What are motorized curtains?

Motorized curtains, as the name suggests, are curtains that are opened and shut with a motor rather than by hand. Typically, a battery or plug-in motor powers the automatic curtains. And because the motor is hidden behind the drapes or curtain rod, nobody except the homeowner will know it is there.

Because the process is automated, there is almost no manual labour involved. Although opening and shutting curtains isn’t a particularly strenuous task, this automation greatly benefits elderly homeowners and those with physical disabilities. But the real value in motorized curtains comes from the ability to integrate into a smart home system via an app, or through voice-activation with Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant.

Benefits of remote control drapes

Convenience.

The most obvious benefit of an automatic curtain is convenience. Rather than having to tug on curtains, or manually adjust them to the perfect position, you can let a battery-powered or electric motor do the work for you. So, there is a significant ergonomic improvement from this automation. 

Along with a decreased physical workload, there is also increased functional convenience. You can set your curtains to open/close on a timer, or control them when you are away from home with an app.

Security.

Shutting the blinds can be a great security feature, as it prevents outsiders from seeing what is happening inside your home. Being able to open and shut the blinds remotely can take home security to the next level. When vacationing, one challenging aspect of home security is trying to hide from the neighborhood the fact that your house is sitting empty day after day. If you leave the porch light on, it wastes electricity all through the day. If you leave the exterior lights off, the house looks empty in the evenings and may become an easy target for break-ins. By setting a timer, or adjusting curtains remotely with an app, your house can appear occupied even when you are out-of-town.

Energy efficiency.

Technically, it is energy-inefficient to use a motorized curtain rather than manual. But this expenditure of energy is minimal. The real benefit comes from easily opening/shutting the curtains in response to sunlight. Mobile phone apps and/or timers allow you to schedule the behaviors of the automatic curtains. So, in cold weather, you can set your curtains to open during times of sunlight exposure to allow for natural heating. And in warm weather, you just do the opposite — close the curtains to prevent the sun from heating your house.

Smart home integration.

As smart home devices get more sophisticated, our expectations continue to increase. A few decades ago, security cameras were devices made for museums and the ultra-wealthy, but impractical for us normal people. Now, for less than the price of a nice dinner, we can purchase a home security system so sophisticated that it sends you alerts even if you are thousands of miles away. Voice-activated devices were also considered futuristic not many years ago. Now, we use them to make phone calls or change the channel on our TVs.

All of this is to say that our homes continue to get smarter. Being able to lock doors and control lights remotely is becoming commonplace. So it only makes sense that controlling blinds and windows remotely is the next step in the smart home revolution. Depending on the model of motorized curtains, you can use a remote control, voice commands, a wall switch, a timer, or an app to open and close the curtains.