Wiring for blinds yes or no?

[u/OppositionWorker]

We are in the middle of a pretty extensive renovation project. Most walls are open. Budget wise we were thinking of manual shades/blinds, but I absolutely despise opening and closing them all the time and motorizing them is something I always wanted to do.

Should we put in the wiring yes or no? It's pretty cheap to do it now, it would be crazy expensive to do in the future. Problem is: where do we hide the wire until we install the motorized blinds? Which kind of wires would you put in that's future proof enough? For those of you that wired them, was it worth it?

Also, our house is in a pretty urban area. Most of my neighbors have alarms on their windows, should we put twice as much wire while at it??

Thank you!

[u/cameheretosaythis213]

If you do it now you won’t regret it but if you don’t do it now you know you will….

Personally I pulled 5 core mains wiring to all windows. Wish I’d pulled cat6 with it.

I also skipped 1 window and that window will forever annoy me

[u/endre_szabo]

If nothing else, install a conduit (with a pull wire) that ends on the outside window frame coming down from the top of the insulation. My apartment came with this and I was so happy that I didn't have to deal with unknown or wrong type of preinstalled cables.

I ended up wiring standard 3 wire (L+N+PE) power and used shellies to control the blinds. They work fine for the past 3 years and I did not regret installing them. I can set them to any position.

Automations: if the window is open and it starts to rain: close the blinds.

If the blinds are down and someone opens the window (to vent air for example) raise the blinds half-way. If they close the window, restore it to the previous position.

If there's a wind gust over 70 kph: raise the blinds fully (if window is closed).

And there are other time-of-day based automations for different rooms.

[u/MechanizedGander → u/endre_szabo]

Yes. Install conduit now, wire installation can come later.

Not only on every window, but also the doors. Besides wiring for automated windows, you can also easily wire door/window sensors.

For the windows, you can terminate the conduit near the top right or left inside the window frame. For the doors, behind the upper door casing.

Where else do you want hardwired connections? Think about future placement of sensors (motion), Wireless access points, behind TVs, behind/ under cabinets, between floors (including attic and basement), camers, exterior holiday lights, etc. If you don't wire these while the walls are down, at least run conduit.

[u/kokosgt]

Ther's no reason not to do it, so I don't understand the question. As to where to hide it - ask the guy who's doing the renovation. Show him where you want both ends to be exposed and he'll advise you. Any 2-wire cable will do. I used standard 2x0.75 mm cable.

[u/Livinginmygirlsworld]

I'd pull cat 6 to each window from a central location where you could in the future add power or fancier controls.

As for how to hide the wire.

I would just have a dedicated location where you have a 1/2" hole in the king/trim stud pull wire through to edge and secure. Leave a bunch of slack in the wall. When its time to find the wire you should know exactly where all the holes are because they should be in the same spot for each. Cut

[u/VA3DPrinter]

To each their own but if you have an outlet directly under the windows that worked for me. My blinds are battery/zigbee and I need to charge them once every 6 months. I just plug the cord in before work and remove it when I get home. No need for power to each window.

Edit: the outlet has 2x USB-C in it which is what the blinds use.

[u/Puzzled-Impress-1533]

If the walls are open just run the wire, you'll kick yourself later if you don't

tuck it behind the window casing with a blank plate over the box, nobody will ever notice it. and for future-proofing I'd just pull 16/2 or 18/2 low voltage to each window, that'll cover most motorized shade systems and it's easy to swap later if standards change. as for the alarm wire, run it while you can, doubling up now costs almost nothing compared to fishing it through finished walls

[u/beneficialBern → u/Puzzled-Impress-1533]

Pull 16/4 not 2 you need two wires for power and two for control.

[u/EggComprehensive5469 → u/beneficialBern]

Depends on the type on control.

[u/nashkara → u/Puzzled-Impress-1533]

I pulled 18/4 stranded to all of my windows and it was a great decision. Highly recommend. 

[u/OppositionWorker → u/Puzzled-Impress-1533]

Blank plate over the box? Which box?

[u/Cloudy_Automation → u/OppositionWorker]

I assume he meant a standard 1 gang electrical box.

[u/Successful-Money4995]

Pull wire for PoE.

[u/krokgamingyt]

Go ahead and run the wiring now, even if you wait on the motors. It's a small cost now for the flexibility to automate later, and you'll avoid having to tear into walls twice.

[u/nds-now]

I've been thinking about this for ours. I was considering running cat 6 to each window, with some slack in the wall, and then terminating it by attaching the end to a plastic cap that I could use to pull it through later. Like one of those coax pass-through bushings the cable company uses on both sides of a wall penetration. I figure if I put it up high, it will be hidden by whatever blind we use if we don't end up buying a smart option right away.

https://images.thdstatic.com/productImages/c563ff0f-8e98-4be5-9e7c-69f228d0ab26/svn/commercial-electric-electrical-staples-coax-bush-wh-64_600.jpg

[u/matthewjd1985]

Run it while the walls are open, and before the drywall goes up take photos of every wall with a tape measure in the shot. Years later when you finally buy the motors you'll know where the wire is and won't be cutting holes looking for it.

[u/Fluffy_Accountant_39]

I’ve had my Lutron shades in multiple rooms for about 3 1/2 years, and have yet to change a battery. They are running on automations that change the settings about five times a day.

So I wouldn’t be too fearful of not having wired runs, but it also could depend on whether or not those batteries would be accessible. For example, it’s the windows are located very high up, then that might be a different story.

[u/AngryFace4]

My battery lasts like 6 months or more… I don’t really see the need to run hardwires to my windows.

That said, check your budget because even cheap motorized blinds run high.

[u/Wblkitty01]

I’ve got wired windows and a home automation system now. More of a mixed bag than you think - some real advantages as others have mentioned, but not the be all. If you have windows that open, you need cut alarms on the screens, which is hard to maintain via wire - wireless systems are so good now ( multimodal with anti hack tech only) that you may find that you only need it for certain windows. More importantly- if the walls are open, run fiber for cameras and a home network - much better use of the $$.