IBlinds installation

[Rvtravlr]

I was a backer of this indigogo campaign a couple of years ago and purchased 10 sets of motor kit and solar add on. I received them this week and have installed 7 of them. They only tilt the slats, they do not raise or lower them.

From my experience I would modify their instructions. There was no need to charge for 8 hours before installation. I included the motor to HS3 and then I installed the kit while the blinds were on a bench. I found that I needed to glue the usb charger/aux button component to the inside head rail as well as the clip from underneath designed to hold the component. Finally, after reinstalling the blinds, I plugged the extra long usb charging cable into the usb charger and left for 8 hours.

I’m pleased with the overall install and functionality. So much so that I ordered four more kits during their grand opening sale.

Their website is myiblinds.com and I have no financial or other interest in them.

The red red arrows point to the clip and the usb charger/aux button component. The button allows for inclusion/exclusion and also auto calibration of the blinds. Nice since you don’t have to remove the blinds.



The solar panel from outside:

[kideon]

This is great! Hoping we’ll see price reductions I’d go for $100 or less per blind max. Now just need a cheap roller shade and curtain solution..

[Rupp]

Yea, $150 per window is a bit steep just to tilt the blinds. I'll stay with my discontinued add on tilters. I have to put batteries in these about every 4 months but these were only $15 a few years back.

[freeon]

I was a backer of this indigogo campaign a couple of years ago and purchased 10 sets of motor kit and solar add on. I received them this week and have installed 7 of them. They only tilt the slats, they do not raise or lower them.

From my experience I would modify their instructions. There was no need to charge for 8 hours before installation. I included the motor to HS3 and then I installed the kit while the blinds were on a bench. I found that I needed to glue the usb charger/aux button component to the inside head rail as well as the clip from underneath designed to hold the component. Finally, after reinstalling the blinds, I plugged the extra long usb charging cable into the usb charger and left for 8 hours.

I’m pleased with the overall install and functionality. So much so that I ordered four more kits during their grand opening sale.

Their website is myiblinds.com and I have no financial or other interest in them.

The red red arrows point to the clip and the usb charger/aux button component. The button allows for inclusion/exclusion and also auto calibration of the blinds. Nice since you don’t have to remove the blinds.

I was also a backer and I'm glad I was. Had to wait for 2 years but with the campaign they end up cost less than $100.00 each for a 10 pack and so far I really like them. I didn't have to glue the charger/aux button component, the clip holds it in place quite well, but you do have to push it hard to snap it in.

[kesterf]

I was a backer too, but only purchases a two-pack. I've been burnt on a couple of crowd funded blind controllers, so even thought I have 6 blinds, I didn't purchase more.

Both are installed and working well. One unit fought me a bit on inclusion, but after a couple of tries it finally included correctly. I didn't purchase the solar panel....so I'm curious how long the batteries will last. I currently have them opening 60% at sunrise, 50% at 4 pm and closing at sunset. I also created 3 Alexa Routines. An example of one is "Alexa, Open Blinds".

I'd like to buy 4 more....but the retail price, even with the grand opening sale for backers, was too steep for the value added.

I do wish they had (or add in the future) a local control to adjust the tilt at the blinds. My HA is mostly rock solid, except if my wife is home when I'm away for a few days.

-Forrest

[Rvtravlr]

I gambled and bought 10 with solar so the price was not bad. I did just buy 4 more and agree the retail price is steep.

[dumplingseggplant]

It is nice hope the price comes down a bit

[dmiller]

I was also a backer for a single unit. The current high price feels a bit "bait and switch".

I have many windows I could do but I need to feel a bit less mislead before I pull the trigger. I wasn't willing to purchase a large number of units until there was more feedback on quality.

[dmiller]

So I now have some iBlinds installed. The physical limitations of fitting the motors and other bits turned out to be the somewhat challenging issue. The z-wave control aspect works as expected.

