Connecting Smart Home Systems to Dumb Motors vs Smart Motors
A home automation, or ‘Smart Home’, system is where household appliances and devices can be controlled remotely and automatically, usually via a control panel, touch screen or mobile app.
These systems can give the occupant control over functions such as security, temperature (i.e a thermostat), lighting, shading or devices such as TVs and smart plugs that control appliances.
The benefits of having a smart home are that it provides the occupant with convenience and cost savings compared to manual control.
Sequences can be set up in advance to suit your lifestyle and ensure that energy is used efficiently.
For example, bedrooms and living areas can be ‘zoned’ to provide different temperature levels at different times of the day. Lights can automatically turn off when a room is unoccupied; blinds can automatically open or close to help regulate internal heat and light levels.
According to this article there were 2.22 million Smart Homes in the UK in 2021, with over 66.44 million people owning at least one smart device.
As the popularity of smart homes continues to grow, more and more areas of the home are becoming compatible with these systems. Electric window blinds are just one industry that has seen an increase in home automation and has developed products to meet the demand.
There are a host of benefits of automating your shading, and multiple levels of automation that can be achieved depending on your smart home system.
When it comes to choosing a compatible blind motor to connect to your smart home system, there are two routes to go down: dumb motors or smart/digital motors.
What is the difference between dumb motors and smart motors?
As Harry explains in the video above, the main difference is that dumb motors can only receive commands from a control e.g. a smart home system, whereas a smart motor can feedback to the system also.
So how does this affect how they work with a smart home system?
Connecting a dumb motor
Dumb motors are a simple and reliable solution that are commonly used. A dumb motor is any motor that can’t feedback information to a control or system. This includes Somfy WT and RTS motors, Vestamatic MM and ME motors and more. Whilst these motors can be easily connected to most smart home systems, the amount of features and functionality you get is limited.
Dumb motors are usually connected through a motor relay to the smart home system. This means that all of the motors connected to the relay will be controlled as a group. If you decided in the future that you wanted to operate one of the blinds individually, you would have to physically go in and change the wiring.
Dumb motors tend to only have a top and bottom stop position and occasionally one intermediate stop position. Your smart home system can tell the motor to move to any of these pre-set positions, but the system won’t have any way of knowing if the blind has done it. This means the smart home system doesn’t know if the blind is open or closed before you perform a new command.
Connecting a smart motor
Smart motors, also known as digital motors, are more advanced and offer additional functionality over a dumb motor. Smart motors can feedback to the smart home system about their position. Smart motors can also have multiple intermediate stop positions.
For example, you could send a command to the smart home system to lower all the blinds to 33% open, and the smart motors will be able to do that. The smart home system will also know that the blinds have reached that position.
Smart motors also have the benefit of being able to perfectly align the hembars. This could be very important in a home that has a run of windows on one wall, all with individual blinds. With hembar alignment, you can have all the blinds travel together and reach the exact same stop position so that the blinds always look neat and tidy.
A huge advantage of using smart motors is that they are future-proofed if you ever wanted to change the groupings. Unlike dumb motors where the grouping is decided by the physical wiring into the relay, smart motors use a digital network. Therefore, if you ever wanted to control a blind individually that was in a group, all you would need to do is change this on the software.
Smart motors can also send maintenance and diagnostic information back to the central control system which helps with preventative maintenance e.g., electrical current being used, the running temperature of the motor, number of cycles performed etc. Any data outside of the usual data range can provide early warnings of an issue.
Should you always use a smart motor?
Whether or not a dumb motor or a smart motor is the right choice for you is entirely up to your individual needs, budget and expectations.
If you are looking to use a simple smart home system such as Somfy’s TaHoma you don’t need anything more elaborate than a Somfy RTS motor. The Tahoma will allow you to operate your blinds remotely via the app, set up scenes and sequences so your blinds will operate automatically, and allows you to connect your blinds with other devices such as Amazon Alexa or Phillips Hue.
But if you want a system that is a bit more future-proof, you may want to consider smart motors. The ability to change the way the blinds are controlled using just the software means you can easily adjust your shading to suit you as your requirements change.
Also, the benefit of multiple intermediate stop positions means your shading can be adjusted much more precisely, giving you more control over the amount of light you let into the room.
Still not sure which motor is best for you? Or do you want more information on the different smart home systems available? Check out our other blogs for more information:
Or get in touch with us! We work with all major motor manufacturers and are experts in motorisation and automation, so we can give you unbiased, expert information to help you make the right choice: