Motorised blinds are not one product. They are a motor, a power source and a control, chosen for a particular window. Get those three choices right and the technology disappears into the room. Get one wrong and you have a blind that needs charging at the worst moment, or a remote nobody can find. This is how we specify them, after 25 years of fitting blinds in Cape Town homes.
Start with the window, not the motor
The first question is not which motor. It is which windows will earn it. Motorisation pays for itself on glass that is hard to reach or tiresome to operate by hand:
- Tall or high windows: double-volume living rooms, stairwells, glass above a kitchen counter, skylights.
- Wide sliding doors: one wide blind on a chain is heavy work; on a motor it is one press.
- Rooms with several blinds: an open-plan living area with five or six windows is where a single remote or a schedule changes how you use the room.
- Bedrooms with early sun: a blockout blind that opens itself at seven is a better alarm than any phone.
- Homes with children: a motorised blind has no cord or chain. Nothing to tangle, nothing to pull.
A small bathroom window on a standard chain rarely needs a motor. Spend the budget where it changes daily life, and leave the rest manual. Mixing the two in one home is normal.
Choose the power
Every motorised blind runs on one of three power sources. This is the decision that matters most, because it is the one that is hard to change later.
| Power | Best for | Think about |
|---|---|---|
| Rechargeable battery | Existing homes, apartments, any window with no wiring nearby. Indoor rollers, cellular and Vision blinds. | Charge roughly once a year on normal use; a charge takes about six hours. No electrician needed. |
| Battery with a solar panel | Sunny, north- or west-facing windows and outdoor blinds. The panel keeps the battery topped up. | Needs real daylight on the panel. A discreet strip on the glass or the outside of the cassette. |
| Mains (AC) | Large or heavy blinds, outdoor screens, curtain tracks and anything that moves many times a day. Quieter and never needs charging. | Wiring has to be concealed, so plan it during a build or renovation and allow for an electrician. |
In practice most indoor blinds in Cape Town go on a rechargeable battery motor, outdoor blinds and big living-room glass go on mains, and solar fills the gap where there is sun but no plug. The Somfy motorised blinds we fit are available in all three.
Choose the control
Power moves the blind. Control is how you tell it to. You can combine these, and you can add the later ones at any time.
- Handheld remote: the default. A multi-channel remote runs each blind alone or all of them at once. Keep it where the family will actually find it.
- Wall switch: fixed, obvious, never lost. Good for guest rooms and for homes where several people use the room.
- App and schedules: open the bedroom blinds at seven, drop the west-facing screens at three, close everything at dusk. This is the point at which a motorised blind becomes a smart blind.
- Voice: through a smart-home hub the blinds answer to Google Home or Amazon Alexa. Useful with your hands full; not essential.
Our advice: start with a remote on every motorised blind, add the hub and app when you want schedules. Nothing has to be decided on day one.
Which blinds can be motorised
Almost any blind we make. The ones we motorise most often:
- Roller blinds in blockout, light-filter and screen fabrics. The most common motorised blind in Cape Town homes, and the one you can design and order online with a wire-free motor.
- Double roller and Vision blinds: two fabrics in one headrail, privacy by day and blockout by night, all on one motor.
- Outdoor blinds: Zip X and free-hang screens on a patio are large and exposed, which is exactly where a motor earns its keep.
- Curtain tracks: a motorised ripple or wave track moves a full-width curtain silently, made in our own workroom and fitted by our team.
What motorised blinds cost
Two routes, two price structures.
Order online, fit it yourself. In the roller blind designer you can add a Louvolite One Touch wire-free motor: R4,262 per blind up to 4 m², or R5,022 up to 9 m². One 16-channel remote covers the whole order at R1,584.70, charged once. It is rechargeable and child-safe, and it arrives ready to fit with our measure-and-fit guide. We courier anywhere in South Africa.
Measured and fitted by us in Cape Town. Somfy motors, including mains and solar, are quoted per window after a free in-home measure, because the right motor depends on the size and weight of the blind and on where the power is. Fitting is R200 per blind plus a once-off R850 call-out per visit. Every price we quote includes VAT and is on the quote before you commit.
For the cost of the blind itself, our South African blinds price guide lists real from-prices for every product.
Power cuts and load-shedding
Worth saying plainly. A battery or solar motor keeps working through a power cut. A mains motor waits for the power to come back. If one blind in the house must move no matter what, put that one on a battery. For the rest, mains is still the better choice on large glass.
Fitting, warranty and after-care
We are an authorised Somfy Expert, which means our installers are trained on the system and set every motor’s limits, speed and channels on the day. Motorisation carries a 5-year warranty, and the blind itself its usual cover, running from the installation date. Battery motors are charged with a small plug-in charger; we show you where the charging point is before we leave.
A five-point checklist
- List the windows where a motor changes daily life. Leave the rest manual.
- Pick the power per window: battery for most indoor blinds, mains for large or outdoor blinds, solar where there is sun but no plug.
- Start with a remote; add app and voice later if you want schedules.
- Decide what the blind must do during a power cut.
- Book a free measure. The motor is sized to the finished blind, so the measure comes first.
Motorised blinds: your questions
Battery or mains: which is better for motorised blinds?
Battery for most indoor blinds in an existing home: no wiring, a charge about once a year. Mains for large or heavy blinds, outdoor screens and curtain tracks, where the motor works harder and should never need charging. Solar sits between the two, keeping a battery topped up on a sunny window.
Can my existing blinds be motorised?
Often, yes. A roller blind’s tube can usually take a motor in place of the chain mechanism, provided the tube and brackets suit the motor. We check this at the free measure and tell you honestly whether to motorise the blind you have or replace it.
How long does the battery last?
About a year on normal use, longer on a blind that moves once a day. Recharging takes around six hours with the plug-in charger. A solar panel removes the charging altogether on a window that gets sun.
Do motorised blinds work during load-shedding?
Battery and solar motors do. A mains motor stops until the power returns. If a blind must move during an outage, specify a battery motor for that window.
How much do motorised blinds cost in South Africa?
Online, a Louvolite wire-free motor adds R4,262 to a roller blind up to 4 m² or R5,022 up to 9 m², plus R1,584.70 once for a 16-channel remote. Somfy motors fitted by our team in Cape Town are quoted per window after a free measure. All prices include VAT.
Do you fit motorised blinds outside Cape Town?
Our measure-and-fit service covers greater Cape Town. Elsewhere in South Africa you can order a motorised roller blind online; we make it to your size and courier it, and you fit it with our guide.
Ready to specify motorised blinds?
In Cape Town we measure free, quote exactly and fit every motor ourselves. Elsewhere, order a motorised roller blind online.
Book a free measure →