I used to think that automating curtains and
blinds was an absolute gimmick. But then I was sitting in the lounge room
one evening as the sun was setting and my automation to start fading on the lights kicked
in. I found myself thinking - wouldn’t it be
great if my curtains and blinds closed automatically at the same time? It is great…. It’s not a gimmick. In this video I’ll show you how you can
automate opening your existing blinds with this Zemismart Zigbee Blind Controller and
your curtains with this Switchbot smart curtain controller. I’ve been using these for a few weeks now
so I will share the pros and cons that I’ve experienced and finally I’ll show you how
you can connect these into your Home Assistant and show you how I’ve made some of my favourite
automations. Let’s start with the Zemismart Zigbee Blind
controller. This is simply a white-labelled Tuya blind
controller which means you can find dozens of different brand names rebadging the exact
same looking product. I’ve not used any of these other brands,
but I am sure they look, behave and function the exact same way. This model is designed for the roller blinds
I have that are opened and closed with a chain, but there are many different types of controllers
out there for different types of blinds including Venetian and vertical blinds. I paid 60 US dollars for the controller and
in the box I received the curtain motor, a charging cable, mounting screws and a few
different gears that you can swap in and out to work with the type of chain that you have
on your blind. I had a plastic chain on my blind originally
and it didn’t work well with any of the attachments, so I replaced the chain with
this infinite metal loop chain that I bought on Amazon. It’s worked flawlessly since then. This device has some really cool features. Firstly, it’s really simple to install. You just find the attachment that works best
with your blind, find a good position to mount it and I stuck it to the wall with double-sided
tape. Secondly, it has a rechargeable battery which
means you don’t need any wires permanently attached to your window frame. I’ve been using this for a couple of months
already on a single charge. When it does come time to charge it up you
can just plug the included cable into the bottom and charge it with a USB charger, then
pack it away once it’s full. Thirdly, it uses Zigbee which means all the
communication remains local in my house, I don’t need any cloud accounts, I can connect
it directly to Home Assistant and it responds instantly when I ask it to open or close. The device has some bad points too. Firstly, the instruction manual is absolute
garbage. It took me a long time to figure out how to
calibrate the motor so it knew where the top and bottom positions were. Secondly, it’s quite a bulky and looks ugly
on the window frame. I get that it needs to house a motor and a
long lasting battery, but I would prefer it to be nicer looking. You might be able to hide it behind the blind,
but that only works when it is closed. Thirdly, it only really works when you can
mount it parallel to the chain like this. If you try and mount it sideways, which I
would have for these windows here, it doesn’t work at all and keeps slipping and getting
caught up in itself - which is quite a shame. Overall, it’s a pretty decent device and
I would recommend it if you want to motorise existing blinds that you already have in your
home. This is perfect for me as I’m renting this
house, but if I owned my own house I’d probably spend a little extra and buy new blinds that
had the motor physically within the roller itself so it looked nicer. Adding it to Home Assistant is as simple as
adding any other Zigbee device, you just have to pair them together. I use Zigbee2MQTT and it was immediately detected
as a cover device. In Home Assistant curtains, blinds and garage
doors are considered covers because they cover the window… or car hole. I’ve also tested it with ZHA and it worked
with that integration as well. Cover devices can be controlled in Home Assistant
with the two up and down buttons, which raise and lower the blind, and then you can set
a specific position between 0 and 100. 100 is fully opened, 0 is fully closed and
50 is half way. I’ll show you how to use the blinds in Home
Assistant automation in a couple of minutes, but first let’s take a look at the SwitchBot
curtain controller. SwitchBot were kind enough to send me this
curtain opener free of charge to test out on my channel - thank you SwitchBot. This model is designed for a curtain mounted
on a curtain rod, but they also have versions for U-Rai and I-Rail curtains as well. At the time of recording they cost £65 - which
is about 90 US dollars. In the box you get the curtain motor itself,
a wide range of clips, stickers and tape that help you adjust the curtain so that it opens
and closes smoothly, and a USB charging cable. I’ve only been using this for a couple of
weeks right now, but it has some great features. Firstly, it’s really easy to install. The instruction manual is really clear and
the app has a setup wizard that made calibration a breeze. Once you pair it with the app it asks you
some questions about the type of curtain that you have, and guides you through the setup
and calibration process. Once it’s finished you can start using it
immediately. It is also hidden out of sight behind the
curtain itself, so it’s not an eyesore like the blind motor. Secondly, it’s battery-powered and rechargeable,
so there are no cables that need to be run. If you need to charge it up, you can just
unclip it from the curtain rod and plug it in for a few hours. For an extra £20, or 30 US Dollars, you can
buy this solar panel attachment that can be attached to the back of the device and charges
the battery from the sun. That’s super cool. Thirdly, it has a great feature where if you
pull on the curtain to close it manually, it will detect this and finish the job for
you. The problem with the smart blind motor earlier
is that you have to use the motor to control it which makes it annoying for visitors or
guests who are used to doing these things the old fashioned way. This feature on the curtain motor is a really
nice touch. There are a few things that could be improved
on it though. Firstly, it’s slow to respond when you ask
the app or your favourite voice assistant to close the curtains. I counted a 10 second delay between asking
it to close and it actually moving the curtain. It’s not really a problem if you’re using
it for automations that are triggered by time or specific events, but it’s really obvious
when you click the app to open the curtain and just sit there staring at it doing nothing
for 10 seconds. Secondly, you need to create a SwitchBot account
to add a device to the app. I prefer to own devices that do not need a
cloud account or internet connection to work. But once it’s added to the app and calibrated,
the curtain can be controlled using Bluetooth Low Energy so there is local control available. It can also be controlled remotely if you
buy an extra SwitchBot Mini Hub. Thirdly, it’s not that powerful. It can be a bit squeaky and whiney if it’s
