
* The hub is also WOW expensive - $486 PLUS SHIPPING AND TAXES

Excluded from my list - Switchbot Blind Tilt
* Whilst the cheapest this thing is huge, ugly and easily the lowest WAF score
* Price - $212 NZD landed
* Hub is available, I think it works with HomeBridge, so you need 2 devices to make it work in HomeKit

So I am going to order a Sunsa Wand and see how it goes. The videos on Youtube make it look easy to install, and quite capable.