ᐅ Smart Home Roller Shutters / Venetian Blinds with Conventional Electrical Systems

Hello everyone,

we are nearing the completion of the detailed planning phase and the start of construction. I’ve already gone through the whole “I want everything until I want nothing” phase regarding smart home features. By now, I would simply like to be able to operate the roller shutters and blinds via an app.

Here are the requirements:

• Wired switches
• Central switch for scenes
• Control via app / possibly also remotely
• Wind sensor is not necessary; I would prefer to control that remotely if needed. At work, this is handled with KNX, but it’s rather unsatisfactory (the shutters keep going up and down, etc.)
• I’m not keen on “old-fashioned” controls like small displays or astro timers

What options are currently under consideration?
So far, it looks like only the Gira System 3000 with a Bluetooth module (remote control would then be difficult) is a candidate, or alternatively adding Shelly or flush-mounted actuators (e.g., Bosch, etc.).

I’ve already read and researched pretty much everything about KNX, Loxone, Hager Easy, Homematic, Somfy radio, Zigbee, Z-Wave, and similar systems. Somehow, I seem to be missing something simple or haven’t yet seen a solution that covers the above requirements.

What else is out there, or what would you recommend? Does anyone know the Gira System 3000?

Thanks very much for your experience and advice!

Then I'll just throw Shelly into the discussion.

allstar83 schrieb:

By now, I would just like to be able to control the roller shutters and venetian blinds via an app.

You probably only like the idea. Because I honestly don’t know anyone who continues doing that after the initial excitement. Or is it mainly about having a unified control on a higher level? But even that might end up working like it does for you at the office.

I’ll quote (with some modifications):

untergasse43 schrieb:

And then every time you want to operate your roller shutters or venetian blinds, you have to find your smartphone, unlock it, launch the app, let the app connect, and then hope there’s no update disrupting things?

gmt94 schrieb:

Then I'll just throw Shelly into the mix

The best setup would probably be: one Shelly 1 central switch for scenes in the living room, and all six living room roller shutters/blinds controlled individually by flush-mounted Shelly 2.5 devices, right? The Shelly material costs at around €100 (about $110) are really quite low.

As far as I know, the Bosch system still requires a central gateway. I find that a bit inconvenient because you could end up with multiple gateways from different manufacturers. Otherwise, Bosch smart home devices are now also HomeKit-certified (if you are an Apple user). If you want to use other Bosch components anyway, that is not a problem.

Shelly devices are affordable flush-mounted actuators and can also be integrated into HomeKit, but as far as I know, they are not officially HomeKit-certified. If that is incorrect, someone can correct me.

I will be using the new Eltako series 64 myself. These are also slim flush-mounted actuators that include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and EnOcean modules and are officially HomeKit-certified. This allows me both to create automations/scenes via an app and to place a wireless push button anywhere using the EnOcean radio, for example, to control several blinds at once. However, since the delivery will only start early next year, I will have to have the electrician come again.

Yes, that’s one way to do it. I’m running Homematic on a Raspberry Pi alongside all my Shelly devices.

If you want to take it a step further, you can get a second Raspberry Pi and install ioBroker on it. After that, there’s almost nothing you can’t do.