Which hardware works best for zwave and blinds?

I have just ordered the HUSBZ, which should get my installation both zwave and zigbee. Yay! I really appreciate all the feedback from everyone on this.

I’m still looking for blinds or roller shades.

The Fibaro system is clearly nice but intended to be used in a wired-in, pre-existing system. I don’t have that. I’m hoping to be able to use one of the battery-operated solutions. If I had that, I could use the Insteon solution.

Somfy looks interesting, but the website is so markety I can’t find out much about it. They want me to talk to a local dealer, and I don’t feel quite ready for that. I see a kit to motorize existing 2" blinds from Somfy on Amazon… that sounds promising, as I already have blinds for most of the windows, they’re just not automated.

Bali has zwave blinds listed on their web site. They’re expensive, but apparently all blinds are.

Zebrablinds has z-wave blinds listed on their site, too. Similar in price to Bali.

Amazon lists a bunch of random blind manufacturers. How likely are they to work?

Does anyone else have specific suggestions for blinds or rollershades that worked well for you?

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Just a small hint:
Check the Zigbee firmware version of your HUSBZB-1 as soon as it arrives. To support Zigbee 3.0 devices, the firmware version of your HUSBZB-1 should be 6.7.8 or higher (IIRC). Of course, the firmware of your HUSBZ is upgradeable. Not sure about the Z-Wave part of the firmware, but it seems to be upgradeable too - albeit with a somewhat higher risk to kill the stick:

Additional hint:
As soon as you are satisfied with your solution, don’t forget to backup the Z-Wave part of your stick and order a spare HUSBZB-1. :slight_smile:

Edit:


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At the risk of being pedantic, Moore’s law, as Gordon Moore originally stated is neither a general “technology continues to evolve” nor about "increased in expertise and experience. It’s just about the number of transistors that can fit on a single integrated circuit. Stated plainly, it’s that the number of transistors doubles about every two years.

Thanks to this exponential growth, the limitations of physics, and other concerns (e.g. power use) there’s a good argument that Moore’s law is slowing down, if not completely dead a this point.

Many (most?) Zwave devices can also be linked directly with each other through “association groups”.

I also use the HUSZB and use it with the native openHAB Zwave and Zigbee bindings. I did upgrade the firmware (instructions are in the Zigbee docs) on it so it supports a newer Zigbee version but it’s still a 500 series Zwave controller. I’m very happy with it.

My understanding is that zigbee2mqtt only works with a very small set of Zigbee controller using a Texas Instruments chipset. The HUSZB uses and Ember chipset so I don’t know if it would work.

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The number of transistors don’t/didn’t double organically. It wasn’t going to just happen. Moore’s was an economic plan. Intel would invest accordingly to make it happen every two years (he initially proposed 18 months), setting a standard for the industry and pushing competitors to keep up. What we perceive today as a wise prophecy was just a challenge to his team, not a physics law. I bring up Moore to say that advancements in any industry are a function of time and money. More money, less time. The rate of advancement will likely change by how much profit is in the next step, or left in the current one. But advancement will not stop. So buy what works now, and enjoy the rewards of your investment.

concur

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Both very good hints, and I will keep them in mind. I try and upgrade devices when I get them because they’ve been in a box for a while and who knows what version they are. I also do tend to keep spares; I certainly have a spare Insteon PLM with upgraded capacitors.

The link to how to do the backups is also very helpful, as nobody wants to run around and push all the buttons if they can help it. That’s a major hassle in Insteon-land. (At least my PLM is now in a place you can actually reach it! Too bad all my devices aren’t.)

Interesting! This is the first I’ve heard of that, and would like to know more. I’ll try and google that phrase, but if you have a a reference handy I’d appreciate it. Having to depend on a third device instead of just a pair of switches has always seemed a weaknes to me, and can be slow, depending on the device.

Someone told me Caseta would do the same, but I didn’t dig into it, as about that time Insteon had their second coming, and I hoped I wouldn’t want to be replacing everything. I’m pretty satisfied with Insteon for lighting.

It’s not really complicated. In the Thing’s config page (in OH, or what ever you are using your Zwave devices with) will have an option to set the association group as a parameter. This gets sent to the device.

Devices like some switches, controllers, etc. can be configured to send commands to a given association group in which case it’s point-to-point and doesn’t have to go through the hub.

Of course all the devices involved need to support association groups. They are not universally supported. And because it bypasses OH entirely, there’s some good reasons not to use them because it’s less flexible.

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The same holds true for Zigbee: there it’s called ‘Binding’ instead of ‘Association’ - not to be confused with the ‘Binding’ concept in openHAB:

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Depends on your definition of “very small”. The list is linked below. Mostly Texas Instruments chips, but experimental support for Ember and others too. Around 35 listed, including the few “these definitely work but aren’t recommended because they’re old” (I’m still using one of those without issues!)

