Does anyone have a recommendation for a kit for blinds with a wand that integrate well with HA?
Welcome to my biggest desire/headache with Home Automation.
iBlinds a Z-Wave product I received a beta test unit of has been working well with Hubitat to HA for me but I only have the one. They’re a risk in my mind as their business isn’t exactly mainstream but they do have a real site to sell things on now, so they’re coming up. They were just on eBay for a while, which was shady.
I really like their form factor.
Many of us who want to solve this problem have been trying to hack something together to avoid the steep prices but I have yet to find a dead simple way to do it. I also am terrible with making my own hardware. Interested if anybody else has any good suggestions.
The hookup has a guide to make some that I’m going to try next.
Ya I’ve been having a really hard time tracking the right product down. So far the best option I’ve found is using an E-Wand + remote and then putting a SwitchBot on the remote. Only downside will be that i’ll only be able to send one command to it, and I won’t get data on its open/close state.
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I actually was really looking into those.
I have done a lot of 433mhz hacking but ultimately it left me with no clue as to the status of my devices.
The batteries were my other big concern.
The iBlinds aren’t that much more expensive and don’t require batteries. The solar panel has kept my 1 unit charged its entire life. I feel like I’m talking myself into buying more of them. I just worry about their future… but z-wave is local so I guess it doesn’t matter if they don’t make it.
True, the batteries are definitely a concern. They claim a year of use before needing to change them but not sure how that will hold up. I think i’d still lean more towards them though since they’ll be a lot easier to move to a different set if I ever have to since the install process is basically just swapping the wand out.