ᐅ Control of the external venetian blinds / louvered shutters

Hello!

I am currently considering how to control the electric venetian blinds. On the ground floor, there are three facing south, and one in the upstairs bathroom.

A few features are important to me:
1. Automatic raising and lowering at sunrise and sunset.
2. Automatic heat protection. Ideally with at least two levels: Level 1 – blinds lower but still allow light through; Level 2 – blinds close completely.
3. If the patio door is open, the blinds should not lower automatically.
4. Programmable schedules.
5. Possibly controllable via web interface or app.
6. Potentially adjustable slat angle for fine tuning.
7. Automatic raising in case of strong wind.

Do systems like this exist? How can I implement this? I haven’t looked into home automation at all, since I didn’t really need it, but it would definitely be practical for the blinds.

Good luck,
daniels87

It doesn’t come cheap if you’re not planning a KNX system and want to implement everything comprehensively. There are control systems that offer similar functions, but they are quite expensive as well.

For me, it was too costly just for simple up/down control, so I implemented the following functions in a more traditional way:

1: Automatic raising and lowering at sunrise and sunset using an astronomical function.

2: Lowering based on sufficient sunlight (single-stage) via a sunlight sensor (centrally installed for the ground floor and first floor).

3: The shutters do not lower if the contact on either of the two patio doors shows the door is not locked (!!!), but they do go up regardless.

4: This is integrated into the central control unit.

5: I did not include this, as I consider it completely pointless—it usually stops being used after a short time.

6: I can finely adjust the shutters via a push button—either centrally or individually.

7: I have track-mounted shutters, which are quite resistant anyway. I initially omitted the contact because there is not much wind there. However, retrofitting this feature is possible at any time.

All of this runs on two GIRA central control units, two sunlight sensors (separate for ground and first floors due to a second central switch on the first floor), several wiring lines, and the corresponding push buttons (which unfortunately are not cheap either).

This setup cost me just over one thousand euros for the 3 shutters downstairs and 9 roller shutters upstairs.

I switched from KNX to Loxone because the total cost would stay under 1000€ (about 1100 USD). I will talk to the electrician to see if they could handle the whole installation for me.

Yesterday, KNX was not even a topic – and in general, I had no knowledge about it. Today, I am already familiar with Loxone and prices as well – interesting how quickly things can progress 😉.

Well, if it can’t be helped, what can you do.. 😉
A complete home automation system is not really the issue; it’s still about the venetian blinds.

The programming looks pretty straightforward to me with Loxone, hence the consideration.

What’s surprising is that the prices of the components are actually visible on the website?

I had already told you that it works this way as well 😉