Motorised blinds are operated through a simple remote control that raises or lowers your window blinds. They offer more convenience and reliability because you don’t need to control them with chains, tilt wands or cords. Unlike traditional window blinds, you use a remote control to operate your motorised blinds.
In general, the cost of motorised blinds depends on the style and size of your windows. However, an upgrade of your roller blinds to motorised blinds costs about $200 on average. With tech developments in home automation, you can now connect your motorised blinds to your home automation system, taking the remote control out of the equation. Read on to find out how you can make your motorised blinds voice controlled…
How Motorised Blinds Work
The use of motorised blinds allows for increasing the longevity of the window treatments. When you use motorised shades, you avoid pulling and tugging of your blinds. Otherwise, pulling and tugging can cause significant damage to your window treatments, and you may lose the hardware of your blinds.
There are three types of commonly used motorised blinds – hard-wired, battery wand, and solar-powered. Hard-wired motorised blinds have a power adapter, which plugs into your wall outlet. In contrast, many people use battery wand motorised blinds, because they are a popular choice and you can power them with an attached battery tube. The tube is along the wall or hidden behind the shade.
Besides hard-wired and battery wand blinds, solar-powered motorised blinds are operated via a rechargeable battery that is charged through a solar panel. It is an excellent option when it comes to eco-friendliness and renewable sources of energy.
So, instead of connecting your blinds to a string, you will have a tube installed that will lift them up and down with a control device. Motorised shades have a battery fitted in the upper section and connected to a motor that provides power to them.
How to Connect Motorised Blinds to Smart Assistants
By connecting your motorised blinds to smart assistants like Google Home, Apple’s Siri, and Amazon Alexa, your blinds become smart or voice-controlled motorised blinds. For instance, you can control the blinds with your voice using a device powered by a smart assistant.
If you have the Amazon Echo, for example, you can create a remarkable smart home and automate a wide range of tasks within you home, like setting your thermostat, switching lights on and off, starting a coffee machine, monitoring your CCTV system, and automating your motorised blinds.
So, if you want to make your motorised blinds voice controlled with a smart device like Amazon Echo, you will need a tubular motor that you will fit inside the rollup-style blinds. The motor comes with an RF that triggers it when you use the remote control.
Now, if you want to connect it with Alexa, you will need a smart RF transmitter. It can work with a variety of standard RF devices that uses the 433 MHz frequency.
You can operate the RF transmitter through a smartphone app that creates a connection between your motorised blinds and the Amazon Echo. Once done, you can simply connect the app with Amazon Alexa to have voice-controlled motorised blinds.
Upgrading Your Existing Blinds
You can either install motorised blinds and control them with your home automation system, or you can upgrade your existing blinds to being motorised and then connect them with your automation. Not all blinds can be made into motorised blinds, so it’s best to consult with a motorised blinds installer to see what your options are.
