this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2024
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[–] Blue_Morpho 5 points 2 months ago (4 children)

I really hate that the automated shades I needed (must be plug in because they're 18' off the floor) are so proprietary that it's not even wifi.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Here in Italy shutter covers are common, I have those and awnings, both can be connected to any sort of smart 2-way switch. I use BTicino for the shutters and Shelly 2PMs for the awnings

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

There are Somfry blind controllers with small solar panels that face outwards on the motor housing. No plug required.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I would assume those would be zigbee or z-wave or something. What does it use?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (2 children)

In the US, 95% of “smart” tech wants WiFi connection to a proprietary cloud and they will make breaking API changes and/or ban users for using 3rd party clients. Only phone apps with permission to see your contacts allowed!

That being said, you can usually find products that will work locally but it’s really difficult, and big-box stores almost never have anything Zigbee/Z-wave or even Matter enabled. It’s bleak.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

Ew. Blinds really should be line of sight IMO. I don't want anything related to my physical privacy living in the cloud (and that goes double for you, Ring).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Ikea sells ZigBee blinds that connect right up to any home automation hub. Pretty cheap too, in the $100-200 range for most windows.

I'm using several. Batteries are solid. I get a good 3 months with daily opening/closing. I only wish they had solar modules you could add in, but the battery tray design makes that unlikely.

[–] Blue_Morpho 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It's not zigbee or anything anyone else uses. Someone spent a little time with a software defined radio to decode some of the signal.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Ew, that's awful.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Damn that sucks. I lived in an apartment and wound up rigging up an arduino to pull the chain on these three massive window shades in my apartment, they were seriously like 20 foot tall windows. This was back in 2015 or so, so I didn’t even bother trying to find anything off the shelf.

I love your username btw.