Automatic Curtain openers and closers

[Andrew]

Yesterdays Money section in the Metro referred to this product for automatically opening and closing curtains to 'save money'.

It looks like it slots inside the plastic track and the rubbery wheel in the middle provides the drive. Still not sure how you connect the curtain or maybe the curtain wraps over it with a curtain hook on either side ?.

Since ?two are needed that means a big gap is left when they meet and how do they know when to stop?.

Many questions, and few answers.

Anyone got one ?.

I stopped using my Swish Autoglide over 15 years ago and it chomped through mains power 24/7 which adds up even if it is only 24watts while this blutooth device has a rechargeable battery which is claimed to last 6 months.

Andrew

[Theo]

Just one of many different clones of the same idea...

You put it between the last two hooks on the curtain, and it drives against the rail. The curtain goes in front so you can't see it.

You train them as part of setup - they know how far to run between the 'open' and 'closed' positions.

No, but plenty of examples on Youtube. eg advert:

Not convinced about the massive energy saving benefits, although if you had draughty or substandard windows, then maybe. Perhaps if you were out and unavailable to close the curtains until long after dark? It would be hard to make back the price of the unit though.

One other thing it could be helpful with is solar gain: automatically close when the sun comes out to reflect more light back outside.

I'm generally impressed by the battery life of these blind/curtain openers - they seem to last a long time. Suppose the motor is not doing a lot of work and only for a few seconds a day.

Theo

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Highly dubious. I think some of these may well work for a few weeks, but people who have had automatic systems seem to eventually get fed up with cleaning the gunge off or fixing them. Brian

[Jim GM4DHJ ...]

how lazy can you get ....

[Andrew]

When I commuted up to London and left home in the dark and got home hours after it got dark, it was a useful device, together with a timer on a table lamp to make the house look occupied.

The village hall has a row of south facing windows up near the ceiling many metres above floor level and they have six of these units plus the optional infra-red remote sensors and remote controls, which is the only way to shut the curtains to keep the sun out or when they are showing a film.

Unfortunately Swish sold the autoglide patents to an Austrian company and the price had gone up about 10 fold the last time I was looking for spares.

[Dave Plowman (News]

The old way was a universal curtain motor. Worked with any corded curtains. Drove the cord via a sort of large rubber grommet. I've got a couple of them. But mains. You need a two way switch to control them, in their simplest form. Meaning you can't reverse the direction until fully open or closed.