3 NEW PRODUCT ACCOUNCEMENT!
After almost a year of requests we finally have our signature product, the Zebra Style of Shades is now available with the Virtual Cord Z-wave Motors.
Video of the Mezzanine and Overture Sheer without Z-wave motors. Videos with Z-wave will be up soonish:
Canada
Will be updated tomorrow.
Accessories
Not updated yet but will be available in 1 - 2 weeks time. Wall mounts for the additional remote will be available. The mount lets you install the remote on the wall like you would a switch. Pricing will be provided when available for purchase.
Launch Discounts on NEW PRODUCTS ONLY (Ends March 20, 2017) Save 18% when you configure and add the products to your shopping cart!
Additional Notes:
The sheer shades have a light gap, so please be aware that on all inside mount installations you are expecting atleast an 1" on each side for a total of 2". On outside mounts you should add atleast 2" on each side for proper overlap of the window opening.
Customers have reported pretty good lifetime with the Kirkland Alkaline batteries from Costco (We have personally never tested them). Good lithium ions should go for 6 - 12 months easy.
Has anyone had any luck using/controlling these blinds via HomeKit (by way of HomeBridge)? If so, feel free to share which plugin you used and your overall experience.
I tried the device handlers mentioned way up here, but I’m not sure how I would monitor remote/shade battery status with smartthings? I don’t see that mentioned in the properties for each device.
I have 4 Bali Autoview roller shades, a remote for each, and a 3-button remote for controlling all 4.
I apologize if this has been asked before, but is there any plan for a Z-Wave version of the skylight blinds? I know you can hook the current motorized ones in using a bridge, but I’d rather not deal with that. We’re still in the early stages of home automation and my wife isn’t completely sold so anything overly complicated will not go over well with her.
Happy to report I got my 5 shades installed this weekend! Had to jump over several hurdles along the way (most of my own making). Thought I’d share some tips customizations that have helped me thus far.
Shades initially paired as Z-Wave Switch Generic (not dimmer). This has been discussed at length in this thread. As suggested I went into the ST IDE and edited the devices to Z-Wave Dimmer Switch Generic.
Shades On/Off in ST was exactly opposite of what made sense to me. When fully UP they showed as On and fully DOWN they showed as Off. The FAQ sort of addresses this via this video. Unfortunately doing this caused my remotes to become switched around (RemoteUp sent Shades down and RemoteDown sent Shades up). However, it was more important to me to have ST working/reading logically than having the remote working logically.
Added ericvitale’s Z-Wave Shade device handler. Which added battery info and some other cool presets to standard Dimmer Switch config.
Discovered you could pair one Graber/Somfy remote to multiple shades (just repeat the secondary Z-Wave controller pairing sequence outlined here. A button/hardware solution is ideal for kids, grandparents, and quick smartphone-less interaction.
Lastly, I installed the device handler for the remotes and used the other four remotes and installed them throughout my house as light switches and another as a garage door opener.
Having @ZebraBlinds (Neal) as an avid ST community member makes all the difference in the world and therefore I highly recommend any of you considering SmartBlinds/SmartShades to go with @ZebraBlinds! I’m sure you’ll be more than satisfied.
It’s weird, the ones I have to play around with have mixed results in ST (some connect up as a switch by default while others a dimmer switch) and connects as a dimmer in Vera Plus.
The manufacturer and somfy considers them fully open as ON and fully closed as OFF and that’s how the shade is supposed to respond currently. As far as I am aware I’ve only had 2 requests in the past year and a half to have them reversed.
Yeah. I it makes sense looking at it from a brightness perspective. On equals (uncovered window) maximum sun brightness and Off equals (covered window) minimum brightness. But that just doesn’t flow with the way I think about my shades. In my head Off should equal the state my window is naturally – uncovered/unshaded and On should equal the new enhanced state of my window – covered/shaded. But I guess my preference is the outlier. I wonder how the Lutron Serena Shade/Blind device handlers work?
To my surprise my wife agrees with the manufacturer designation of On as Open and Off as Closed. So it’s official. I’m the weirdo. Nonetheless, I changed the Z-Wave Shade DTH to reflect my dyslexia. This very case perfectly illustrates what I love about SmartThings. A solid platform with nearly infinite possibilities to customize & personalize your smart home. Plus a brilliant community of like minded folk who offer guidance and share great ideas!
@ZebraBlinds, hey Guys, getting a bit overwhelmed with all the options etc. Do you guys offer pre-sale consultation for my project? i need help in understanding what to buy/get based on my requirements.
We don’t do in-home consultations but we do help our prior to purchase with walking you through options and narrowing down what might and might not work. You can contact our customer service from the number on the site Mon - Fri, 9 am - 6:30pm or if you want to speak to me just PM me on here with your number and a time you will be free and I’ll give you a call.
Are there lithium ion batteries or a 12V DC to micro-usb adapter? I tried connecting my generic 12V li-ion battery to one of my blinds, but it just turned on and didn’t accept commands. I’m guessing your battery packs communicate with the blinds somehow? The 8 AA battery packs are pretty annoying, since 2 of my alkaline battery packs already lost their charge in less than a month.
Lithium ion AA’s are available on amazon, but we’ve had pretty good results with a few 1.5v high capacity rechargeables as well. Costco’s kirkland alkalines with 1.5v has lasted us between 2 - 6 months (lots of varying factors). Lithium ions have gone for 6 - 12 months.
A plugin in transformer is available if you have a wall outlet closeby.
