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$30 Homebrew Automated Blinds Opener (2024)

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Re: $30 Homebrew Automated Blinds Opener (2024)

#61

Post by tasuki »

AnotherGoodName wrote: post #7

Fwiw automated blinds in the bedroom are a 100% no brainer benefit. It's wonderful and better than an alarm clock with 0 mental load (set the times to open close across the week once and then never think about them again, you can keep the weekend manual if you like). As in a lot of home automation actually makes things worse. Replacing a convenient light switch with an app? 100% terrible idea and actually makes thing…

> Do it! One of those life hacks that's really not that expensive and makes your life better with 0 cognitive load after initial setup.

I'd love to, actually. But where do I even start? How to choose the solution? I have some old blinds which leak a lot of light and wouldn't mind replacing them. Guess my only hard requirement is for the blinds not to connect to the internet.

Re: $30 Homebrew Automated Blinds Opener (2024)

#62

Post by js373054 »

If you want something less jank I suggest this https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2071225

3d printed gear box with a servo that sits inline with the shaft. Invisible outside of the blinds if you route the cables correctly.

I controll mine with esphome and home assistant rock solid for years

Re: $30 Homebrew Automated Blinds Opener (2024)

#63

Post by sokka_h2otribe »

danielheath wrote: post #54
ojame wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure what country you're from, but "blockout blinds" are likely what you're looking for. They blockout (essentially) all light and are operated like normal blinds.

Have never seen blockout blinds which stop enough light during the day - they leak enough to be comparable to a reading lamp, since outdoors is so bright.

Mounted internal to the window frame, not external, works better for me. Internal can ride tighter to the window, so light can't go out the edges. With external frame mounting, you need much wider shades.

If the fabric itself isn't blocking light... You need better material. I have only ever had problem with light leakage in the edges, not in the fabric material.

I believe 'blackout thermal shades' is what to look for.

Re: $30 Homebrew Automated Blinds Opener (2024)

#64

Post by SchemaLoad »

robocat wrote: post #57
KennyBlanken wrote: post #37

"I doubled up the relays feeding the main motor and the heating coil, which gives a lot more headroom on the amperage" ...That's not how that works. One of the relays is going to close first, and those set of contacts will take all the load. Similarly, one set is going to bear all the drama from breaking the connection (and with the motor, there's inductive kickback.) The correct way to do this is to look up the moto…

> Don't fuck with mains / appliances / HVAC / household water supply if you don't know what you're doing. This guy has no fucking idea what he's doing A little OTT. How do people learn to maintain their house or learn to hack improvements? Should we all have your expertise? Perhaps you think paying a qualified installer would be better? Any work on your home or car or whatever runs risks. Making mistakes is often an…

>How do people learn to maintain their house or learn to hack improvements?

You don't when it comes to mains electric. You hire an electrician who learned through study, training and certification rather than just proding things until it either works or kills you.

Play around with low voltage power all you want but leave mains voltage alone.

Re: $30 Homebrew Automated Blinds Opener (2024)

#65

Post by robocat »

SchemaLoad wrote: post #64
robocat wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Don't fuck with mains / appliances / HVAC / household water supply if you don't know what you're doing. This guy has no fucking idea what he's doing A little OTT. How do people learn to maintain their house or learn to hack improvements? Should we all have your expertise? Perhaps you think paying a qualified installer would be better? Any work on your home or car or whatever runs risks. Making mistakes is often an…

>How do people learn to maintain their house or learn to hack improvements? You don't when it comes to mains electric. You hire an electrician who learned through study, training and certification rather than just proding things until it either works or kills you. Play around with low voltage power all you want but leave mains voltage alone.

I live in a 240 Volt country with reasonably strong regulations.

Yet I'm regularly having to identify and resolve electrical safety issues because other people create risks. Sometimes issues are historical, or have developed over time.

Some of those risks are created by qualified and licensed people.

The most recent: a licensed electrician putting a female supply plug on a friend's bus (I think because he knows houses have female sockets) and then suggesting taking the power supply lead and replacing the female connector with a male one (male to male leads are rather unsafe and illegal for good reason and the friends were skeptical).

I see people that have done the study, training and certification create serious risks. So I don't blindly trust study, training and certification for my safety or safety of those I care for. I do use professionals but I'm very careful when choosing who to trust (for more than just electricity, water and gas).

We learn how to do things correctly because of our own interest in risks. I appreciated the comment because they didn't just say "don't", they also explained the engineering reasons for saying "don't".

However I am a risk-taker, and I take risks that would likely shock you. I am somewhat careful to avoid creating risks for others (when there is a floor level of risk, you can't go below the floor).

