So back on blogging again. It took some time to write something over here, the last posts are reposted of the Come Get IT episodes. We already have created more episodes that I need to repost ;-).

If you follow me on Linked-in than you can read that I’m involved as a technical project manager in the search and investigation team ICT for the COVID-19 pandemic. A very dynamic job, not leaded by deadlines of management but leaded how the pandemics involves. This means that a lot of my time is going in my work. I also study at this moment but I’ll write later on this.

Now the fun part

In the past I have build a smart home. I have used a lot of components from different vendors to my home, to make it smart.
In future blogs I will write more about my smart home setup.

For now, I will update you with my latest investment. Smart Curtains from Switchbot!

I have ordered these components to make my living room curtains smarter. When you click on the products you can buy them by yourself.

The installation.

When the package arrives I want to install these curtains motors direct on my U rail curtains rail. But be aware… when you look to videos on YouTube it looks that you can install them directly. But I let them charche for 4 hours to have full batteries.

After the charging has completed, I can pair them in the Switchbot app.
In the time that you have to wait for the charging, you can setup a personal account and configure the app.

The video’s that are shared on the internet help me a lot with the installation and configuration.

The configuration.

Let me first start with the configuration of the mini hub.
This small peace of equipment is very easy to configure. Put some power on it, configure it to your home network (2.4Ghz is preferred). And now you have a lot of options to use your Switchbot components from the internet.

From this moment you can pair the curtain motors also and calibrate the curtains.

When the curtains are configured you can setup some automations in the Switchbot app, but I want to use Homekit natively so I have to pair my curtains to Homebridge.

Homebridge setup

Download the “Homebridge SwitchBot” plugin from the plugin install page.
To connect the Switchbot hub with Homebridge Generate an Open Token within the App

  • Click Bottom Profile Tab
  • Click Preference
  • Click App version 10 Times, this will enable Developer Options
  • Click Developer Options
  • Click Copy to Clipboard
  • Input your Token into the config parameter
  • Restart HomeBridge
  • Done

From this moment, you can manage your curtains with Homekit and with your voice. I have integrated the curtains in my common used scenes.

Video

I have also created a video about my smart curtains. You will find this on my channel and in this blog. The video is in Dutch.
But gives you also some tips.

Do it Yourself

If you can read this blog, it is very easy to setup these curtains. With the products below you can start easy with building your smart home. It is possible to extend your smart home with extra accessories. But for now, here you have my shopping list with the components I have ordered to make my curtains smart

The Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF)

I have three ladies in house, and my daughter of 6 is using her voice for closing and opening the curtains. Very lovely. So I increased the Smarthome that even my wife is happy.

Good luck!