ControlThink Forums

Mike,

I just received a call from Michelle at Skandia.  She is their ZWave specialist, and says that all Techniku product, including the cellular shades will be available with ZWave.  Skandia's goal is to launch the ZWave product line on October 1st.

My particular interest has been the 2-inch horizontal product, as that is what I currently have in my home.  I'm sorry that I have neglected the other products in my investigation.

By the way, Michelle says a ZWave retrofit kit will also be available for motorizing existing 2-inch horizontal blinds.

Also, according to Michelle, the ZWave motor interface will be mounted externally, at least for the 2-inch horizontals.  She suggests hiding the interface behind a valence.

 

I actually did become a dealer for Skandia but I have not yet placed an order. I was told that they would work with me to get a Z-Wave enabled window covering. Two things have been holding me back from taking them up on their offer. 1) I just recently purchased a new french door which is where I want to install the covering. So until now I did not know the exact size I would need. 2) After installing the door I have the little issue of figuring out a) How to measure the door properly for the correct sized coverings and b) I need to figure out what I am going to do for power to the coverings. Both doors open so the best option would be battery powered. Otherwise I will have wires crossing the hinged portion of my doors which will make it unsightly.

 

Squintz:

the best option would be battery powered

 

I've been focusing on tilt motors rather than lift motors and have found that the Skandia/Techniku TH950 tilt motor can be battery-powered, and so can this tilt motor kit from Somfy.  Unfortunately, a ZWave motor controller using the 300-series chip is not yet available.

I don't know if Techniku's lift motors can be battery-powered.

It seems that there should be some sort of spring-loaded contact or brush pickup that could be mounted in your door frame to electrify the door when closed.

Edit:

Something like this gives me the idea for electrifying a French door.  Maybe a couple of energized ball catches mounted side by side.  Shouldn't be a problem for low voltage, low current, but why stop there...lets run high voltage to the doorknob.
 

any news on this?

ESI recently added the DBMZ Z-Wave DC motor control to their catalog.

thanks, i have been in touch with Draper who also has a solution.

 

syner:

i have been in touch with Draper ...

 They might be using the same ESI controller.

 They've got motorized projection screens and projector lifts too, but this quote about their shades sounds expensive:  "Every Draper shade is custom made."

From Draper 

 I am looking for a solid z-wave motorized shade solution.  My questions are as follows: Q1.      Which type of motor is best for a particular situation?2.      What z-wave HA software has your bridge been tested on?  What command class does it fall under?  Has it been used with any handheld remotes?3.      Can I use the z-wave bridge and motor for other uses – say I want to automate the opening and closing of vents/returns.4.     

 

A

 

 

1. You can use with our standard motor or standard quite motor
2. Our z-wave controls have only been used with z-wave remotes form Intermatic (we sell but so does home depot). Since Z-wave is an open protocol, then I would think that all remotes would be compatible.
3. Our control is design to operate any 4 wire motor which has limit positions.

basic motor link http://www.draperinc.com/window_shade_pages/motoroptions_flexshades.htm 

C047.158 - quiet motor part # price?

C156.103 is the Z wave part, $195 ea.

Motorized sample shade is $150 for development and testing

 

bear with me on the shade pricing.  i have no clue how much motorized shades typically go for.   if anyone knows and could post i would appreciate it.

 

 

 

 

Skandia has posted a price list of various motorization options for 2-inch horizontal blinds.  They've got three different Z-Wave options, with the least expensive being $311 for just the motor, Z-Wave module, and adapter cables.  The actual blind will cost you extra.

thanks for posting the list.  good info

 

pricing from draper with motor: 

 

Which motor is the quiet motor?

 

It is #C047.158 and is standard in all motorized shades in the Dec 1 2007 AV/HT price book.  If you have the Draper Flexshade Systems price book it is a $100.00 add.

 

            motor 100

z-wave bridge 195

               total 295

 

seems the parts are similar in price.  my question becomes the actual pricing on the shades/blinds.  the ones on this end are pretty expensive at least as far as i am concerned although i have very little experience purchasing motorized shades.