It's a balance. The logical conclusion of your world-view is that we shouldn't do anything for ourselves!

Don't fix that leaky tap without training! Too risky. Good example since I lent my pipe wrenches to a friend and told her to have a go at replacing her tap. Very successful. It was outdoors so low risk?

> just proding things until it either works or kills you

I am not suggesting that strawman.

Re: $30 Homebrew Automated Blinds Opener (2024)

#66

Post by alright2565 »

js373054 wrote: post #62

If you want something less jank I suggest this https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2071225 3d printed gear box with a servo that sits inline with the shaft. Invisible outside of the blinds if you route the cables correctly. I controll mine with esphome and home assistant rock solid for years

If this is your model, would you mind making the first pic a picture of it installed? It's hard for me to visualize how it is supposed to work.

Re: $30 Homebrew Automated Blinds Opener (2024)

#67

Post by alright2565 »

robocat wrote: post #57
KennyBlanken wrote: post #37

"I doubled up the relays feeding the main motor and the heating coil, which gives a lot more headroom on the amperage" ...That's not how that works. One of the relays is going to close first, and those set of contacts will take all the load. Similarly, one set is going to bear all the drama from breaking the connection (and with the motor, there's inductive kickback.) The correct way to do this is to look up the moto…

> Don't fuck with mains / appliances / HVAC / household water supply if you don't know what you're doing. This guy has no fucking idea what he's doing A little OTT. How do people learn to maintain their house or learn to hack improvements? Should we all have your expertise? Perhaps you think paying a qualified installer would be better? Any work on your home or car or whatever runs risks. Making mistakes is often an…

For building mains devices, you should start by learning about creepage, clearance, double-insulation, the role of earth connections, the requirements for isolation between low voltage and high voltage, etc. Basically a good bit of electrical engineering.

This is different from what you need to know to do house wiring. That's done by following electrical code, which is basically a distillation of the engineering above into a set of relatively easy-to-follow rules.

Re: $30 Homebrew Automated Blinds Opener (2024)

#68

Post by corytheboyd »

danielheath wrote: post #53
foobarian wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The blinds shown under this article are pretty ordinary vinyl type blinds that leak a ton of light. I wish I could find blinds thick enough to behave like cardboard over windows, that could also be opened on a daily cadence. At this point I gave up on blinds and put a shirt over my eyes to sleep. I thought about just covering the windows permanently but I don't relish that idea.

You can get very nice sleep masks (padded, shaped to your head, etc) for under $30 online (or much less pleasant ones for a few dollars).

The tiniest amount of light will keep me from sleeping. Seriously. A neighbor can turn their lights on across the valley and if I have line of sight through a window, it’s over. I tried lots of things, and at long last, I found this mask that I absolutely swear by https://a.co/d/cDbUv9J

I lost it once, and bought two more, so that I would never be without one again. It’s the only sleep mask that works. It stays on all night. It does not leak light around the edges. Everything “shaped like your eyes” is a complete waste of time. This is the correct implementation of sleep mask, and I will never go back.

It’s super comfortable, and even slightly muffles noise since it wraps around your entire head. I do like the effect of good sealing ear plugs (Mack’s 31 Db only), but find them extremely uncomfortable to wear multiple days in a row. I’ll bring the Mack’s on vacation, just in case I am put next to an obnoxious snorer, there is very loud city noise all night, etc.

I don’t have issues sleeping in too late, because I actually get sleep with this thing, and after some time, I was just back on a normal rhythm, very consistently waking up at the same time.

I care deeply about sleep mask. Maybe it won’t work for everyone, but just in case it can help a single person, I am unloading my mask manifesto.

Re: $30 Homebrew Automated Blinds Opener (2024)

#70

Post by nickjantz »

alright2565 wrote: post #66
js373054 wrote: post #62

If you want something less jank I suggest this https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2071225 3d printed gear box with a servo that sits inline with the shaft. Invisible outside of the blinds if you route the cables correctly. I controll mine with esphome and home assistant rock solid for years

If this is your model, would you mind making the first pic a picture of it installed? It's hard for me to visualize how it is supposed to work.

Im not the person you’re asking but this looks like it sits inline to the actual shaft that turns the blinds. Not the pole that hangs down you turn by hand.

I looked at doing this exact thing and on my blinds there’s plenty of room in the top construction of the blinds to put a servo in there you would never see unless you’re looking for it. The rod itself was even not perfectly round so you could 3d print a shape to go around it very easily. I’m honestly shocked there’s not an aftermarket company already doing this exact thing.

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