Electric roller shutters with astro sensor

Gira offers an astro switch that, like others, has a calculation routine for the sun position. We have one of these as a central unit per floor. Each roller shutter then has its own switch for direct operation. The astro switch is connected there as a "Nebenstelle". The Gira astro switch also has a presence simulation.

I have Somfy Tahoma and there are several ways to control the shutters! Either through the aforementioned sunrise and sunset function in the calendar, or via Solaris io, wind rain and sun sensor "I don't have it yet, it will come eventually."

I created dozens of scenarios, but at some point you realize they collide with my times. Either I’m still sleeping and the shutters wake me up, or the astro function is useless because it’s already dark and raining outside. Or I get up earlier and have to open them manually because the sun rises in 30 minutes.

Currently, I only use the closing function of all shutters around 6 p.m. or when we leave the house as additional burglary protection.

And other gimmicks like e.g. smoke detectors, but I only have one per floor because simply too expensive or incompatible.

Example, garage door control costs 100 euros extra because it’s from Hörmann. The Somfy motor costs over 50% more though.

Or infrared heating as an addition in the bathroom I recently installed and also control with scenarios, but had to take the detour via enocean which cost about 60 euros for an actuator and about 60 euros for the expansion of the Somfy box.

You might as well install a bus system; in the end, it isn’t much more expensive.

You might as well install a bus system right away, in the end it's not much more expensive

That really sounds almost like that. We're talking about new construction, so why plan with crutches in advance. Can someone assess this, maybe? Perhaps an example of what KNX components would cost just for roller shutter control?

As soon as one desires some automation... bus systems become immediately attractive... that is exactly why such things were invented and not to rip money out of the average consumer’s pocket.

What is certain: If further functions and intervention options are planned beyond a simple astro function, a bus system is cheaper than conventional installation.

We have retrospectively converted from "normal" roller shutter switches to "Thor" from Jarolift throughout the entire ground floor, so that the shutters automatically go up at 7 a.m. and go down in the evening via astrophase (the sunset time is determined using the [postal code]). In summer, we operate the associated sun sensors so that the shutters go down when the sun shines directly on the large living room windows, preventing the rooms from heating up too much.

In the bedroom (and the other rooms on the top floor) we have not installed timers, because on weekends we do not want a bright bedroom at 7 a.m. anyway. Besides, I always pass by the roller shutter switch when I go to the bathroom, so operating it is not a big effort.

On the ground floor, however, I find this type of roller shutter control pleasant, since you do not have to walk through all the rooms every morning and evening to raise or lower the shutters. Moreover, during vacation or late returns, you do not have to ask anyone to raise and lower the shutters so that burglars cannot tell from open shutters that you are on vacation.

Certainly, a central control installation during construction would have made sense, but it would probably have exceeded our small budget and therefore was not even considered. Our timers now cost €40 per switch and were retrofitted gradually. For €240 we would never have gotten a KNX, bus, or whatever solution, but we are completely satisfied with our savings version and it could be installed quickly and easily by ourselves.