Do any of you have any experience with Z-wave operated window blinds and/or curtains, etc? It looks there are battery and hard-wired options. What are the pros-cons of each? Currently, we have four 36x72 (w x h) joined in the living room and two of the same windows joined in the master bedroom. The living room has the 2" wooded blinds only whereas the master bedroom has the 2" wooden blinds and curtains that hang on either side and can be pulled-to the middle. I have many other windows in the house, but I think these would be the same as the master bedroom, but single 36x72 windows with the 2" wood blinds.
I don’t have any experience with z-wave blinds. If they act as a light switch or dimmer in the z-wave network then they should work with 2GIG and Alarm.com but they would show up in the user interface as light switches, not blinds.
Some of our customers are using Alarm.com’s Lutron integration (free with Gold Interactive) and Lutron has automatic shade control but last I heard Alarm.com doesn’t support individual Lutron shade control yet. Shades are planned for a future release. To use Lutron with Alarm.com you need one of these Lutron repeaters.
RadioRA 2 with firmware 6.1.0 or above
Homeworks QS with firmware 5.1.0 or above
If your goal is to use the shades with Alarm.com then Lutron might be a better choice for shades in the long run.
I have 6 Somfi motorized shades which are controlled by z-wave and under control of the 2Gig panel and alarm.com. They are sold under the brand Bali at blinds.com. I have these hard wired to 12V instead of battery powered due to the large size (each 5 feet wide, 7 feet high) and frequent use. Each window may go up or down probably four times a day under control of alarm.com Schedules, Sensor Events, or Arming Events.
The native Somfy remote control performs: raise, lower, stop, and go to a half way point.
Somfi makes a z-wave interface called ZRTSI which works as a remote control to the z-wave network. It controls up to 16 individual shades or groups of shades.
Somfy is only partially supported by alarm.com and the 2Gig at the moment. From the mobile application, the web site, or the 2Gig panel, only the down function works (Off). You cannot raise or set any mid way point. It looks like you can set it 40% open, but selecting this makes it go all the way down. But this has not proved to be an issue since the nice native remote controls are always at hand, more functional, and work much faster than the phone app.
Surprisingly the blinds do work completely with the alarm.com Schedules and Events. They do go fully up or down as expected. Here is how I have it setup and working without issue:
At sunrise, raise all blinds
At 11 AM lower the Southern blinds
At 4 PM lower the Western blinds
At sunset, lower all blinds
When the panel is armed, lower all blinds
When the panel is disarmed, raise all blinds
etc.
I was not aware of the Lutron integration to alarm.com when I made my purchase decision, so I do not have experience to compare the two systems. I am happy with my setup: automation control with alarm.com Schedules and Events, and native remotes for local control.
That sounds pretty sweet. Thanks for the information, I’m sure it will help others make their own buying decisions. I’m passing it along to a few at Alarm.com to let the know how customers are using the system.