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Best way to control motorized shades?


frueda47

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Hi! Im setting up my studio apartment and I have a window where I would like to have a blackout and a shade, both motorized independently. I would like to be able to open them fully or partially.

 

Any idea how I can integrate this to the C4 system?

 

Thanks!

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An unrelated question.

The owner has decided to you use lutron triathlon shades

At the beginning of the job, we did not plan to have shades integrated, so therefor we did not put any keypad in the rooms.

How does the owner control them now?

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An unrelated question.

The owner has decided to you use lutron triathlon shades

At the beginning of the job, we did not plan to have shades integrated, so therefor we did not put any keypad in the rooms.

How does the owner control them now?

Wireless keypad dimmer.

3 space button lights on

3 space lights off still looks a lot like a switch.

1 button shades.

Or talk lighting scenes and program a number of buttons.

Alternative is setting sunrise sunset and light sensor control of shades automatic

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  • 4 weeks later...

I use Lutron RadioRA 2 for all my lights and shades.  The Triathlon shades are great, a bit pricey, but definitely worth it.   You can buy one $25 Lutron wireless Pico keypad for each room you have the shades in to independently control them, use the Lutron app, Control4 app or Control4 remotes/keypads if you integrate the Lutron driver.  I have Control4 open them automatically at 8 am and close them at sunset every day.  I have the Lutron Pico in each bedroom so if we need to put one of the babies down for a nap, we can just use the Pico keypad to close them quickly.  I usually just use the app in that case, but we have a babysitter sometimes who needs the Pico remotes for that purpose.  The Pico's can also be mounted right next to a wall switch/dimmer, as there's a wall adapter, and it fits in as if it was meant to be wall mounted there. 

 

I also have 2 large sliding glass doors that needed drapes.  The Lutron drapes were way out of my budget on those.  I ended up going with a place I found called zwavemotors.com, which had z-wave drapery motors and tracks for them at very reasonable prices.  I have a Vera3 basically just for those, and they also integrate into Control4 pretty seamlessly.  

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  • 1 month later...

For the blinds or shades, what would you recommend running cable wise to each location? If they are to be controlled by C4.

Thanks

3core + Earth (Ground) if its mains voltage, C4 does not have a blind relay module which is disapointing. A system that has blind relay's reduces the risk of running the blind in both directions at once and usually has a programmable delay built in for change of direction to extend the life of the motor. This can all be done in programming if C4 is the route you do go down.

 

We like the Clipsal C-Bus shutter relays for this :)

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A little more info to would be good, link to the make/model or technical manual?

I just bought motorized hunter douglas luminettes and Pirouette shades that are batter powered and would like to control those with my Ctrl 4 app?

More so, what is the difference in light control by Ctrl 4 vs Lutron and then integrarating with Ctrl 4

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  • 2 months later...

Just catching up on this thread...  I'll be running 1 or 2 motorized drapes in a new build.  May not install them initially, but am not clear how they need to be pre-wired.  Is "3 core + ground" low voltage?  I'm not familiar with it...

 

Thanks!

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I just bought motorized hunter douglas luminettes and Pirouette shades that are batter powered and would like to control those with my Ctrl 4 app?

More so, what is the difference in light control by Ctrl 4 vs Lutron and then integrarating with Ctrl 4

With the right motors and the Hunter Douglas platinum bridge is the elegant bolt the modules together way, else you get into shade or remote hackery.

Lutron requires double programming. Program the lutron lights then pprogram the c4 system to understand and operate the lutron lights. Savings on the per switch unit cost are usually lost on programming.

Also control4 lighting adds to the strength of the zigbee mesh improving performance of remotes and other devices using it.

Just catching up on this thread... I'll be running 1 or 2 motorized drapes in a new build. May not install them initially, but am not clear how they need to be pre-wired. Is "3 core + ground" low voltage? I'm not familiar with it...

Thanks!

Yes under 70 volts is low voltage. These will llikely be 12 Or less. 4 CORE speaker wire with CL or UL rating for in wall use will sort you right.
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Yes under 70 volts is low voltage. These will llikely be 12 Or less. 4 CORE speaker wire with CL or UL rating for in wall use will sort you right.

 

Be carefull though - some shade option actually require CAT 6 cable as well.

Part of the problem of pre-wiring without actually doing these is that there are so many options. Some blinds actually require high voltage, others (especially large numbers) use relay boards and use the mentioned CAT cable, some need no more than a few pairs off a cat or can use z-wire.

 

That said with only two or three shades, you're most likely looking at wireless connectivity options (simple pricing consideration) in which case the above is a safe bet - likely even overkill actually.

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Good point if pulling cable to pre wire cat and 4 core.

Beyond that you need to know the specifics of the shading you are installing.

Even pre wire it is good to know that so the pre wire terminates to the left or right of the window as require by the specific shade.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The HD Platinum Bridge integrates with Control 4, but the HD bridge itself is flakey. Blinds routinely do not respond or only one in a group will open or close as expected. Very frustrating.

I am looking to replace my HD blinds with Lutron RA2 - those seem rock solid with C4.

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Meh it's all about the environment and placement. On top of that there's a second, much more advanced (though pricey) driver by theoryav. I've heard a few times now that it also is supposed to be more reliable - you could try it out, it has a 2 week trial or something along those lines.

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