![]() This is something Loxone’s blinds and curtains control blocks does not count with. For some reason, Somfy blinds motors are controlled with just up and down wire, but curtains motors require also the third one triggering stop function *. Now, why do I recommend to use three relays and have the stop function on a dedicated wire? I do not understand to logic behind the decisions Somfy did when they were designing these units. These are dry contacts, which means no need for external power. From the user manual for Somfy Glydea 60 DCTįor the smart home integration this means we would need two or three relays to be able to fully control this motorized unit. For three devices the stop can also be achieved with a specific stop button. For devices using 2 contacts the stop command is achieved by closing the open and close contacts. The dry contacts control can be done through devices with 2 normally open contacts (open, close) or 3 normally open contacts (open, stop and close). The dry contact and IR controls are accessible through 1 RJ12 socket. Glydea™ DCT can be controlled by a combination of dry contacts, IR and RTS controls with the internal RTS receiver. This means, I still had three pairs of wires I could use to control the motor unit, without the need to do any extra wiring. Luckily, in my case I have wired the magnetic door contact for that sliding door using UTP cable. And guess what, apart from the Somfy remotely controlled version, there is also the possibility to control the unit using external switches/relays (DCT version). Nice unit, which I had the ability to see in real by one of the local retailers. But in my case the rail could not be hidden, so the type of consoles and the overall design of the rail played significant role in my selection. Nothing against that, it could work fine for hidden built-in rail setups. When I was looking at the options for motorized curtains on the market, there were either offerings for complete installations (with a remote), or various DIY kits on Chinese e-shops with “not really sure how it would look like” curtain rails and consoles. The assumption is to have the magnetic door contact (for alarm purposes) which most people have already there anyway. With motorized curtains connected to Loxone and simple programming you can achieve such a useful curtains automation. And because the rail itself does not look much different from any standard curtains rails plus the motor is well hidden, it creates unexpected surprising moments for many visitors in the house. Obviously just the simple fact that curtains are moving themselves without any manual effort is pleasing, and it is real pleasure to watch. They not only have to open the sliding door, but then either touch the curtain to get in, or slide it aside to get it out of the way and then return it back. Typically curtains in front of a sliding entrance doors/windows does create quite a bit of hassle, especially in situations when people want to go in or out, carrying some stuff. You close the door and the curtains closes immediately afterwards, without any extra touch. You start opening the door and the curtains gets automatically out of the way and opens. ![]() Imagine you want to go from the living room to the terrace. Let me start here with the most convenient functionality the motorized curtains is offering us, and that is opening and closing the curtains automatically with the sliding door movement. The fact that it is motorized and automated has a lot of advantages, that even my wife considers as “cool” features. Only this year we have decided to have a curtains on the big sliding door towards the terrace/garden entrance. So I had nothing prepared for this in terms of wiring or any setup. Having a motorized curtains in living room was not the the initial plan at first place. Here is how I automated the electric curtains with Loxone.
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