Windows and Coverings

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Four quite different products sit under this heading, and buying the wrong one is the usual mistake:

• Motorised blinds and shades — a roller, Venetian or honeycomb blind with a motor in the tube. Usually made to measure.
• Curtain motors — a motor that drives an existing or new curtain track, so the curtains you have keep hanging where they are.
• Roller shutter controllers — for houses that already have electric roller shutters and want them in the Home app.
• Window openers — the ones that actually open a window. Roof windows mostly, where a rain sensor closing the skylight while you are out is the entire point.

Everything else follows from which of those you are buying, because this is a fitting problem rather than a software one. Measure first.

What we would buy

Blinds, without a bridge: Eve MotionBlinds

Eve MotionBlinds joins over Thread, with Bluetooth for setup, and needs no manufacturer bridge and no account — which in a category full of proprietary hubs is unusual and worth paying for. It carries a motion sensor of its own, and it takes schedules and scenes like any other Apple Home accessory.

Check price on Amazon UK

Shutters you already have: Meross Smart Roller Shutter Timer

If the house came with electric roller shutters, you do not need new shutters. The Meross Smart Roller Shutter Timer puts the ones you have into the Home app over Wi-Fi, with no hub, so they open on a schedule and close in a scene like everything else.

Check price on Amazon UK

Curtains you already have: Zemismart curtain motor

The Zemismart Smart Electric Curtain Motor drives a curtain track rather than replacing the curtains, and Zemismart rates it under 40dB — which matters more than it sounds, because the thing most likely to make you regret motorised curtains is being woken by them.

Check price on Amazon UK

A HomeKit window opener, properly: VELUX ACTIVE with NETATMO

A window opener is not a garage door opener, and not a blind. It is the thing that swings the window itself open, which on most British houses means a roof window. If you are here after searching for one, this is the section you want — and if you actually meant the door on the garage, that is garage door openers.

VELUX ACTIVE with NETATMO is the answer to “HomeKit window opener” for roof windows. It opens and closes VELUX skylights, and its weather sensor closes them without being asked. That last behaviour is the reason to buy it, and it is not something a blind can do for you.

It is not sold as a kit on Amazon UK — searching finds the indoor climate sensor on its own — so buy it through VELUX. For side-hung and casement windows on the continent, iDiamant with Netatmo covers Bubendorff radio shutters through a gateway.

Made-to-measure systems

Serena Motorised Shades by Lutron and Hunter Douglas PowerView are the specified, whole-house options: shades cut to your windows, driven through the manufacturer’s own bridge. They are bought through a dealer with a fitter, not through a checkout, and they are the right answer for a house full of awkward windows.

What to check before you order

Retrofit or replace. A motor for a track or a tube is a fraction of the price of new made-to-measure blinds. Work out which one your window actually needs before you look at prices, because the two are not comparable.

Does it need the manufacturer’s bridge? Several systems here do — the comparison table below has a “hub required” column, and it is the difference between one purchase and two.

How it is powered. Blind motors come as mains, rechargeable battery or solar. Battery blinds need taking down to charge unless there is a solar panel or a socket near the window, and a first-floor bay is not a fun place to do that twice a year.

Wiring, for shutters. Anything that replaces a switch in a wall is electrical work. Know whether you are hiring someone before you order.

Noise, in bedrooms. A blind that opens at sunrise is one of the genuinely good smart home automations, and a loud motor turns it into an alarm clock nobody asked for.

The full list of HomeKit-compatible blinds, shutters, curtain motors and window openers is below.