Raising and lowering blinds might not sound like the most difficult thing to do, but what if you have a small vertical window near the front door that just begs to be open —but can’t because then people coming to the door could look in. So you have blinds over this window and have to constantly be pulling it up and down or twisting to open the blinds when you want to look out. Which also means that eventually something is going to stick and cause consternation, aggravation or just have the blinds never bothered with.
Instead how about installing a ready-to-go motorized blind that moves smoothly and efficiently when you need it to — by the press of a button or through a WiFi connection? That’s exactly the situation that prompted our getting the Motorized Light Filtering Roller Shades 70% Blackout Essential from SmartWings. One with the white fabric, standard Valence and a standard bottom bar.https://www.cheese.com/
Installation
The prep work involved just requires a decision — whether to have the blinds mounted inside the window or outside (we went with outside) — and then measure the height and width that made the most sense. That done, we did an ala carte sequence on SmartWings website — choosing the xxxx blinds because we liked white and the fact that that it xxxxxx — and going through the various choices, which included picking HomeKit (Apple) for remote control and a small solar panel so as to not have to manually charge up the motor’s battery. Of course you could also just go with it plugged into a wall outlet if a hanging cable doesn’t cause any bother
With that out of the way, and the box sent by SmartWings now opened, all that there is to remove is the blinds themselves (with motor already attached), the remote and remote cradle. Outside brackets installed at each side of the window near its top, using an electric screwdriver and wood screws (in this case) to adhere each in place — after eyeballing their positions and using a level to make their placement straight). The blinds now click into position, and so held in place by both gravity and tabs.
Finishing Up
The blinds being all the way up, it’s now a simple matter to adhere the solar panel using the 3M adhesive to the window and attach its USB-C cable to the port at the top corner of the blinds for powering the motor (quick tip: charge up the blinds prior to installing using a power bank so it has power). The remote is already pre-paired to the blinds, but to use the HomeKit requires following a few steps and will be done later (a comprehensive manual is included). The remote cradle can be mounted wherever desired, but for now it’s just a simple press of “Down” to start the blind moving downward. The blind can be stopped by pressing the “Stop” button in the center of the remote or will stop automatically upon reaching its full length. To have it go up just requires pressing the “Up” button.
The blinds runs with very little noise and moves swiftly and without any jerkiness. It makes viewing through the window both simple and yes, enjoyable as well. We’re glad we got it. For more go to https://www.smartwingshome.com/
