Indoor BlindsCurtains
In April 2024 Somfy Released their latest range of Indoor Motor, Curtain Motors, Remote Controls and Tahoma Hub for use with products like motorised roller blinds. As a Somfy Expert, Stan Bond attended the Sydney launch event and here is a quick overview of the latest technology and what it all means for the future of Smart Home Integration.
What is Zigbee?
Zigbee technology is a game-changer in home automation. By allowing your smart devices to communicate effectively in a mesh network, Zigbee 3.0 ensures broader coverage and consistent performance without the worry of dead spots. Think of Zigbee as the near universal language that smart objects use to work together in harmony. The result? A well-connected and responsive home environment that supports a wide range of products and applications.
Introducing Somfy’s Smart Shading with Zigbee 3.0
Somfy’s Zigbee range supports bidirectional communication on compatible systems. Sharing a protocol name does not mean every motor, hub or device will work together; check the exact Australian motor and hub combination before ordering.
What is the Benefit
Key advantages that Somfy’s Zigbee-powered solutions offer include:
– Open and scalable control system designed to grow with your needs.
– Voice command capabilities, so your hands are never tied.
– The convenience of app-based centralized control, locally or remotely.
– Enhanced comfort and ambience control, made possible by custom scene schedules and timers.
– Bi-directional feedback and battery level monitoring, giving you real time updates and peace of mind.
A Blind Man View
So, let’s cut all the marketing speak and tech words. I’ll give you a Blindman’s opinion of what this all means.
Firstly, Somfy is a great motor producer. They produce really high-quality motors, and they’re recognized around the world as the premier supplier of motors. However, that has sometimes meant they have been a little staid and slow to introduce new technology, partly because of how important consistency, quality, and reliability were to them. Introducing Zigbee is, therefore, a big deal!
The key change is this – we are moving away from remote control technology, where the remote control sends a radio signal to put the blinds up or down, into the world of smart home ecosystems using Zigbee as the platform are used to send the ‘up/stop/down’ command.
Somfy is releasing four major elements:
- A motor with an integrated Zigbee chip, which means that it can receive and send signals on the Zigbee frequency and Zigbee protocol.
- A Zigbee set of remote controls, which send an up, down, or stop signal via that Zigbee frequency and Zigbee protocol.
- The Tahoma Hub, which acts as an interface for Zigbee Motors to be able to interact with the Internet. It acts as a connection between the Zigbee frequency and Zigbee protocol, which is operating your blinds, and the Somfy app.
- Upgraded consumer and installer apps for customers to be able to easily operate their blinds and for installers to be able to more easily set them up in the customer’s home.
Before ordering, confirm the exact motor model, protocol, regional hub version and supported platform. Ask which remote, app, bridge or accessories are required and which functions are supported in the proposed setup.
This is incredibly important because that’s what we’ve been waiting for: major motor brands with high-quality motors that have integrated a generic protocol and frequency to be able to operate our blinds from the infrastructure we already have.
App and voice control depend on the supported motor, hub and platform combination. Do not assume Apple, Google, Amazon or Home Assistant integration works with every Zigbee motor or without a compatible hub.
Zigbee vs Matter
Zigbee and Matter are different technologies. Future Matter or Thread support should be treated as unconfirmed until the manufacturer publishes support for the specific product.
How Much?
So the big question is obviously how much are these motors going cost?
The figures below are the April 2024 launch guide published in this article. They are not a current quote.
- Internal Roller Blind Sonesse Zigbee Motor – $525 inc (April 2024 guide)
- Internal Roller Blind Wirefree Sonesse Zigbee Motor – $760 inc (April 2024 guide)
Availability
This article describes the April 2024 release, including pre-order and display plans from that time. For motors available now, see motorised blinds in Adelaide and book a measure and quote.