Somfy Shades

[indypicks]

I just wanted to share my recent experience with Somfy Shades with the z-wave interface.

We recently purchased 10 motorized roller shades from Bali Blinds that use Somfy motors and controllers. Somfy has its own proprietary RF technology and I think they may also offer IR. I had to purchase a z-wave to Somfy interface to control them with the 2gig panel. The Z-wave interface was pretty easy to add to the panel - each Somfy RF channel has a corresponding virtual z-wave node that gets paired to the panel. That took just a minute to setup. Then I had to pair each of the interface's RF channels with the shade motors by pressing the recessed programming button on each shade, then pressing a button on the interface to link it to the channel I wanted to use.

One limitation (that I knew of before I started) is that the 2gig panel can only set the shade all the way up or all the way down. I didn't mind this limitation too much because I only intended to use the z-wave integration to put all of the shades down when the alarm is set to away or when it is set to stay after 8pm. The device shows up like a dimmer switch but setting the shade to 50% doesn't do anything. I hope that will change in the future but it isn't a big deal now.

Overall, we're happy with the shades but it was very expensive to do and might not be worth it unless you have tall windows like we do. We're happy with the appearance too. They are completely hidden behind the small valence when they're all the way up. Our old shades took up quite a bit of window space when they were all the way up. The primary irritation point is that they can't be operated manually which I did not know when I purchased them. You must use the remote controller or z-wave to operate them. There isn't any way to pull them down by hand or a button to press on the motor to operate them.

I know there is some cloud to cloud integration between alarm.com and Lutron but I wasn't able to find any reviews of that experience when I began shopping for shades. That may be an easier route for people who don't want to mess with the z-wave integration.

I hope this post is helpful for anyone considering motorized shades.

[MARK]

I'm looking at doing a similar install but using the same somfy controller with 2" blinds instead of shades. Now since the go control will only set a value of 0-100% (fully down or all the way up) do you think that will mean the blinds will change from all the way closed to just all the way closed in the opposite direction? I only want them to open to see through them when alarm is disarmed then when armed close the up fully.

[indypicks]

I think it will work fine. You will set the limits of the motor before you begin to open and close them. If you have the limits set correctly, the receiver will always open when you turn it on and always close when you turn it off. You'll need a single or multi-channel somfy remote to set the limits. I don't think it can be done with the z-wave controller. Good luck!