Remote control blinds

I’ve had remote blinds for quite a while over a couple of new builds. You feel like a maestro when you press that button and they all rise in unison.

There are battery operated ones you can have installed. Easy.

 

i'll be able to give feedback when they finally install them next week

it's really up to you whether you want one remote or many. we decided to get separate remotes for each of the bedrooms, so you don't have to fight/search for the remote in the middle of the night, and a common remote for few of the other windows where having to share remote isn't a big deal

 

Kresta. They were done as part of the order for the whole house.

Not sure on the price of adding motors, as the invoice just shows total per window and I don't remember what they quoted at the time. No wifi connectivity according to spec sheet they sent us.

 

More stuff to confuse tenants and break. Some may have poor quality ? ie Kogan. Then connecting to power and running power cords v rechargeable and the PITA issues that will create ? Some seem to have multi channel so you can share a channel (range ??) or have individual control etc. Cant say I have found open / closing blinds a task that needs a solution. Some dont integrate with the home devices but have their own app. eg Tuiss = Smartview. Probably bluetooth

 

I think a lot of the 'smart house' stuff is unnecessary, or it's got a long way to go before I'd bother again.

We had Osram smart switches installed for all of our lights when we built our house a few years ago. It all works on Bluetooth low energy.

The problem is if you're not in the room, it doesn't connect to your device (phone). Even when you are in the room you need to log in, open the app, wait for the specific switch to connect, select the switch, wait for it to sync, turn it on or off. By the time you go through all that, you could have walked to the switch and pushed it manually. It doesn't connect to Google Home or Alexa at all (despite advertising otherwise). The system cost a few thousand extra for the smart switches.

We've also got Samsung smat TVs and a few other connected Samsung appliances. Using the remote is so much easier than using the app or trying to integrate it with Google or Alexa. Turns out controlling your washing machine via an app is pretty pointless until they have a robot to load it from the washing basket.

Perhaps we made a mistake using Osram, but the builder didn't give us any choice in this. I recall there were some constraints with the electrician at the time.

What I do like is that we had Cat-5 cable installed throughout the house. Wifi is fine for the portable devices, but for fixed divice hard wiring is so much better.

 

Apparently my previous response was incorrect. The installer told me today that we can get a hub, which allows remote control via phone or smart home integration.

Their website also mentions that:

• Selected Kresta products can be integrated with home smart wiring to co-ordinate all windows, shutters, blinds, lighting and security.

Electric Roller Blinds | Kresta Australia

I also now know what remotes we've ordered. It was an individual remote for every bedroom where we have put channeled rollers, and then a multi-channel remote to control 6 other roller blinds around the house (and it can do all of the channels at once as well)