Blinds - why so difficult to make them smart?
Discussion
I moved in to a new place a couple of weeks back and thought, naively it now seems, that getting smart blinds fitted to the skylights would be straightforward...
The house has Keylite windows which apparently makes things more of a pain from the start; Keylite stopped bothering with their 'Connect' system a few years ago (which is strange as the demand for connected/smart devices is only increasing, surely?) and they now only offer RF remotes. These use the 433Mhz frequency however they're 'rolling-code' so you can't use a bridge to mimic/foward commands. It's also a proprietary system.
According to the blind installers I've spoken to there are a couple of third-party options that fit the windows (T06) but apparently reliability is poor.
Part of the reason I want smart skylights is because the blinds being proposed for the other windows ARE smart-ready (although they also require their own additional hub) so it would be good to be able to have them all close together with automation. I also have temp/humidity monitoring in-room so it would be great to have the abililty to have the house close the skylight blinds if the room temp goes above 'x' degrees for example.
Also for reasons I can't fathom, they no longer make any of their solar remote blinds with white frames to match the windows - it's aluminium only. I want solar-remote but with the removal of the 'smart' side and alu-only colour choice, I feel like I'd be spending a lot of money for something I don't really like and that doesn't do what I want. The Keylite ones are £430 inc per window (fitted).
I can't believe that in 2026 it's so difficult to achieve what feels like basic automation functionality... If anyone's in the trade and has any suggestions/recommendations I'd be appreciative.
The house has Keylite windows which apparently makes things more of a pain from the start; Keylite stopped bothering with their 'Connect' system a few years ago (which is strange as the demand for connected/smart devices is only increasing, surely?) and they now only offer RF remotes. These use the 433Mhz frequency however they're 'rolling-code' so you can't use a bridge to mimic/foward commands. It's also a proprietary system.
According to the blind installers I've spoken to there are a couple of third-party options that fit the windows (T06) but apparently reliability is poor.
Part of the reason I want smart skylights is because the blinds being proposed for the other windows ARE smart-ready (although they also require their own additional hub) so it would be good to be able to have them all close together with automation. I also have temp/humidity monitoring in-room so it would be great to have the abililty to have the house close the skylight blinds if the room temp goes above 'x' degrees for example.
Also for reasons I can't fathom, they no longer make any of their solar remote blinds with white frames to match the windows - it's aluminium only. I want solar-remote but with the removal of the 'smart' side and alu-only colour choice, I feel like I'd be spending a lot of money for something I don't really like and that doesn't do what I want. The Keylite ones are £430 inc per window (fitted).
I can't believe that in 2026 it's so difficult to achieve what feels like basic automation functionality... If anyone's in the trade and has any suggestions/recommendations I'd be appreciative.
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