Interested in getting electric blind motors in your property? Here are 8 Reasons Why You Should.
Here's why you should be considering adding motors to your existing blinds or getting blind motors with your brand-new blinds. Adding electric blind motors doesn’t have to be a complicated process and with a bit of knowledge and experience can be an easy and enjoyable thing.
If you ever require any advice on blind motors, I have over 10-years’ experience in programming and installing Somfy motors, JAI motors, Spotlight motors, Bunning's motors, Ikea motors, Zemismart motors, and Alpha motors, and would gladly assist you in programming, installing, or giving general advice which motor will best suit your job.
If you need assistance installing blinds with motors, here is a detailed guide I wrote on installing blinds like a professional
Blind motors have evolved a lot over the last 10-years and are becoming more reliable, quieter, faster, smarter, and cheaper! If you are after some quality electric blind motors, at Real Blinds we have plenty of options to suit your property.
So, without getting into more details here are the 8 reasons you should be considering electric blind motors in 2022
1. Rechargeable & Smart motors
It’s becoming more popular than ever that people are getting rechargeable blind motors. The benefit to this is you don’t have to spend excessive money on an electrician to follow wires through your roof or walls to hook up the blinds. The difference between rechargeable motors 10 years ago to rechargeable motors now is in 2022 the batteries are lasting a lot longer than is in 2012. A regular high-quality motor now will usually last up to 800 cycles or more and work with most large-sized blinds, which means the blind being used daily for 1 year will require 1 charge. On top of this, the charge time for most blind motors is 6 hours (0-100%), and is super easy to plug in the charger to each motor when required.
Most rechargeable and hardwired blind motors can be made smart with a hub and here are some of the benefits of getting smart motors:
- Schedule your blinds to go up and down at certain times and days
- Control your blinds from anywhere in the world
- Security for your household (blinds operate to make it look like you are home)
- Voice control your blinds
- Link your blinds to Siri, Google & Alexa
- Control your blinds with voice commands “left blind up” “put the master bed blinds down” “all house blinds down”
2. Easy to retrofit to an existing blind
Most types of existing roller blinds can be motorised, we have over 30 different adaptor kits to fit your existing blinds and brackets. If this doesn’t solve this the headrail of a blind can be changed to suit your existing bracketing or even in extreme cases the bracketing can be changed as well, so there are no limitations to a blind that can’t motorise.
An uncommon reason a blind cannot be motorised is if a blind is under the width of 520mm.
For each room with blinds, the remote can control 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, or 16 channels, whilst blinds working on smart hubs and smartphones can have an unlimited number of blinds and channels set to them. The way a blind remote operates is 1 channel can control either 1 blind, multiple blinds, or all the blinds. This can be programmed to what will be most beneficial to you. You can use each blind individually, in groups, and of course, be able to use all your blinds with one button. I will gladly give you the recommendations as to the most beneficial channel layout for your household, which one remote can control multiple rooms if you prefer.
3. Keep the motors as you move into a new property
You can purchase blind motors and when you move out of your property for a very small fee, I can convert the motors to chain-driven blinds. This means when you move into your new property, I can retrofit the existing roller blinds for motors or supply new blinds and reuse your existing motors. This is becoming increasingly popular as most blind motors are lasting much longer and are becoming a better solution for long-term use.
From my honest experience, quality electric blind motors should be lasting at least 7 years. Over long periods of time (like 10 or more years) some motors can experience charge cycle issues, errors in programming, they can start making some odd noises when operating and of course, they are at greater risk of dying. This is only the case for a small portion of motors (quality motors only), and this is based on my personal experience dealing with thousands of blind motors.
4. No chain & better for those with useability issues
Think it’s a small detail? Having no chain hanging down within your window or door area is a whole lot neater and is generally not appreciated until you have lived with a blind like this yourself. This can be especially desirable in sliding or bi-fold doors, which can have multiple blinds, especially double blinds, which the motors will reduce the number of chains hanging down. This keeps your living space neater, less cluttered, and more spacious.
