Motorisation

Where it stops being a luxury

On a stairwell window four metres up. On a run of six matching windows along a formal elevation, where hand-operating them means they are never level. On anything external — venetians, roller shutters, zip screens — where the shading has to respond to weather rather than to you remembering. And in any room where a chain would hang within reach of a small child.

Battery, wired, or solar

Rechargeable lithium tube motors have made retrofitting simple: no chasing, no electrician, a charge every several months depending on use. Wired motors are the right answer in a renovation, where power can be run to the head of the window while the ceiling is open. Small solar panels can keep an external or high-level blind topped up where neither is easy.

Control that stays sensible

• Handheld remote and wall switch as the base — simple, and they work when the internet does not.
• Timers and astronomical clocks: close before the sun hits the glass, open at first light.
• Sun and wind sensors on external shading, so an awning or screen protects itself.
• Bridge to the common smart-home systems where the household already runs one.
• Group control — one button for a whole elevation, which is the reason most people motorise in the first place.

Honest note

Motorisation adds cost per window, so we do not push it everywhere. A guest bathroom does not need a motor. We will usually recommend motorising the windows that are hard to reach, the ones on the sun side, and anything external — and leaving the rest on a chain.

What motorisation costs

Motorisation has no price of its own, because what you are buying is a product with a motor in it. Across what is fitted here that means roughly R2,500 to R7,500 per square metre installed: a motorised roller blind at R2,500 to R3,800, a motorised timber venetian at R3,000 to R4,500, a motorised concealed box at R3,200 to R5,000, and a motorised external venetian at R4,500 to R6,500.

A minimum charge applies to small openings whatever the control, and dropping a rechargeable battery motor into a finished room is not the same job as wiring one in during a renovation. Which one your house needs, and what each window comes to, is decided at the free measure and put in writing.