… and even the experimental ITead Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus V2 model “ZBDongle-E” is rock solid in my Zigbee2MQTT ↔ MQTT Binding ↔ openHAB setup (30+ Zigbee devices - YMMV).
If required, switching to to the bare Zigbee Binding is easy, as the ZBDongle-E is also supported by the bare Zigbee Binding.

I just installed some cellular shades from a brand called “Bali” that I bought via Costco. They’ve got Somfy motors/z-wave radios in them.
So far they’ve been great, and they were less than half the price of the Hunter Douglas ones that all the local blinds shops wanted to sell me. I’ve only had them up and running for about a month, though, so I can’t comment on durability/longevity.

Adding them to my Z-wave network was easy and didn’t require any of the “periodic wake up” or other inclusion shenanigans that some z-wave devices require.

Anyway, the ordering site let’s you customize in lots of ways, so you can get whatever size you need, lots of different material/color options, various power options (wall plug, box for traditional batteries, rechargable battery, etc.) . Just be careful to specify that you want the z-wave motor option, when you get to that part.

I didn’t purchase the remote that they say you “need” or the recommended z-wave gateway that they sell, since I already have a stake z-wave setup. I just use schedule and voice commands to control the shades, so the remote was not necessary. If I ever decide that I’d like a physical remote, any z-wave scene controller will work, or for that matter, any button-press that I can capture via openhab.

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FYI, Somfy rollerblinds use 433.92MHz and can be controlled via RFXTRX or similar via OH. Have 8 blinds working on this setup. Works just fine, however, unlike Zwave, there’s no “feedback” from the blind motors themselves if/when you send a command, theres no way to get a signal back that it has been successful. That said, i’ve never had an issue where a blind didn’t open or close, when i’ve sent the relevant command

That’s extrememly good information! I’d been looking at those on the Web, and Costco is a good source. To know they’ll work with OH is even better! Thanks!

I’m not sure if this is a regional thing, or just a different model offered by Somfy, but my Bali shades with Somfy electronics inside are definitely z-wave, not generic 433mhz. I included then directly into my existing z-wave network.

Just a small word of caution:
The reliability of equipment using ISM bands depends on local conditions. Bi-directional communication between controller and device may help in the case of congestion of crowded ISM bands.

Yep, they’re working great so far. Just be sure you select the z-wave option, as there is another motorized option that is not z-wave, available on the same product.

@Chad_Hadsell Can I ask your thoughts on the Bali Blinds after a few months? I’m considering ordering some before the sale on Costco ends on April 30. Any issues?

Also, did you get the single-cell or double-cell blinds? I’m debating between those and roller blinds due to cost. But if I’m ultimately most concerned about keeping heat out in the summer, I feel like I should just bite the bullet and get the double-cells.

@rpwong
I’m happy with them, especially for the price compared to everything else I looked at
I got the double cell shades–the light filtering ones, not light blocking. Light blocking are apparently slightly better at insulating, but are more expensive and I don’t think they look as good unless you really need to block light.

The shades themselves are good enough quality. Not super high end or anything, but solidly built and relatively easy to install.

The z-wave motors are not silent, but not a terrible sound either. When the house is quiet I can hear then activate from another room, but it’s just a gentle background whirring.

Their actual function has been flawless, so far. They were very easy to pair with my controller, and work every time. They’re not fast, but my understanding is that none of them really are. Mine are about 5 feet tall and it takes a solid minute to fully open or close.

Anyway, bottom line: I have more windows that will eventually get motorized shades, and I’ll almost definitely go with these same ones.

Thanks, that’s super helpful. I’m leaning toward light-blocking double-cells. In the summer my condo gets ridiculously hot, and I want to put a stop to that. I’ll price out the light-filtering ones to see how much that changes the cost.

Are the battery chargers a proprietary connector? I’m thinking I should get two, so that I have a backup if one dies.

EDIT: Turns out that Bali has a handy chart for energy efficiency. Surprisingly, it shows that the light-blocking Hideaway fabrics are slightly better at keeping heat in (R-value), but the light-filtering Halo fabrics are slightly better at keeping heat out (SHGC). I would have expected Hideway to be better in both cases.

The charger connects with a basic barrel plug. 12.3v 0.6A output. I’m not sure how common it is, but it seems unlikely to be proprietary. Then again, it does have an LED that changes color depending on how charged the battery is. So it’s not just a basic AC adapter.

Interestingly, the battery plugs into the shade with a regular micro USB plug. So you could also power the shade directly that way with a really long USB cable, of that works in your situation.

Oh, that’s something else to note: The battery comes with a clip to attach it to the back of the shade unit, between the unit and the window. In my windows, there wasn’t enough room to mount the clip there and still have the shades flush with front of the window frame. There was still room for the battery, though, without the clip. So I just used some hook and loop command strips that are designed for hanging picture frames, and mounted the battery with those.

That is really good to know. I was thinking that I’d mount them closer to the window.

Weird that the charger is 12.3v, but it uses a MicroUSB connector that’s limited to 5v.