Rivonia Blinds / What we fit / Motorisation
Motorisation
Motorised blinds
A motor in the tube instead of a chain — and a west elevation that closes itself at four o’clock whether anybody is home or not.
Motorisation is the least glamorous upgrade in this range and the one people are gladdest they took. The motor lives inside the tube, so nothing changes visually except that the chain disappears. It is driven by a handheld remote, a wall switch, a phone app or a timer — and a timer is where it stops being a gadget and starts being useful.
Set the west-facing blinds to drop at four o’clock and the room never gets the chance to overheat, whether you are at the office in Sandton or stuck on Rivonia Boulevard. Set them to lift at seven and the house wakes up on its own. Nobody remembers to do that manually for more than a fortnight.
There are three windows where a motor is not really optional. The high stairwell window that no chain can reach. The very wide blind that is genuinely heavy to pull. And the child’s room, where the safest blind is the one with no cord at all — not a tensioned cord, no cord.
Existing blinds can often be motorised without being replaced, depending on the tube and the bracket. Bring us the blind you already have before you assume it has to go.
The practical detail
How we specify it here
Small decisions that decide whether you like the blind in two years’ time, not just on installation day.
- Battery or wired — a rechargeable tube motor avoids chasing a cable into a finished wall; wired is the choice during a renovation
- Remote, switch, app or timer — chosen on the day — most homes end up with a handheld remote plus a schedule
- Grouping — a whole elevation on one channel, so four blinds move as one
- Retro-fitting — many existing blinds can take a motor; the tube diameter and bracket decide it
- Awnings and shutters too — outdoor motors carry wind sensors, which is what makes an awning safe to leave to itself
Not sure which fabric or which room? That is exactly the conversation the free measure is for — samples held against your own light beat any swatch on a screen.
Questions
Asked most often
Straight answers, including where the answer is “it depends on the room”.
Do I need an electrician?
Not for a battery tube motor — it charges from a cable you plug in a few times a year. A wired motor does need a point, which is why we prefer to raise it while the walls are still open in a renovation.
What happens in a power outage?
Battery motors carry on regardless. Wired motors stop until the power returns, like everything else in the house, and most can be released manually if a blind absolutely has to move.
Can you motorise the blinds I already have?
Often, yes. It depends on the tube diameter, the brackets and the condition of the blind. Send us a photograph or let the consultant look at it on the measure — if it is not worth doing, we will say so.
Keep looking
You might also want
The rest of the range, and where each one earns its place.
Where we fit them
Motorisation across our patch
From one remote-controlled bedroom blind to a whole-unit app schedule, we fit motorisation across Sunninghill, Morningside, Woodmead, Sandown and Gallo Manor.
Let’s get it measured
Tell us about
your windows.
Which rooms, which way they face, and what is actually bothering you about the light. One of our expert consultants will contact you shortly to arrange the free in-home measure.
- Free in-home measure with fabric and slat samples
- Written quote, itemised per window, no obligation
- Made to order — nothing cut down to fit
- Repairs and restringing on existing blinds too
Our consultant does five to six measures a week across this area, so the diary fills early.
Want a ballpark first? The Window Schedule carries a two-minute window list — pop in rough sizes and we’ll send a budget range by the next working day. Not sure how to measure? Leave it: our consultant measures for free and you get exact per-window pricing either way.
Would rather type than fill in a form? Open the chat and the assistant will take it from there.
Request your free measure
We answer enquiries seven days a week.
Thank you — that is with us.
One of our expert consultants will contact you shortly to arrange your free in-home measure.