Blinded by the blind options .. to z-wave or?

[sdynak]

Ok.. hope all are doing great.

I'm a bit overwhelmed and just when I think I found something and have a grasp it's like my paycheck and just falls through my fingers like it was never there.

So I'm turning toward this awesome community before I am mind broke!

So at the end of the day, I'm just looking for some reasonably priced blinds that would be nice to have automated/motorized with voice control through Alexa and possibly integrated into the ISY. If that is not the best way I'm not against having a separate system that only controls my blinds. 

Costco has an offer right now with Bali 15% off who has Z-Wave blinds which I'm considering. I am also looking at Blinds to Go (store near me) but they can't tell me anything about the protocol of their system if z-wave or what. Still waiting on a call and not looking promising. What I can see online is detail on a Eaze Motorized Hub. 

So just looking to have general thoughts about the Bali Z-Wave blinds and if that would be a good option to consider integrating into the ISY. Again.. I'm also ok to get the Atom thingy and work them separately if I have to. They want like $150 for that Atom device which is like $30. 

Anyway.. any thoughts about what you have or would do given what you know or experienced with motorized/automated blinds?

Part of the confusion is I see references to Bali Autoview with the ISY but I'm not sure if that is older tech and or it is all summed into the current Z-Wave design. 

Thanks as always for reading and any stab you can take to keep me straight and not lose the rest of the brain I have left.

Stan

[lilyoyo1]

Bali auto view is zwave and works with the Isy. I had them in my old home and they worked well.

If pricing isn't a concern, I'd go with litron shades as they are much quieter and there's a nodersrrver for them which allows you to integrate them with the isy. 

I can't speak on the other company you mentioned as I've never used them. Them charging 150 for a 30 dollar controller doesn't surprise me. There's always a markup in business. 

 

[sdynak]

2 hours ago, lilyoyo1 said:

Bali auto view is zwave and works with the Isy. I had them in my old home and they worked well.

If pricing isn't a concern, I'd go with litron shades as they are much quieter and there's a nodersrrver for them which allows you to integrate them with the isy. 

I can't speak on the other company you mentioned as I've never used them. Them charging 150 for a 30 dollar controller doesn't surprise me. There's always a markup in business. 

 

Thank you.. I have not explored too much with Lutron shades but I'll look into them. Pricing is a little of a concern and why I was leaning toward the Bali offer since they are 15% off but if the cost is reasonable and a better option the cost is not the only deciding factor. 

[nadler]

I have 3 Bali honeycomb shades that I purchased from Costco.  You are actually buying from Bali directly.  Costco is the middleman.  They came quickly and work well.  I use(d)  smartthings for zwave at the time and although the pairing took a while,  everything worked perfectly from day one.  I use Alexa and Google Home to control them along with the remote.

When I move to a condo in a month I'm planning on purchasing Bali and using polisy and zwave. Costco regularly has 15% off items from Bali.  

[lilyoyo1]

1 hour ago, sdynak said:

Thank you.. I have not explored too much with Lutron shades but I'll look into them. Pricing is a little of a concern and why I was leaning toward the Bali offer since they are 15% off but if the cost is reasonable and a better option the cost is not the only deciding factor. 

Bali isn't a bad choice. I enjoyed mine when I had them. Lutron is much smoother and quieter than Bali (or anyone else for that matter). You do pay for that however. 

With that said, depending on desires, it's worth looking at. Depending on need, you could always hold off to save for them depending on cost difference for your windows.

[sdynak]

31 minutes ago, nadler said:

I have 3 Bali honeycomb shades that I purchased from Costco.  You are actually buying from Bali directly.  Costco is the middleman.  They came quickly and work well.  I use(d)  smartthings for zwave at the time and although the pairing took a while,  everything worked perfectly from day one.  I use Alexa and Google Home to control them along with the remote.

When I move to a condo in a month I'm planning on purchasing Bali and using polisy and zwave. Costco regularly has 15% off items from Bali.  

Thanks for that feedback.. I guess I'm just noticing the sale as I'm in the market. Guess that is like anything. 

For the price of 3 windows I can get with the Bali/Costco deal where my local store Blinds to Go is offering I can get 1. That is pretty significant. I'm just not familiar with either Smartthings or the Polisy yet. Maybe time to start looking at Polisy and understand it better. 

[sdynak]

12 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said:

Bali isn't a bad choice. I enjoyed mine when I had them. Lutron is much smoother and quieter than Bali (or anyone else for that matter). You do pay for that however. 

With that said, depending on desires, it's worth looking at. Depending on need, you could always hold off to save for them depending on cost difference for your windows.

 Thanks.. I'll be sure to check them out. 

[sdynak]

So I ended up going with Bali & the premium remote as the sale was significant based on other brands. Should be here next week. 

I would like to include these in the ISY for now and open to future options.

One thing that I'm wondering is I see some comments about adding in the remote as a controller as this post suggests.

I guess I was wondering.. does the remote have to be included or will the blinds work just adding in the motors into the ISY?

 Anyone have experience with this? Since I am getting 1 remote that would operate multiple blinds I'm just wondering how that would impact the ISY. 

Thanks..

Edited February 12, 2022 by sdynak