Starting to convert my Attic Space.... VELUX Active.

Window and Shade Remotes supplied.

 My attic space is quite high, and runs the length of the entire house. One end used to be where the water tanks were, but those are all gone now.  The rest has already been converted in the lat 1980's. What a perfect opportunity to convert into an ensuite master bedroom. This is going to take a while, and a number of things have to be done. One of those things is around the Velux Windows.

We have two windows on the North facing side, and one on the South facing side. The sun streams through the South facing window in the summer and makes the attic space very hot, over 30C. 

Fortunately, Velux had partnered with Netatmo to add Apple Home and Google Home integrations to Velux Active which means I can control integrated blinds and automatically opening and closing the window to let fresh air in.

One of the great things about Velux is that don't change their windows too much. You can get an awful lot of info from a plate that is attached to each window, including the age. Mine were made in 1988. However, when I contacted an installer I was told my windows were too old to retro-fit a kit. Well, that is no longer the case.

Motorised Window Kit

Basically, there are 2 motorised window kits powered by solar cells:

• Feb 2014 and later and (KSX 100K WW)
• Apr 1986 to Jan 2000 (KSX 100 WW)

It goes without saying that the kit for the later windows is going to be easier to install. I ordered the correct kit for my window, which is self-install.

Basically, it consists of :

• 2 base plates, 
• Solar Panel, 
• Motor,
• Battery,
• 3 cables.
• Remote Switch
• Some screws
• A drill bit
• Torx wrench
• Cleaning Pad
• Alcohol Wipe.
• Instructions

You can do everything from inside, so you just need a not rainy day.

Doing the initial installation was easy. This is just adding the Solar Panel and Rain Sensor to the flashing on the roof. All went according to plan.

1. Clean the flashing above the window.
2. Select correct base plate, depending on your window
3. Add double sided sticky tape to base plate
4. Stick base plate to Flashing at top of window, inset by 25mm (That's about 1" to our non-metric friends)
5. Add Solar Panel and slide over and it locks into place.
6. Run cable inside.

Velux Solar Panel and Rain Sensor.

Well that was all nice and easy. What could go wrong?

Well the instructions are a bit like a cross between Ikea and Lego, with a little bit of language.

I got to Step 4

OK, I don't have a screen profile so skip step 5 and go to 6a/6b

6a. I don't have a centre strike plate. That must mean I'm 6b.... but it says this is for window size B04, which my window is not. I have a GGL - 4, which means my window is a size 4. Similar, but not the same.

I went on line to find video instructions, but the only ones I could find were for the kit for recent windows.

In the end, what did it for me was that with 6b, it is for when you have two catches.... so I followed those instructions and all the holes lined up perfectly. This had other impacts later, such as the cables to use to connect everything up, but if you use your common sense, then it all comes together.

Installed Motor.

You can see the motor at the top of the frame, and the Battery is to the right.

Above, you can actually see the window close. If you want to, you can still manually operate the window just as you used to.

The remote comes factory paired with the Window motor.

Adding Solar Powered Blinds.

This was very simple, and required me to install 2 clips at the top of the window, click on the blinds. and then click on and the side covers and screw them to the window frame. I think this took me about 15 minutes. The Solar panel is on the back of the blinds.

Above, you can see the blinds close.

Adding Velux Active.

Velux Active is where you can add your window and blinds to Apple Home or Google Home. However, it also has some smarts of its own.

It's all quite easy to set up. You need the Velux Active Controller which talks a io-homecontrol protocol to all of the Velux devices and then uses WiFi to talk to the Smart Home.

As usual, it uses a QR code to set up with Apple Home.

Adding Velux product is also very simple, it talks to the switch provided with the product and discovers it and adds it, You then just have to give it usual information, such as a name and location. It will then appear in Apple Home.

It also adds some sensors to the room.

Unfortunately, we don't see the rain sensor as that is not supported by Apple Home :-(

Automation

I'm a big fan of doing all of your automation in one place, but VELUX Active makes it so simple, I'm breaking the rule. Why spend time to work out how to do all of the things that Velux have already done? Smart Home is supposed to be about convenience, isn't it?

The Main screen is very uncluttered. Here we can see some standard scenes, just like Apple Home. It shows me the rooms I've set up. I only have the attic. We can also see the temperature in the attic is 22.4°C. By clicking on that:

We can easily see the status of the Attic. Not really anything that Apple Home can't do. However, if you notice the window that says "Schedule & Automations", and select that.

You can see which automations I already have set up, but what I don't have is to close the shades at night. By pressing the "Plus" at the bottom and selecting it from a list of pre-programmed automations, it is now added.

If you have an automation that opens a window, if it rains, then the window will be automatically closed. All of this is perfect for windows that are often in the roof of your house... 2 floors or more above you!