Does anyone have automatic curtains in their house? Any recommendations?

Job for the wife surely?

we have automatic ones in the bedroom – they detect any hint of beddytime special cuddles and set themselves open by a foot in the middle 😳

How topical….. Today I was doing the electrical design for a care home that want automated curtains and I have specified a track by somfy. I’d send you the link but it’s on works PC.

My mum has them she likes them but they have a weird timer thing to open and close at various times when they are away

They were expensive and needed to fitted by the company

Its amusing playing with the remote as it annoys her

WHY though its not liking closing curtains is an ardous task that requires automation like say washing clothes

Sensible answer here!
Yes we do in our lounge, big bay window put in 4 years ago so my wife could close them from the chair.
Before anyone says “lazy bint” she has secondary progressive MS and can’t get up to draw them.

Cost about £550 IIRC and they are bloody brilliant

Mehh…..automatic curtains are all well and good, but I’m holding out for a self-hoovering carpet…

we have automatic ones in the bedroom – they detect any hint of beddytime special cuddles and set themselves open by a foot in the middle

😆

As a professional curtain maker I’ve seen them in my time. As mentioned above they need to be fitted by a professional company, they can work with a timer for security and are costly.

It is the automatic rail device that makes it all work, so any curtains can be fitted onto this – obvious really.

Yep I was really just looking for some recommendations 🙂 To justify, (not that I need to but will anyway for the fun of it!) Is that I am a total light slave. I HAVE to have completed darkness to get to sleep but to wake up I have to have daylight, without daylight I can, and have, slept through someone hammer drilling the wall next to the bed. It would be nice to have them shut at night, or I could do it, but then open with the ‘sun’.

My other option is a daylight/dawn sim setup so I’m just trying to identify options.

Thanks for the pointers those that suggested so far!

CK how is this plan going to work in the winter?

It’s gonna be less effective but even a hint of light works wonders and streetlights do that

If streetlights work, why not just have a light in the house turned on?

I have a bedside light on a timer. Sounds like a solution at a fraction of the cost…

Because a light coming on would only happen quickly and not in a nice slow progression.

a quick google

http://www.philips.co.uk/c-m-li/light-therapy/wake-up-light#layout=12.subcategory.p-grid

Philips do daylight clock radios

Edit – beaten to it

Phillips Hue light with IFTTT recipe set to track sunrise. Or powered curtains with the same control.

Do it!

If powered curtains are very expensive it seems like a gap in the market. The rails with the draw cords aren’t much, combine that with a motor, something to control it (raspberry PI?) for a fraction of the price. Phone app to control it. Seems like a good idea for security and energy saving.

Oh, I thought this was a dogging thread.

they need to be fitted by a professional company

Why?

Get rail, screw to window. No? What am I missing here?

Cougar – After many years in the business, there is so much to go wrong.

Very much like bikes if you don’t know what you’re doing you can get it wrong.