We have a bunch of shutters in our living room that don’t have any kind of remote control, nor a rod to operate them - you just move any of the individual slats and the rest follow suit.

Is there anything out there that could make these smart? I’m really struggling to find the right terms to search for.

Update: Turns out they are plantation blinds which has helped me to find the sort of thing I’m after. Cheers, Emperor!

    • TedZanzibar@feddit.ukOP
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      3 months ago

      TIL they’re called plantation blinds! The slats swivel open and closed as opposed to the entire thing raising and lowering but I assume that’s what you meant. No external rod or handle, all of the slats are linked inside the frame somehow.

      Edit: Actually knowing what they are has helped my search massively. Looks like there’s options on Aliexpress, albeit not particularly cheap. Thanks!

      • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukM
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        3 months ago

        Yes, Switchbot have a device to do this and I imagine the Chinese ones are to be knock-offs of that. They will be quite expensive because a thing that moves blinds will usually need a decent sized motor. Unfortunately, with plantation blinds, I assume you need more of them than other different types.

        • TedZanzibar@feddit.ukOP
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          3 months ago

          Nah that one attaches to the twisty rod thing that you get on normal blinds. I need something more like this but I can’t find a non-Aliexpress version. Not that it matters cos I’d need 5 of them and that puts the idea out of my price range for the foreseeable future.

  • ShepherdPie
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    3 months ago

    Search for “kits to motorize shutters” or what have you. I found some on Aliexpress a while back for our miniblinds that worked off of wifi and zigbee communication. In the end I wound up buying some Ikea Zigbee shades but the kits would have worked too. I’m not sure exactly what type of blinds you have so I can’t recommend anything specific.