$200 - $250 total for motorized tilt on bali wood horizontal blind is pretty cool.

Update: Seven installed and working

[rwenner]

Santa delivered 7 sets of iBlinds for the Living Room & Dining Room and I found the physical install to be pretty straight forward.

The only real setup challenge was calibration - - the 5 blinds in the Living Room are tall (72") and wouldn't calibrate (even with the blinds raised a bit). After some trial & error, I discover a magic number of 16 - if I raised the blinds up until only about 16 " of blind was exposed, they calibrated.

I created several events to Open or Close the Blinds shortly after Sunrise & Sunset which work fine. However, the Routines I created for Alexa to Open/Close on Command are very slow to execute and often leave 1 or 2 of the blinds unaltered. Interesting as well is that the blinds don't respond in the same order that the commands are sent.

Any insight as to why the slow Alexa response will be greatly appreciated.

Oh, thanks to the forum contributors for the blind icons - the ON OFF with a light bulb just didn't look right.

[dmiller]

Santa delivered 7 sets of iBlinds for the Living Room & Dining Room and I found the physical install to be pretty straight forward.

The only real setup challenge was calibration - - the 5 blinds in the Living Room are tall (72") and wouldn't calibrate (even with the blinds raised a bit). After some trial & error, I discover a magic number of 16 - if I raised the blinds up until only about 16 " of blind was exposed, they calibrated.

I created several events to Open or Close the Blinds shortly after Sunrise & Sunset which work fine. However, the Routines I created for Alexa to Open/Close on Command are very slow to execute and often leave 1 or 2 of the blinds unaltered. Interesting as well is that the blinds don't respond in the same order that the commands are sent.

Any insight as to why the slow Alexa response will be greatly appreciated.

Oh, thanks to the forum contributors for the blind icons - the ON OFF with a light bulb just didn't look right.

Have you looked at the log? I suspect it's a communication issue. Always on battery powered devices seem to be less flexible in routing. All of my blinds are within 20 feet of the hometroller, and I get delays sometimes. But I seldom get a blind that doesn't eventually respond to a command

Also,
https://support.myiblinds.com/interm...-connectivity/

[Rvtravlr]

While it’s cool to have a room of blinds close (or open) at the same time, reality dictates that there should probably be a second delay between each closing. So, in our case the first blind closes and for the next 13 seconds the other blinds close (or open).

[kesterf]

I wanted to be able to control at the blind also. It's the one feature I feel iblind is missing. I would have liked an option that still allow the tilt rod to adjust the blinds through a rotary encoder. Instead I'm using an inexpensive scene controller (GoControl WA00Z-1 Z-Wave Scene-Controller Wall Switch) that triggers some events. I haven't found the need to use associations and/or a linked device for any of my devices yet, but maybe this is a good application, although I'm not sure an association will work with a scene controller.

[kesterf]

Oh I should have mentioned I have 6 iblind units in operation. They each operate the tilt on 2 in slat wood blinds that are 4 ft wide X 6 ft high. 2 are from the original Indiegogo campaign and 4 were purchase back in November. The 1st two were installed nearly 6 months ago. They run at least 3 times a day. I'm pleased to report the batteries are at 38% and 47% on the original charge. All 6 added to my smart stick easily and have been quite reliable. But occasionally I do get a random blind that misses a command. Along with time based events, I use Alexa Routines to trigger virtual devices that trigger events. Alexa Routines are handy when you what to use a phrase like "Open Blinds" rather than "Turn Blinds On". The only negative I've found to Routines is if you remove all your Alexa Smart Devices and then "Re" Discover them, the devices attached to the routines break.

[outbackrob]

Right now, iBlinds is having a sale of sorts. About 15-20% off depending on how many you buy. I bought 6 yesterday afternoon and they showed up today, less than 24 hours later. Before taxes and shipping, mine came out to be $117 each. Not the cheapest they have ever been but better than $149!!! Charging them up for the install tomorrow. We'll see how good they are.