I recently upgraded my Comcast internet service to gigabit speed, with that upgrade I was told that I would need their new modem/router to support that speed. Unfortunately the new router only had two ethernet ports whereas the old one had four. This posed a bit of a problem for me as I had my computer, Arlo hun and Tesla solar panel communication module connected to the router. Not sure why their new router has less ethernet ports than the old model, but luckily the simple solution was to get a switch.
Luckily switches are relatively inexpensive and very simple to use and install. A switch is basically a way to extend the number of ethernet ports that you have access to. They come in sizes from 5 to 48 for home and small office use and even larger for larger business. The switch I purchased is unmanaged meaning there is no software to install and it provides no functionality for managing network traffic or security. Which is fine for my home use.
Setup was extremely easy. It is a powered switch so you need an outlet to plug it into. Then you run an ethernet cable from your router to any port of the switch. Then just connect any wired device to the switch via ethernet cable. The switch is fan-less so it doesn't make any noise which is nice if you need to put it in a room where you need quiet. It does have lights on it for each port but I have my switch behind a cabinet so the lights don't bother me.
The only aggravation with the switch was the instructions told me to download an app to register the switch but the app provided no functionality to register. Pretty useful device for short money that most smart home enthusiasts probably have or will need to have as you build out your smart home.
My home is around 30 years old so this means some of the original components are at or close to their end of life. The good news is many of the new replacement products are much more efficient and now have smart controls making them much easier to operate. I have 10 skylights in my home, luckily none of them leak but I know with a 30 year old skylight it is just a matter of time. One of the skylights in my master bedroom had a broken seal between the panes so I knew at least it's efficiency was compromised. Most of my skylights also did not have blinds, this made sleeping in difficult with the bright morning sun shining in on us.
We did a pretty major master bathroom remodel over the summer but did not touch the skylights. After the remodel was done our 30 year old skylights just didn't fit with our new modern bathroom. We became aware of a soon to be expiring 30% federal tax credit on the purchase of solar skylights and blinds. 30% savings is pretty significant and we knew we would need to replace the skylights eventually so we had a local company out for estimates. Total before the tax credit was around $15,000 and after the credit our cost will be around $10,000. I opted for two fixed skylights and solar blinds in my bedroom, a fresh air solar skylight and two fixed skylights in my master bath. The fresh air skylight is near the shower to allow for ventilation when necessary. Below is a promo video from Velux showing some of the smart features
The skylights and blinds have been installed for a couple months now but I just recently got all of the smart controls and app working. The guys that installed the skylights did a great job but they are roofers and knew nothing about the smart features or setting things up. They didn't really even know what components were needed. They left me just the hub and none of the sensors, I had to talk to one of the managers about it the next day and it took over a month for them to ship every thing to me.
Components
There are a lot of components that come with these skylights and blinds. Each powered skylight and blind has its own remote control. This is kind of unnecessary if you are using the app once you get them setup. Now I have a bunch of remote controls laying around that I don't use. So they sit in a drawer.
The kit also comes with a hub which is necessary for the smart controls and to tie the components together. Velux recommends one hub for each room which to me should not be that case. I am using one for my bedroom and master bath which seems to be working fine. Then there is the climate sensor which monitors the temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels and will open the skylights when the room needs to be aired out or will close the blinds when the room is getting too hot. This is pretty much the selling point of the smart features of this product, The last component is the departure switch which you can activate to close and lock the skylights when you leave the house.
Hub
Remotes
Climate Sensor
Smart Features
I have to admit that one of my reasons for investing in these skylights and blinds is for the smart features. Velux's marketing team says that the smart features will provide energy savings as well as improve indoor air quality, I doubt that any energy savings will even pay for a fraction of the cost of the skylights but every penny counts I guess. In the summer time I do notice that my rooms with skylights get really hot so having the blinds close automatically will definitely help. I am not sure I am sold on the air quality functionality but I will be able to better judge that in the summer when it gets more hot and humid out. Opening up the skylights a couple times a day automatically to air out the room doesn't seem like a bad idea. I think the best feature is the scheduling. I can set the blinds to open and close at a certain time of day. One issue we had with the skylights in our bedroom was if we wanted to sleep in on the weekend we couldn't as it was so bright. Now we set the skylights to close in the evening and open at 10:00 am. Velux also has Apple Home Kit integration so you can ask Siri to open or close your blinds and skylights. Unfortunately no Alexa or Google Home integration yet but apparently it is in the pipeline.
Setup
I think product setup is one of the areas lacking with this product. The online documentation isn't great, the paper manual that comes with the app wasn't very intuitive either. I will talk about the app later but it leaves a lot to be desired. I wish the documentation was all in the app and it just stepped you through setup. I eventually got it all setup and figured out. Part of my issue was that I missed the step that you need to pair the remotes with the hub to set up smart controls. You need to first set up rooms and then add the hubs, remotes and sensors to each room. This takes a while and gets confusing if you have 6 remotes. I had to go through the process a couple times to get it setup properly and I am pretty tech savvy. Once I figured it all out the it works just fine. Probably something that the installers should have helped out with but they are roofers and did not seem to know anything about or were interested in smart product technology.
App
The app is just ok. The main screen shows your rooms you have setup and there are buttons on the bottom for locking the skylights, Good Moring - opens all blinds and Good night - closes all blinds. If I click on my master bathroom, where I have the climate sensor installed, I get an additional screen with Temperature, Humidity and C02 levels. The setup menu is where I have the biggest issue with the usability of the app. There are too may menus and it is just not intuitive on where to change settings. I usually have to fumble around for a few minutes before I can find the setting I am looking for. The Settings include:
Home management - Lists Rooms, Hubs and details of each
Active Control - Lets you set schedule and room comfort levels
Quick Actions - These are settings for the three buttons on the main screen
Notifications
Guest Management - Give guest access to control your skylights and blinds
Install New Products
Create a new Home
Help
My Account
Rate Us
Some screenshots of some of the screens are below. One thing that kind of concerns me is that the solar blinds and skylights run on a battery. What happened when the battery wears out? Hopefully I can just replace the battery and don't need a whole new unit. Also since the battery is charges by solar what happens when we have a few days with no sun or the solar collectors are covered by snow. The documentation did say there would be days in the winter where the blinds may not work if they do not have a sufficient charge. If that is teh case there should be a battery indicator within the app that shows the battery level. I have many other smart products that use batteries and all have some sort of battery indicator.
Pros
Energy Savings
Smart \ Convenience Features
Clean looks
Tax Credits
Potential indoor air quality improvement
Cons
Price - These products are not cheap
Lack of some features - Solar Battery monitoring
Odd behavior - Blinds randomly close to cool the room in the winter
Blinds are a bit loud when opening and closing.
No Alexa integration
Fixed Skylights in our Master with Solar Blinds
Overall
I am glad a replaced my skylights when I did and was able to take advantage of the solar tax credit. The jury is still out for me on the smart features of this product. The scheduling has been the most beneficial, kind of a set it and forget it type of thing. The issues I have with the app are fixable but even if they stay as is it is usable. I really wish there was something in the app that gave me a battery level indicator but maybe that will come in the future. One last upcoming feature that I am looking forward to is integration with Amazon Alexa. I have my skylights integrated with Apple Homekit but all my other smart products use Alexa so that can't come soon enough. I think I will learn more about the product over the upcoming months as the weather warms up.
I still have 5 skylights in my home that need to be replaced. Unfortunately I won't be able to take advantage of the 30% tax credit. There is a 26% tax credit in 2020 and then it drops to 22% in 2021 so I need to make a decision soon.
