I get it, though aqara hubs are cheap and include a homekit secure video camara. So its not that bad of a deal
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Review: Aqara's Curtain Driver E1 Provides an Easy Way to Retrofit Curtains With HomeKit
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Well, we have windows that have furniture in front of them, and if you are like my wife and height-challenged, then it's a total PITA for her to reach, in some instances, she has to stand on the furniture to do so. How nice would it also be to press one button (or have an auto schedule) in the morning and all the lights come on and the blinds to +10 windows all open? That's an extra 10 minutes of opening blinds and turning on lights that can be better used making breakfast, or an extra 10 mins of sleep.
Well, hopefully, after this fall, with Thread+Matter coming to the fore, you won't need to.
I mean! How ignorant does someone need to be to not realize disabled people exist.
Or people who aren't home during the day and would like to provide some shade for pets or plants during the full-on-sun part of a day while also still giving them some natural light at other times of the day?
I suppose I am... I've been waiting for the ability to close the great room curtains when the temperature rises above 75C in that room.
Also.. I want them to close automatically, every night at 11pm. Often times I won't be home to sort it
Live in the real world and harness technology
Look... theres nothing inherently wrong with smart home tech like this...
Sure, literally everything in a smart home could be done manually but theres real power and convenience in automating multiple devices such as bulbs, plugs, blinds etc...
Also please don't discount the convenience this gives to people with disabilities.
That said I fully support the issue with the 'curtain puller'..... as many have said up-thread.... these devices are all well and good but every window needs TWO of them to function....
Where is a curtained window that just has one curtain?? obviously they all have two curtains and therefore devices like this should be sold in a pair at the very least.
Singly, they look reasonably priced.... but double that and its ridiculous... and if you have 2 windows in a room then quadruple it... its just a problem that didnt need fixing.. certainly not at that price.
They also do a roller blind motor... now thats more sensible as you only need one per window.
Sure, literally everything in a smart home could be done manually but theres real power and convenience in automating multiple devices such as bulbs, plugs, blinds etc...
Also please don't discount the convenience this gives to people with disabilities.
That said I fully support the issue with the 'curtain puller'..... as many have said up-thread.... these devices are all well and good but every window needs TWO of them to function....
Where is a curtained window that just has one curtain?? obviously they all have two curtains and therefore devices like this should be sold in a pair at the very least.
Singly, they look reasonably priced.... but double that and its ridiculous... and if you have 2 windows in a room then quadruple it... its just a problem that didnt need fixing.. certainly not at that price.
They also do a roller blind motor... now thats more sensible as you only need one per window.
Indeed. My grandma had electric coverings installed in her house, and now she doesn’t have to crawl behind her furniture and risk falling every day to open her curtains and blinds. If other “lazy” people want to enter the market too and thus make the market more viable, affordable, and full of options for people who really need it, that’s great.
Who has curtains nowadays!
No really, where I live nobody buys curtains anymore.
No really, where I live nobody buys curtains anymore.
Rich people, I suppose. Even then, you see pictures of otherwise fancy homes in which the owners just hung Venetian blinds and called it a day. That’s what I’d do…
Yup. This is a major challenge for businesses. For example, many senior living communities have been installing lighting, shades, HVAC and other systems that can be controlled by speech or a tablet/iPad. Imagine spending six or seven figures to do that and then the vendor abandons the platform a year or three later. Systems integrators will be busy figuring out workarounds for businesses with orphaned systems.
Try living in a tropical or subtropical area. Blackout curtains are a must. Especially if most houses don't actually have A/C (yep, that's the case in Hawaii for example, but also most of Europe)
I am one of these people.
Let me describe my reasons:
Windows for my flat are facing south-west and west. I love plants in my flat so I have a lot of them.
During the day in the past I was at work so starting from 6am till 6 pm I was not at home. To keep flowers alive and home not having 30-32*C during the day and night I planned to use electric curtains and some sensors.
So I have rails + Aqara zigbee curtains motors with material of size 8m + 2x 4m which opens to one side or both at once + raspi4 with home assistant + zigbee lux sensor + zigbee usb hub for raspi.
In the result I have set hours when they open (usually 30 mins after wake up), then based on number of lux being over or less than threshold for certain time (to avoid clouds / reflexes) curtains closes or reopens again to get more light inside.
Also based on sunset hour (from weather api) + some additional minutes they closes on their own every damn day no matter if I have internet or not
In this way I could go away for a week or come back at 22 and know that I don’t see death of flora and Texas inside.
Additionally- flat is less likely to be visited by thieves as there is a “life” inside
Curtain I use is Aqara Zigbee Curtain (probably A1 -greyed one)
They can pull up to 50! kg of curtains.
Edit: I have also IKEA zigbee pilots linked to manually control them to set % of open as well as in Home Assistant.
Everything controlled only from home, not depending on Clouds and Xiaomi which decides that certain model of flood sensor or something else is no longer available in Europe or their severs are down for several hours up to few days and you have nothing you paid for.
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That’s a helluva lot of kit to draw the curtains. FFS people, use your hands!
Well, when a new Lutron motorized shade goes for just under $500 per window, this seems like a bargain.
Everything stored in cloud is not yours anymore. But devices controlled by the different clouds it’s a Game Changer
I lived in Indonesia for a decade and in total 15 years in the tropics, yes, plenty there, in the west most people have different window coverings now.
I myself have duet shades.