Of course, the main benefit to having no chain is this eliminates any risk of child strangulation, which is a risk most blind companies take with every installation of a chain-driven blind. Laws are in place by the ACCC (link below). We have a business called Blind Safe Australia, which specialises in child safety for blinds and understand 1-2 Australian children die per year from strangulation caused by a blind or window covering cord or string, which we are at the forefront and aim is to bring this number to Zero.
https://www.productsafety.gov.au/product-safety-laws/safety-standards-bans/mandatory-standards/blinds-curtains-and-window-fittings
If you are elder, have arthritis, are in a wheelchair, or generally have issues using blinds with chains, pressing the button on a blind remote will perform the manual operation to lower or raise the blind, which you can sit back and watch your blind get to work.
5. Better for the environment
Electric motor blinds are more beneficial for the environment by providing exceptional efficiency with your HAVC (heating, ventilation & air-conditioning). In the summer they keep the cool air inside and the hot air outside by keeping your air-conditioned cool air inside and stopping it from radiating outside.
In the wintertime, they keep the hot air inside by stopping the hot air from radiating out through the window on cold winter nights. So, you get all-year-round insulation benefits, which means you will save plenty of money on gas and electricity bills, which over the years the motors to pay for themselves.
As opposed to maneuvering many blinds with chains each day, they will be more beneficial if made smart or by remote, which many blinds can be made to go up and down every day. Also, having the ability to control your blinds while you are out, means if you get an extra hot day, you can put your blinds down to keep your place cool, so you don’t have to use as much aircon to cool your place down when you get home later.
6. Improved quality of life
If you work from home and need to adjust the lighting or get the sun out of your face, this can be done with a simple press of the remote or voice command, which will not interrupt your phone call or meeting. If you are enjoying a book or want to watch a movie allowing your blinds to come down without having to get up and adjust this yourself will provide you with elegance and convenience you might not apricate until you have this lived with this benefit.
Blinds motors allow you to keep enjoying what you are doing without having to put in manual labor or think about which level to adjust your blind to. This is especially great for when you want to go to sleep, each night or even in the daytime, you want to get to sleep as soon as possible and don’t want to be wasting time preparing for this.
7. Longer lasting blinds and less chance of a falling blind
Most blinds installed are secure, although from my experience about 1-2% of blinds are at risk of falling to the ground. Sometimes, for blinds installed incorrectly, all it takes is someone to pull on the cord or chain a certain way for the blind to fall. With a motor, this eliminates any risk of this ever happening. At Real Blinds, this is not a concern as each installation is covered for a lifetime.
The reason the blinds will last longer if they have electric blind motors, is there is less risk of the blind being operated in an incorrect manner allowing it to affect the balancing or roll improperly, which can cause fraying or the blind not rolling up all the way. This risk will be eliminated when a motor is in use, rolling the blind up and down at a consistent speed and rotation.
8. The wow factor & keeping up with the current times
It’s still quite common most people haven't had much experience seeing electric blind motors and can be somewhat impressed and amazed with how they operate and change the dynamics of the room. In many cases, this can be taken a step further with voice controlling entire rooms of blinds or pressing a button to set blinds to a favorite limit, which with the push of a button can put all the blinds into a nice showcase setting with the blinds halfway down the window.
With many items becoming smart and more to come with the internet of things it’s a natural progression that most motors are becoming smart and working with most smart homes or smart devices.
Conclusion
Did you agree with the 8 reasons to get electric blind motors? Why wouldn’t you want an electric blind motor? Or do you know of an extra benefit I didn’t mention?
If you are after a rechargeable smart blind motor for your household, I’m happy to supply you with new blinds with motors and program these for you so you get the most out of your smart blinds. I’m happy to discuss if blind motors will suit your job, so you can feel free to contact me and I will personally assist you when it comes to blinds motors.
Written by
Noah Radford
Senior Blind Expert
Visit https://www.realblinds.com.au or call 1300 215 388