International Release of Aqara’s Curtain Driver E1 Announced
Aqara today has officially announced the availability of its Curtain Driver E1, a retrofit device (much in the same vein as the Rollershade Driver E1) to automate standard curtains. As with most Aqara products, the E1 utilises Zigbee 3.0, which provides improved reliability and energy efficiency. The curtain driver features a battery life of up to 12 months between each charge (depending on a few factors) and connects with other smart home accessories to enable automations in your home. The Curtain Driver E1 is available on Amazon in both North America (US, Canada) and Europe (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain), as well as via selective Aqara retailers worldwide.
The E1 comes in two variants, namely the Rod Version for curtain rods and the Track Version for both U-rail and I-rail tracking. The Aqara Curtain Driver E1 is compatible with the majority of curtains on the market. Its powerful motor can pull curtains up to 12 kilograms in weight and features compatibility with HomeKit/Siri, Amazon Alexa, Google Home/ Google Assistant, and IFTTT, as well as the upcoming Matter standard after its roll-out.
The internal 6000mAh battery – which lasts for up to 12 months of use – can be charged via the Type-C port. It’s equipped with a built-in light sensor, allowing the curtain to close on its own when it’s too bright or too dark.
Apart from ambient brightness, the Curtain Driver can also be controlled by other conditions, such as pre-set schedules, sunrise/sunset, local weather conditions, and even geofencing. When connected to other Aqara devices, you get even more possibilities. Use a Wireless Mini Switch to open, close or stop the curtain with a simple press, or adjust the precise opening by turning the Aqara Cube. The Camera Hub G3 allows the curtain motor to be controlled with hand gestures.
Device grouping is supported so that double-sided curtains can be controlled simultaneously. The speed of the curtain driver is adjustable, and the device can be configured to work more quietly in the mornings so that sleep won’t be interrupted. Moreover, it’s possible to set the duration time for curtain movements, for example, to pull the curtain from closed to fully open in an hour, which simulates a natural sunrise.
to celebrate, Aqara is offering a 20% discount for this new device on Amazon; North American customers can use the promo code USCURTAIN in the US and Canadian stores, whilst European customers can use the promo code CURTAINUKEU in French, German, Italian, Spanish and UK stores. Both codes are valid on July 11th, 2022. And Amazon Prime members will continue to enjoy the discount from July 12th to 13th with no promo code required.
I get the impression from your comments above that if you have a pair of curtains on a track (a left hand and a right hand curtain) then you need to buy two of their units.
I believe some curtain systems allow using a single cord to operate both halves of a symmetrical paired curtain setup, it would be a shame if their solution could not do this.
The following product as an example can do this but sadly they still have not added official HomeKit support nor officially entered the UK market. (They do now ship to the UK but not with a UK plug and you are required to sort out the import duty and sales tax yourself with the strong risk of getting charged BOTH EU & UK sales tax.)
https://slide.store/
Yes, each motor can only operate a single curtain, so two are required, which is probably the case for most people with curtains. Aqara and ZemiSmart both make a curtain motor and rails that can pull a pair of curtains together, but that’s all via the mechanisms within the rail itself.