Din-Mounted vs Wall-Mounted Blind Controls
In the world of relays, motor controllers and power supplies, there’s more to think about than what type of device you need. You also need to choose how you’re going to mount them.
Two of the most popular ways to do this are – on a DIN rail, or mounted directly to the wall.
There are benefits to both of these options depending on what you’re trying to achieve. With both options available from Umbra, which one is right for you?
What is a DIN rail?
A DIN rail is a standard metal rail used for mounting circuit breakers and industrial control equipment in equipment racks. A DIN rail is a standard size, meaning that any device with a compatible clip can be fixed to the rail.
The benefit of this standard size is that components from multiple manufacturers can all be mounted together. If every supplier had their own fixing brackets or clips, there wouldn’t be one compatible mounting rail suitable for every component.
What’s the benefit of using a DIN rail?
As we said, a DIN rail allows you to mount components from multiple suppliers onto one rail. This saves a lot of space in an electrical cabinet, with each device able to be fitted flush together on the rail and save space.
DIN rails are typically used within an electrical cabinet or cupboard, a safe and tidy option for electrical storage.
This also allows you to neatly hide away any cabling so that it’s organised and out of sight. If you have a large electrical cupboard with multiple DIN rails, this will be especially important.
What’s the alternative?
If you have just one device you need to mount, such as a motor controller, you may not need an entire DIN rail to mount it. In this case, you may want to consider wall-mounted devices.
Wall-mounted devices are typically screwed onto the wall and can be fitted anywhere, either on display or hidden out of sight.
In most cases, suppliers will offer both a DIN and wall-mounted option of the same device, depending on your preferred fixing method.
The benefit of wall-mounted devices is that they can be fixed anywhere. Unlike an electrical cupboard with a DIN rail that might take up a lot of space, a wall-mounted device can be fixed wherever you have space. This could be in the corner of the ceiling, behind a curtain, above the skirting board or anywhere else that’s not too obvious and intrusive.
One of the downsides of wall mounting is that there isn’t anywhere to hide the wiring. Depending on where you’re mounting them, this could be difficult to disguise.
Wall-mounted devices also tend to be bigger than the DIN-mounted equivalent, as they usually have an enclosure that allows for fixing to the wall.
So which option should you choose?
There’s no right or wrong answer – it all depends on your needs and requirements.
If you have multiple devices you plan to install, such as motor relays, lighting controls, home automation components, you might want to consider a DIN rail. This will allow you to fix them all neatly and save space.
However, if there’s just one device you need, such as your blind motor controller or your smart home hub, wall-mounting could take up less space. It can be fitted anywhere, and if you can tuck the wires away somewhere, can still be a very neat solution.
To find out more about which devices we offer, as well as which mounting option is best for you, get in touch