SwitchBot Curtain 3 - Is it really that quiet?

I got the chance to install and setup the brand new SwitchBot Curtain 3 devices including solar panels! It didn't quite go to plan though....
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SwitchBot Curtain 3 (affiliate link): bit.ly/3sM4txp
Use code XMCURTAIN3 for 10% off (Valid time: 8/25/2023__11/30/2023)
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/ @larsklinttech
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Chapters:
0:00 What are we dealing with?
1:58 Curtain 3 features
3:05 Why automate curtains?
3:50 The first plan
5:19 A lot of unpacking
10:15 Second plan. RTFM.
11:14 Installing the Curtain 3 devices
11:45 How to they sit on the rod?
12:54 HA fail. First attempt at adoption into the app.
14:08 Second adoption attempt
15:58 Smart calibration
18:26 Custom calibration
19:49 First opening!
21:48 Solar panels
25:19 QuietDrift demo
27:57 Final plan for HA

[@robear0135]

Who was also screaming at their screen you have to close both curtains (as per the app) to calibrate.... 🤣

[@LarsKlintTech]

Hahaha, I am too now 😂 The pressure of recording, remembering everything, and then following instructions were too much for me 😂

[@robear0135]

@@LarsKlintTech In all fairness to you, the app could be a little clearer and actually stated in the wording to "now close the other curtain so both are closed before the next step" or similar. Keep doing what you do, I enjoy the videos immensely (although I dont need curtain openers) but I do have a lot of Home Assitant stuff happening.

[@LarsKlintTech]

Thanks mate. I could have edited it out, but I usually leave the mistakes in. It removes the "not sure if I could do it" feeling for a lot of people. I'm happy to take the laughs at my expense 😂

[@PCRoss2469]

It wants to Calibrate them together, the light is just so it knows which is left and right.

[@JaSeNoFaCe]

This was actually painful to watch this part.

[@LarsKlintTech]

Absolutely. I realised after recording too. I tend to leave my mistakes in to make it relateable and real ☺️

[@PCRoss2469]

@@LarsKlintTech excellent videos

[@LarsKlintTech]

@@JaSeNoFaCe Sometimes the raw world is 🤷‍♂️

[@LarsKlintTech]

@@PCRoss2469 thanks mate. ☺️

[@ErnoNewman]

Hi Lars, thanks for all the videos. Just want to point out, with the Smart Calibration, you have to close both curtains at the same time, that's probably why you got the error saying "Magnet left not detected" because the left curtain was still in the open position. Also, I have Curtains 2 and the "Silent mode" is just an option under Advanced settings, very strange that they removed it. Lastly, while I am looking forward to the video where you use the hub to test integration with HA, I'm just using my curtains with the Switchbot integration in HA, I don't have the hub. While that does work for me, it is very slow from sending a command from HA to the curtains actually doing something 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@LarsKlintTech]

You are most welcome Erno, and thanks so much for watching and contributing 😊 Ah, very good point with the calibration. Looking back it does say "curtains", so plural, but when you record yourself on camera, sometimes I miss things 😂 It could have been a bit more obvious though. Yeah, I couldn't find the "QuietDrift" or "Silent mode" anywhere apart from it doing it itself. Perhaps they will put that back in a future update. Yes, the Curtain 2 works with HA directly, but not the new version. Yet, at least. Hence, why I am going to pursue the Matter path, also because I want to play with Matter.

[@Stephen-Jones]

I do love these devices and one day plan to get them, just sadly the price per unit x the number of windows I have x2 makes it a little bit too much to do just yet... Am impressed with how quiet the quiet mode is.

[@LarsKlintTech]

I'm in the same boat. To complete my automated "movie mode" I need another 6-8 😬 They are really well engineered devices though.

[@TheDiabeticWay]

Thank you for the video! Can these also go into HA? Also Bluetooth as a short range how would i be able to do for on my stairs from the Bluetooth being in a living room? would it still be able to detect them?

[@LarsKlintTech]

Good questions! yes, it works with HA natively now too. If you need more Bluetooth range in HA, I have found using a Bluetooth proxy to be the easiest way. I made a video on it too: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6a3hoSJZZmdfcU

[@dartfrogdk]

About calibration... MAYBE read what it says LEFT MAGNET not detected, ellers god video hehe

[@LarsKlintTech]

Hehe, I realise that now too. When I have to present, record, worry about lighting etc., sometimes my focus isn't as great. Jeg prøver igen næste gang 😉

[@basscheutjens6612]

I have Switchbot v2 devices for all my curtains (5 curtains, house is not very big). I started with using the hub, but that requires the cloud and when you can't control your curtains when the cloud is not working, that is a pain in the butt. So I switched to local bluetooth, but that opened a whole new can of worms because my HA is running as a virtual machine and my server doesn't have BT. So.... First I started with a BT dongle and that worked with just the one curtain I tested with. But after adding the other curtains, it didn't work properly anymore because that single BT dongle was unable to serve all Switchbot devices, so I ended up installing BT proxies throughout my house. But now it works OK. At the moment I only use it to automatically open and close the curtains at random times near dusk and dawn, so it looks like there is always somebody home. Not a very useful use case on a farm, but I live in a town near the city center so a lot of people walking by. I'm curious to see what you're going to do with them

[@LarsKlintTech]

Thanks for sharing that journey. That does sound a bit painful, but so are most of my home automation projects 😂 It is two steps forward and one back. I don't have any problems with BT traffic, but for now the Curtain 3 doesn't work natively with HA, so I am planning on the Matter path. I do need another 6-8 devices to carry out my master plan for automatically closing when a movie starts and dimming the lights for "movie mode". If there is a special on them, I might do that now I now how they work (if I can get them into HA proper). I am also going to have a slider on my in-wall dashboard to determine how closed they should be.

[@Tntdruid]

Do they work whit the Danish curtains?

[@LarsKlintTech]

I think they are Swedish 🤔

[@vardagsteknik6576]

You should have put both to close before smart cal.

[@LarsKlintTech]

Totally. I realised that after recording but choose to leave my mistake in 🙂 Thanks for your feedback and contribution ☺️

[@vardagsteknik6576]

Tech is fun. We all miss something sometimes. Good Work.

[@NusrinunOld-gw4cj]

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