Ever since I installed z-wave dimmers I have wanted a z-wave motor for the curtain over my sliding glass back door. I did some research, and found that there is a remarkable lack of polished consumer products in the USA for controlling curtains via z-wave. Mostly you have to DIY it with parts from China it seems, or get one that doesn't support z-wave. Recently I finally found links in a forum somewhere to a place in the USA building custom z-wave drapery tracks. http://www.zwavemotors.com/
They don't have an online ordering system and they don't publish a price chart. Normally either of these would be completely adequate reasons for me to look elsewhere, but in this case I didn't have much choice so I shot them an email. We exchanged emails for a while, including pics of my sliding glass door and a discussion of installation requirements and the appropriate track length. I called them for a final discussion and ended up ordering a 90.5 inch track (FYI apparently 96 inches is the limit for UPS shipments or something, and I guess shipping cost goes up after?). It cost I think $385 plus UPS ground shipping from Florida for a total of $430 USD shipped. An equivalent DIY solution is probably less than $300, but since I already have enough hobbies without adding motorized drapery tracks to the list, it is worth it to me to pay a little extra and get a more-or-less finished product without any hassle. If I understood correctly, the power cord is just a pigtail and I'm not sure yet if that means it has a standard plug on it or if it is just wires like on a Dahua PTZ camera. Either way I have a heavy duty extension cord ready that will do the job nicely.
I'll post pictures and perhaps a video in the next day or two.
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Update: It arrived and I just finished installing it.
It did require me to cut the end off my extension cord and wire nut the appropriate wires together. The motor has a green, white, and black wire, which I connected to the Ground, neutral, and hot wires on the extension cord.
I set my Vera controller to listen for new basic z-wave devices, then power cycled the motor and shortly after it was done calibrating it appeared on the Vera. Effortless!
The curtain can be sent to a % position down the track in 10% increments, or fully opened or closed with one click. If you're standing next to it, you can give the curtain a tug to the left or right to start the motor.
These guys make the tracks in just about any length and window configuration. Check them out if you are interested in this sort of thing!
So far I am very happy with the purchase!
They don't have an online ordering system and they don't publish a price chart. Normally either of these would be completely adequate reasons for me to look elsewhere, but in this case I didn't have much choice so I shot them an email. We exchanged emails for a while, including pics of my sliding glass door and a discussion of installation requirements and the appropriate track length. I called them for a final discussion and ended up ordering a 90.5 inch track (FYI apparently 96 inches is the limit for UPS shipments or something, and I guess shipping cost goes up after?). It cost I think $385 plus UPS ground shipping from Florida for a total of $430 USD shipped. An equivalent DIY solution is probably less than $300, but since I already have enough hobbies without adding motorized drapery tracks to the list, it is worth it to me to pay a little extra and get a more-or-less finished product without any hassle. If I understood correctly, the power cord is just a pigtail and I'm not sure yet if that means it has a standard plug on it or if it is just wires like on a Dahua PTZ camera. Either way I have a heavy duty extension cord ready that will do the job nicely.
I'll post pictures and perhaps a video in the next day or two.
----------------------------------------------------------
Update: It arrived and I just finished installing it.
It did require me to cut the end off my extension cord and wire nut the appropriate wires together. The motor has a green, white, and black wire, which I connected to the Ground, neutral, and hot wires on the extension cord.
I set my Vera controller to listen for new basic z-wave devices, then power cycled the motor and shortly after it was done calibrating it appeared on the Vera. Effortless!
The curtain can be sent to a % position down the track in 10% increments, or fully opened or closed with one click. If you're standing next to it, you can give the curtain a tug to the left or right to start the motor.
These guys make the tracks in just about any length and window configuration. Check them out if you are interested in this sort of thing!
So far I am very happy with the purchase!
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