Motorized Blinds - with pictures.

[mark_anderson_us]

Hi All

I'm going to be replacing the roman blinds in my bedroom soon (4 of them 29" x 70"). I really want to installed motorized blackout blinds with side channels. I may end up with plain blackouts and a decorative shade in front, so may need to control 8.

I'd prefer a single controller that can control all 4 at once (in perfect sync!).

I want to control from my HomeSeer and/or URC system (MSC-400). I'd prefer a DC motor and control via RS-232 (which I can send from HS or URC). Everything else I have is z-wave, but these don't have to be. I definitely don't want a different RF system or IR (due to layout).

I only really need 3 positions: open, closed, half open

Would prefer to avoid exhorbitant prices of big name brands

Anyone got any suggestions on a controller and blind source?

Regards

Mark

[Raptor]

i am considering these, http://rollertrol.com/store/en/conte...lar-motors-faq

you could swap the built in RF for the zwave module:
http://store.homeseer.com/store/x-C192.aspx

[Guest]

I've been using the Rollertrol blinds since July or so with very good results. If you buy the radio ones, you can use the RFXCOM transciever to control them. It is actually pretty easy to setup. I just bought regular blinds at Home Depot and inserted the mini motors inside of the cardboard tube. You will need 12V to the motor or you can use one of the battery/solar options. I just ran wire (actually my wife did the crawling around in the attic) to each window and supplied 12V.

The only trick is to get the half open position. I posted a script (embarrassingly simple one) in the RFX forums about how to setup a timer to get the blinds to go up a distance and then stop.

Rollertrol also has some simple non-radio DC motors. I played around with them and they work fine. The best thing is that you can program the stop points and then just applying forward and reverse voltage runs the motor until the stop point. There are new Insteon mini modules could work as well to control the motors. Or one could go the Z wave route but I think you would need to buy a bit of hardware. There is some stuff about that on the rollertrol pages but I didn't look too close.

[mark_anderson_us]

Thanks Guys!

Will check these out

[bpm32]

Motorized Blinds

I've been using the Rollertrol blinds since July or so with very good results. If you buy the radio ones, you can use the RFXCOM transciever to control them. It is actually pretty easy to setup. I just bought regular blinds at Home Depot and inserted the mini motors inside of the cardboard tube.

I looked on their site but didn't find specific install instructions. How do we go about measuring for shade width when ordering? I had a 72" wide window measured inside the casing. I had planned to order a shade nearly that width.

Do the mounting brackets for this motor take up a lot of space (width) to the point I would order, for example, a 68" wide shade rather than a 70" shade to accommodate the motor mounting brackets?

Thanks!

Brian


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Guest]

The blind motor takes perhaps an extra 1/4 to 1/2 inch in the width. The brackets are very narrow so no problem there. I would order the outside dimensions of the blind to be perhaps 1" narrower than the window casing. That should be plenty of space.

I'm sure if you contact Rollertrol support, they can give you some good advice as well.

[Rupp]

Any of you guys have any pics of your install. A pic is worth ...

[Guest]

And three pics is worth?

I was a little messy with the wiring but I plan on adding a valance. If one was a little careful it could be kept out of site. The motor only takes about 1/4".

Anything else you want to see, just let me know.

[bpm32]

Motorized Blinds

These are very helpful - thank you!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Moskus]

I've gone the the Rollertrol route. I control them with a RFXtrx433.

... and I made a small video, right after installation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-VDMX-9FZc

[mark_anderson_us]

Anyone know how well these will work with blackout shades (with side guides). Do I just need to sufficiently weight the bottom of the blind?

Regards

Mark

[Raptor]

I've been using the Rollertrol blinds since July or so with very good results. If you buy the radio ones, you can use the RFXCOM transciever to control them. It is actually pretty easy to setup. I just bought regular blinds at Home Depot and inserted the mini motors inside of the cardboard tube. You will need 12V to the motor or you can use one of the battery/solar options. I just ran wire (actually my wife did the crawling around in the attic) to each window and supplied 12V.

The only trick is to get the half open position. I posted a script (embarrassingly simple one) in the RFX forums about how to setup a timer to get the blinds to go up a distance and then stop.

Rollertrol also has some simple non-radio DC motors. I played around with them and they work fine. The best thing is that you can program the stop points and then just applying forward and reverse voltage runs the motor until the stop point. There are new Insteon mini modules could work as well to control the motors. Or one could go the Z wave route but I think you would need to buy a bit of hardware. There is some stuff about that on the rollertrol pages but I didn't look too close.

Which blinds did you use at homedepot? the blind has been the hardest part for me.

[Guest]

mark_anderson_us - I don't have any idea about the blackout shades with guides. I would suggest contacting the rollertrol guy as he seems to know quite a bit about blinds. One could look at some type of string pull/winch system. I think there are diagrams to that effect on the website.

Raptor - I just bought the basic Levolor roller blinds but any roller blinds should work. The mini tube motors fit inside for the most part. The tubes get smaller in diameter as the blind gets narrower. My narrowest blind had an extremely small tube so I had to replace it with a piece of 3/4" pipe. That took about 5 minutes including cutting the pipe. You just attach it with a little double sided tape. I was dreading it so I didn't finish it for a few months but it was actually dead simple. Probably easier than trying to get the spring out of the cardboard so the motor can be inserted.

The other option is to use the regular sized motors and just transfer each blind from the cardboard tube to a 1 1/4" piece of metal tubing. Home Depot has 1 1/4" EMT conduit that works just fine. Now that I know how easy it is to rip the blind off of the cardboard and stick it to the metal tube, I'll be doing that with the rest of my windows. Our house has something like 40 windows that we want blinds on so it is a big project. Wire is almost all in and I have 8 motors now with 5 more ordered that should arrive soon.

[Raptor]

Raptor - I just bought the basic Levolor roller blinds but any roller blinds should work. The mini tube motors fit inside for the most part. The tubes get smaller in diameter as the blind gets narrower. My narrowest blind had an extremely small tube so I had to replace it with a piece of 3/4" pipe. That took about 5 minutes including cutting the pipe. You just attach it with a little double sided tape. I was dreading it so I didn't finish it for a few months but it was actually dead simple. Probably easier than trying to get the spring out of the cardboard so the motor can be inserted.

The other option is to use the regular sized motors and just transfer each blind from the cardboard tube to a 1 1/4" piece of metal tubing. Home Depot has 1 1/4" EMT conduit that works just fine. Now that I know how easy it is to rip the blind off of the cardboard and stick it to the metal tube, I'll be doing that with the rest of my windows. Our house has something like 40 windows that we want blinds on so it is a big project. Wire is almost all in and I have 8 motors now with 5 more ordered that should arrive soon.

yea that is what i am thinking as the mini motors are more money. thanks for the info. if you find any fabric that could be used i think it would work out cheaper too.

[Thrag]

Is anyone using the battery option? I'm curious as to the battery life and how easy it is to change and charge the battery. I see they also have an option for a solar panel to charge the battery. I wish they had some pictures of these setups and install instructions on the site.

For a while I've been toying with the idea of using putting in motorized shades using Somfy motors. They have device that does zwave to their radio protocol and I know someone on these boards has posted about getting it working. However this solution is more attractive as the rfxcom is multipurpose and around two hundred bucks cheaper.