Basic question regarding blinds control and Z-Wave

Situation: I would like to equip two mechanical blinds in the roof with a motor and then be able to control them both via a mechanical button and via HA. However, the blinds are quite far away from the HA server (three false ceilings with strong attenuation), WLAN in the house is not available at night, for example. So far I have not integrated any devices via Z-Wave or ZigBee, only by MQTT.

Planning:

  • Install roller shutter motor
  • Connect a Technisat switch (Z-Wave repeater capable, see here)
  • Expand HA with the Aeotec Z-Stick and integrate Z-Wave JS in HA.

My questions:

  1. Are there basically better solutions for this?
  2. How can I increase the range of Z-Wave? Do I maybe need a Raspberry closer to the blinds as a Z-Wave server?

Thanks for all the advice!!! Unfortunately, to my astonishment, I couldn’t find a helpful thread on blind controls.

Zwave is a mesh network.

It is as good, as it is big, in the basics.

Almost every grid connected device is also a router.

So, if the blinds are to far away, you need to place grid connected device’s in between. Switchable outlet plugs, wall switches, dimmers, al of that will expand and make your mesh stronger.

Anyhow, the reachable distance is greater by basics, than WiFi or Zigbee, as the frequency is lower.

If you can’t get it working, because the distances are still to long, you could dive into 433 MHz (a lot of blind motors work with it) or get fully wired.

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Thanks for the tip, I had suspected that. For me, this means: I’ll look for at least one useful Z-Wave device to be installed between the HA server and the blinds in the roof. This does not have to be more expensive than a second Z-Wave server (Raspberry), but then offers more functions and makes the start easier.
Technically, this Technisat switch (‘Z-Wave plus’) should be suitable for the blinds, right?

If the blind motors are 230V~, then it has to work.

Sure, they have. Thanks!