I’ve been looking around for some time but don’t seem to be able to find any real Zwave options for blinds in the UK, Am I just Blind (boom tish) or is there still nothing that’s suitable ?.
I see in the USA there are options to use Zwave to control Somfy, I contacted Somfy in the UK and they said there are no plans to get involved with it.
I’ve purchased a nice venetian blind that opens and closes the slates really well (the blind is good quality and was very well priced), it has a motor and power supply, it just seems strange that there is still nothing similar that I can control using Zwave.
In this day and age is it really still impossible to have something as simple as a scene that shuts the blinds before putting the lights on and opens them again in the morning ? (all done via Zwave).
I’ve of course seen the fibaro switchs for blinds but not 100% sure what I need on the end of it. It seems the market place is really ready for a nice simple solution but there does not seem to be one, or have I missed something ?
Yes there are very few options for embedded Z-Wave motors, I believe www.zwavemotors.com offers the EU voltage and Z-Wave frequency. If zwavemotors doesn’t offer what you need, you can always use any of the Z-Wave motor controllers as you mentioned, you just need to pair those controllers with what are called Standard Motors. A Standard AC Motor typically has 4-Wires in the U.S., two directional AC power wires for up/down, a neutral wire, and a ground. A Standard DC Motor typically has 2-Wires in the U.S., and direction reversal is achieved by switching those wires against power within the controller. The controller (whether Z-Wave or Dry Contact or Serial or other) is essentially acting like a switch, so that is why you would use Standard Motors since they are typically controlled through a direct switch sitting in between the power source and the shade motor. Somfy, Elero, Nice, and others all sell Standard Motors in the EU, so you should be able to find something that works for you. I like having the embedded ZWave if you find it works for you since there is no external box(controller), everything is inside the motor.
@Shady your explanation is right on as usual.
Our range of tubular motors are for rolling products: roller/roman shades, rolling shutters, retractable awnings.
Motorizing venetian blinds with tubular motors works well for exterior or wood blinds, might be an overkill when tilt is the main concern
We had a project with a European motor manufacturer to develop a modified firmware adapted to venetian blinds control, but it is on hold now.
@mzpost
There could be a couple of options to have your system Z-Wave controlled:
You mention a power supply so you most likely have a DC motor. What is the output voltage?
Is the motor tilt only or lift and tilt?
Do you control your blind with a switch or a transmitter?
Thanks for the reply shady, I guess a regular motor and a fibaro switch could be the best option.
The blind I have currently that Is remote (via RF transmitter) runs off three double a batteries so the RF link is basically driving the motor either way to control the tilt. If the little battery box which is very neat was zwave instead of 2khz the it would be quite honestly a great solution, but its of course not.
I’ll take a look t see what somfy motors I can find the pair one up with fibaro…,that should then give what I need it will just mean windows need some power so more faffing about than I wanted but not impossible.
Well, on the eurpoean market there are no real Z-Wave drape controls, but for now the best you can get is a ‘harrison drape curtain track’ and use that with the ‘RFXCOM USB 433.92MHz receiver + transmitter’. In this way is can be controlled by Vera.
I am just looking into something similar, an awning control, and Somfy RTS is worth looking into, they do awning and blind control, have a look on their website. I think they do retrofit versions too
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