ᐅ Sun and Wind Sensors for Exterior Venetian Blinds and Roller Shutter Control

Hello everyone,

I am currently planning our new build, which recently started, and I am now focusing on the windows. Our garden faces south. Therefore, I would like to equip the ground floor windows overlooking the garden with two external venetian blinds (raffstores). We are using conventional electrical installation (no KNX or similar), but I would like to control at least the roller shutters throughout the house and the two venetian blinds via smartphone and be able to program them with certain rules. So far, I have been considering wireless solutions like Somfy or Fibraro.

Now I have a question regarding sun and wind sensors that are supposed to control the venetian blinds automatically. How would these be wired to flush-mounted relays from Somfy/Fibaro or similar? Or would a central control unit for the venetian blinds with a relay mounted on a DIN rail in the main distribution board be more practical? Ideally, I would also like the roller shutters to be controlled by the sun sensor.

Thank you in advance for your answers.

I obviously meant Shelly, not Somfy...

Somfy also offers devices that can make many of the features you want possible.

But regardless, nowadays many systems can be virtually connected through additional services like IFTTT, IObroker, or OpenHAB. Of course, you can also hardwire everything in the distribution board and install a weather station. That also works very well.

There are many ways to achieve your goal. It mainly depends on which additional functions you want beyond the basic wind sensor and a simple if-then rule for shading.

Brainstorming schrieb:

control via smartphone

This is usually more of a curse than a blessing and should not necessarily be considered essential. It is great for satisfying initial curiosity and boosting vendors’ sales.

What is important is that the whole system works as error-free as possible, and many of these "smartphone controls" still have significant shortcomings. Trust me, you don’t want to constantly take out your phone just to perform this or that action or because something is not working properly here and there.

What should definitely be asked about is the budget and which type of roller shutters or venetian blinds (motors and switches) will be installed, and whether you have any options there. This way you can narrow down where the project is heading.

Get a system that communicates wirelessly. This way, you can easily integrate and expand with wind sensors, sunlight sensors, and more.

I mainly use the smartphone control when I go to bed and want to lower all the blinds/shutters with one click.

Mycraft schrieb:

Somfy also offers devices that could make many of the features you want possible.

But anyway, nowadays a lot can be connected virtually through additional services like IFTTT, ioBroker, or OpenHAB. You can of course also hardwire everything in the distribution board and install a weather station. That works very well too.

There are many ways to reach the goal. It mainly depends on what additional functions you want beyond the basic wind sensor and a simple if-then shading rule.

Usually, these extras are more of a curse than a blessing and should not necessarily be considered essential. They are great for satisfying initial curiosity and boosting sellers’ revenues.

The important thing is that the whole system works as reliably as possible, and many of these “smartphone controls” still have significant shortcomings. Believe me, you don’t want to constantly take out your phone to operate something or because something is glitching here or there.

Another important consideration is the budget and which roller shutters or venetian blinds (motors and switches) are actually going to be installed and whether you have any choice in that. That way, you can narrow down where the journey is heading.

Thank you very much. You’re absolutely right about the smartphone, and Alessandro has also mentioned that I might only use the feature to lower all roller shutters/blinds before going to bed. That is exactly my intention. The wireless technology also appeals to me in principle.

Which solution would you tend to choose in my position? I’ve read several times that it’s possible to control such things with a Raspberry Pi. Since I enjoy tinkering and originally come from an electrical engineering background, I would definitely have fun with something like that.

When it comes to the budget, it really depends. For the entire control system, including sun and wind sensors, I would prefer not to spend more than 1000 euros.