 

also draper has a motorized shade sample for testing purposes at $150.  does skandia have one that you know of?

 

 

 

syner:

...does skandia have one that you know of?

 

 

I haven't looked into pricing on new blinds.  I've been focusing on retrofitting the existing blinds, which are almost new in this house.  Skandia will retrofit blinds for you, but my local Skandia supplier says she will work with me on purchasing the motorization kits so that I can do the retrofit myself.  It will be silly to slap a 300-dollar motor on a 75-dollar blind, but new blinds are probably out of the question.

 

I plan to convert just two blinds for now.  That will provide light for the houseplants when I'm on vacation.  I'll just put all the houseplants in that one room.

 

Other reasons for installing automated blinds:

 

1.  Make your house look lived-in.  (not an issue in my neighborhood because everyone leaves their blinds closed all the time anyway - what are they doing in there?)

2.  Get rid of the dangerous, dangling cords.  (not an issue, no kids or pets here)

3.  Wake up the house while grandma stays in bed (we're not that old yet)

4.  Save you the trouble of doing all the blinds manually (only an issue if you have a lot of blinds)

5.  Control blinds that are difficult to reach

6.  Avoid the damage that occurs when you yank the cords too hard and pull the whole thing out of the window frame (this really happened, and is my primary motivation)

7.  Impress your friends (hopefully we've outgrown that need)

8.  Save energy by closing the blinds as the sun hits different parts of the house (how about just leaving your blinds closed all the time?)

 

what are you going to use to control them via z-wave?  thinkessentials? any handheld remote?

 I met Nicole Lauer at the Z-Wave booth.  I asked why the display blind had both an IRDA and a Z-Wave interface.  She said on blinds that raise and lower such as this, it is easier to teach the limits with the IR remote.  She said you can remove the IR interface when you're done teaching.  She said if you are doing tilt control instead of up/down you wouldn't need the IR.  The motor has two serial connections and one dry contact.  The Z-Wave dongle was plugged into one of the serial ports.

I was surprised at how tiny the Z-Wave dongle is.  Clearly this is different than ESI's interface.  There's no motor control or load sensing in this interface.  It won't be too difficult to hide this one.

As we waited in line outside the Lutron house we looked in the windows and could see an ugly mass of at least 8 wires going to each blind.  The Techniku install was much cleaner.

On the downside, the Tecniku blind is about $600 without the motor.

I'll just control the blinds in my plant room from a timer in my master remote.  I don't think I need any of that fancy sun-tracking and outdoor weather consideration yet.

We'll probably do a home-run from each blind back to a fused wiring panel and shared DC supply.

Hi

I am new to a lot of the z-wave stuff but have been dealing with blinds for over 13 years both manual and motorized.

I have recently started offering the Lagotek z-wave system as an add on to my blinds due to the controls they are developing.

I would say this:

anything from Hunter Douglas will be at a premium

Esi stuff rocks but it is all home run and iirc the only wood blind controls will require a lift and tilt ac solution with the Somfycts system which while I have re-used the slats and bottom rail you will need a new headrail to acomodate the lift tilt mech and a motor that wholesales around $200.00

Skandia is a great company in fact they are our second best selling products I had not even heard about them working with techniku and would guess they are still a little wary. the only battery tilter I would use is the th950 and even then I'd be conservative on the size and only use it on true wood blinds

the blind you are showing from ces is a Treanna shade which would definately be the high end of the price range so don't take that as a true guideline.

I would say that the prices you are showing are retail and any dealer would most likely discount them by at least 10% depending on what Skandia is offering for discounts and incentives.

 

 in regards to retrofitting a motor in it is pretty simple but there are a couple things to consider

 

check the distance from the edge of the "saddle" that the ladder goes into in the headrail to the end of the blind and make sure you physically have room to add the motor and tilt rod adapter. the battery pack and z-wave module can sit in the headrail between the saddles, also the headrail profile and tilt rod style need to be considered in doing the retrofit to assure the correct motorframe and tiltrod adapter selection

feel free to contact me  with questions and I will see what I can do on pricing for you too.

my username at cableone.net

Travis