Electric Remote Control Blinds & Curtains

Generally electric remote control blinds are very similar to their manual control versions, but instead of a chain or cord an electric motor is contained within the blind to operate it at your command.

Roller Blind Motors

All roller blinds use a Tubular Motor, which is installed into the roller blind tube. Limits are adjusted with two adjustment screws on the end of the motor.

For small roller blinds, 24volt DC (Direct Current) motors are used due to their smaller size. For roller blinds the motor is contained inside the roller tube that the fabric rolls up on. They contain their own adjustable end-limits that set the upper and lower limit of the blind.

Each kit is supplied with a plug-in power supply which must be connected to the receiver unit, which in turn connects to the blind motor.

For larger blinds a mains 230volt AC (Alternating Current) motor would be used as they provide more power to operate the larger blinds. 230v motors also offer a simple plug-in and go operation as the receiver is integrated into the motor or the motor can be wired directly into a switched fused spur installed by your electrician. Typically 230v motors are considerably quieter than their 24v equivalent.

Curtain Track Motors

All Intelli-Blinds curtain tracks are mains 230v operated.

Attaching to the underneath of the track they are designed to be hidden by the curtain.

They simply plug into a local socket, all limits and settings are changed via the supplied handset.

Wiring

With all electric motors you need to be able to supply the motor with power. This means you will need to run wire from the point of control to the window and the blind itself.

For low voltage 24v DC blinds this can simply be bell or alarm wire. Early consideration about how the wire should be hidden and routed from view is well recommended, once you have plastered, painted/wall papered you wont want to be cutting out the walls to run new wire.

For mains 230v blinds & curtains wiring will usually have to be installed by a qualified electrcian, either providing a switched fused spur close to the blind, either on the wall or hidden inside the ceiling. On bigger projects a dedicated star-wired circuit maybe provided.

Control

Whatever kind of motor you have you must have some sort of control to make the blind do what you want and when you want.

The control unit should give you up, down and stop control over the motor, these will normally be a small box that connects between the power supply and the motor, some might be wall-mounted with push buttons on, or they might receive commands from an IR (Infra Red) or RF (Radio Frequency) handset.

Choosing an applicable control is important, if your prone to loosing your TV remote then a handset might not be a good option. IR control can be useful if you use universal remote controls like Pronto or RTI. RF controls allow the receiver to be hidden from view as they dont need to have line-of-sight like IR.

Consideration to future expansion should also be thought through, RF controls make it easier to define channels and groups, for example you could have a remote in the living room, kitchen and dining room that operate their respective blinds but also have one in the hallway to operate them all when you leave the house. Timer controls are an excellent way to automate single or groups of blinds.

Power

All our low voltage kits require and are supplied with a regulated 24v DC power supply to operate the receiver (control) and the motor.

This will be in the form of a plug-top power supply which simply plugs into the mains and is slightly larger than a phone charger.

The power is then routed from the power supply (PSU) to the control.

Again, consideration to the location of the power socket in relation to the blind and it's control is vital to making an easy to install & descrete electric blind.