struggling to move a big heavy curtain. I was really disappointed with it when I first
installed it as it could barely open the curtain. Then I actually read the instruction booklet
and realised that all those clips and tape that were in the box were designed to reduce
the friction from the curtain and once I properly installed them it opens a lot smoother and
struggles less. Overall, it’s a really good device and I
would recommend it if you want to motorise curtains in your house. It’s really discrete as it hides behind
the curtain itself and doesn’t require you to make any modifications to the curtain rod
or anything else. Which again is perfect for me as I’m renting
this house Adding it to Home Assistant was really easy
as there is a native SwitchBot integration. The integration requires you to have a working
Bluetooth radio connected to Home Assistant, but if you’re running Home Assistant on
a Rasberry Pi, Home Assistant Blue or Amber, then you’ve likely already got one of those. If not, you can purchase a USB Bluetooth adaptor
for about £10. Also be aware that whilst Bluetooth has a
theoretical range of 100m, this will be reduced by walls or other things in your house so
your curtains can’t be too far away from your Home Assistant. On the plus side, the reliance on Bluetooth
means that you can open and close your curtains without relying on the cloud or internet. To add the curtain controller to Home Assistant,
add the SwitchBot integration and it will scan for any devices nearby. This will then show you the BlueTooth mac
addresses of any devices that it finds. Give the device a name and leave the password
field blank, unless you’ve set a password on the bot itself. This will add the device to your Home Assistant
and create the right entities. You can see here that it has also been added
as a cover entity and works exactly the same was as the blind motors I showed you before. So now we have automated curtains and automated
blinds. What can we do with them? You can always use the app, or voice assistant
to open and close the blinds. This is really useful if you have reduced
mobility or if you’re just lazy like me and want to open the blinds without getting
out of bed. I’ve also paired this Hue Dimmer Switch
with Home Assistant and stuck it to the wall next to the bed. When I press the up button, it opens the blind. When I press down, it closes the blind. And when I press off, it stops opening or
closing the blind. This is done with a home assistant automation
that has multiple triggers, one for each of the buttons I am using, each one with their
own triggerID. The action then uses a Chooser that looks
at which button was pressed based on the TriggerID and calls the cover.open, cover.close or cover.stop
service accordingly. If you want more information about this automation,
or any of the other automations that I talk about in this video, then check out the blog
post that I’ve linked in the description below. I create a blog post for every automation
video that I produce with detailed information so you can recreate the automations in your
own smart home without having to constantly pause and restart the video. I’ve now added the curtains and blinds to
my various sunset and morning automations as well. Each evening, 10 minutes before the sun is
due to set, I have an automation that closes the bedroom blinds and, if we’re home, turns
on a light behind the bed. The automation is triggered by the Sun trigger,
with a minus 10 minute offset. I use a device action to set the blind position
to 0, which is fully closed. A condition action then checks to see if we’re
home or not, and if we are, calls the light.turn on service to fade the lights on over 10 seconds
to 80 percent brightness. There’s a similar automation that does this
in the office as well, whilst turning the desk lights on. I also want some of the curtains and blinds
to open in the morning, so that when I come out into the living room or into the office
they are already open. This is a pretty simple automation that is
triggered by a time trigger each morning at 7am. I don’t have any conditions set for this,
as I want the curtains to open and close regardless of whether I am home or not. This might improve home security as it helps
it look like someone is home, even if we’re on holidays. The action then sets the position of both
sides of the curtain to 100, which is fully opened. You could set a similar automation like this
to get triggered for the bedroom blind to slowly open up in the morning. A lot of people don’t know this, but if
you use your mobile phone as an alarm clock, and have the Home Assistant mobile application
installed, you can actually use the time of your next alarm in Home Assistant. Here’s an automation that is triggered by
this complicated template sensor. If you want more information about how this
template sensor works, check out the blog post I’ve linked in the description below. The template sensor compares the current time
with the time of the alarm. If it’s 10 minutes past the time the alarm
went off then this automation will trigger. A condition makes sure that the automation
only continues if I’m actually at home. I don’t want the blinds randomly opening
up if my partner is asleep at home and I’m away on a business trip or holiday. That would not go down well. The action of the automation opens the blind
a quarter of the way and waits for 10 more minutes before opening the blind to half way. This way natural light starts flowing into
the house, making it easier to wake up in the morning. You could use this automation to also start
playing your favourite music on the bedroom speaker or anything that you want to happen
as part of your morning routine - but that is the topic of another video. My final automation closes the curtains in
the living room when the TV is turned on. This is because the glare from the sun makes
it really hard to see the TV during the day. If I turn the TV on at night then the curtains
should already be closed, so it won’t do anything. This one is another simple automation that
is triggered when the living room TV goes from the off state to the on state. I’m able to detect this as I have an LG
TV that is connected directly to Home Assistant, so I can easily detect this. If you want more information about this, I
did a whole video about my TV integration and automations, which I’ve linked in the
description below. The automation then simply fully closes both
the curtains. I’ve been using these devices and automations
for a few weeks now and I have to say, I no longer think they are a gimmick. There’s just something magical about it
getting dark outside and having the house automatically respond to that by closing the
blinds and turning on the lights without any intervention from you. Home automation, when done well, feels really
natural. If you want to live in a magical house like
me, then you should check out these other videos I made about the home automations I
use. If you found this video useful, then please
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