Home Window Shades Get Smart
16 August 2021
As Debbie and I continue our smart home planning, an area that hasn’t had a lot of attention is blinds and curtains. As the back of our house faces west, I was looking into automating the blinds to close through a routine or in reaction to ambient light, in order to stop glare, eliminate solar heating of our home (especially during the summer) and save energy.
Originally my plan was to speculatively run low voltage cabling through the attic and down the walls to the interior window frames. My reasoning behind that was that I wasn’t really satisfied with the battery powered options available. And that they were pretty siloed from a smart home integration perspective.
Then I discovered Somfy.
Somfy manufactures tubular motors for interior window coverings and exterior solar protections. They’ve also formed a new partnership with Samsung SmartThings. Using Somfy’s new TaHoma Gateway, Somfy-powered shading solutions can now be fully integrated into the smart home and controlled through the SmartThings application. And with SmartThings integration also comes Amazon Alexa control. But you can also always use the Somfy app on its own.
SmartThings connects and controls thousands of popular smart home devices across hundreds of brands, and with the addition of Somfy’s smart shading solutions, homeowners and residents can now control their shades, blinds and draperies from the same control system as their other connected smart devices.
Somfy-powered products will be “Works with SmartThings” certified, allowing users to seamlessly integrate Somfy into scenes and automations to work together with devices already within the SmartThings ecosystem.
The new compatibility between Somfy and Samsung SmartThings offers an easy and convenient way for homeowners to automate their shades and blinds from a single platform that already connects their home. Samsung SmartThings is known for improving accessibility and with the new integration, you can now automate and control Somfy motorized shades to create customized experiences and comfort at the touch of a button.
SmartThings’ mission is to make connected living simpler, accessible and easier for everyone. By adding Somfy into their ecosystem, they are making the home even more unified by offering homeowners the possibility to automate everyday tasks.
Key Features and Benefits
- One Master Control System: SmartThings improves smart home accessibility/usability by offering one convenient application to control and automate Somfy motorized shades and blinds along with other smart home devices.
- Natural Lighting Control: Choose to have shades, blinds and draperies open and close on demand or automate them.
- Energy Efficient Homes: Schedule shades to open during the warmest times of the day during winter and close during the hottest times of the day during summer to save on heating/cooling costs.
- Home Automation: Control multiple smart home devices simultaneously by creating a custom scene. With one command, a home can be ready for the next activity, be it waking up or going to bed, leaving the house or staying in and watching a movie.
This was an exciting discovery for our home planning. It’ll give is powered options for shading our home interior from the afternoon sun as well as our patio. I’ll be looking into this further along with other options and integrations, especially with smart thermostats, to trigger out of routine shade opening and closures. It’ll also make a nice routine as Debbie and I travel to give our home that “lived in” look. How else would you use a capability and automation like this? Let us know in the comments, email or DM. until next week …
In full disclosure, I’m not an affiliate marketer with links to any online retailer on my website. When people read what I’ve written about a particular product and then click on those links and buy something from the retailer, I earn nothing from the retailer. The links are strictly a convenience for my readers.
