Battery or wired
Motors that suit an established home
A tubular motor sits inside the blind roll itself, controlled by a handset, a wall switch, an app, a schedule or a sun and wind sensor. It's the upsell that earns its keep on any window that's awkward to reach — above a stairwell, over a kitchen sink, or up in a double-volume lounge — and it's essentially required on skylights, concealed ceiling-recess systems and anything exterior.
Rechargeable battery motors need no new wiring, which makes them the natural retrofit choice for Lynnwood's original brick-and-tile homes — no chasing walls, no electrician for the blind itself, just a charge every few months. They also keep operating through a power cut, right up until the next charge is due, which matters on a highveld evening when the grid has other ideas. Wired 220V motors suit new builds and full renovations where the wiring can be planned in from the start — permanent, no charging, and the sensible spec for heavier exterior products.
Layer the control to match how the household actually lives: a single remote for one room, an app for the whole house from the couch (or from the office, wondering if the west blinds are still up), a sunrise schedule for the kids' rooms, and a wind sensor on anything mounted outside so it retracts itself before a highveld thunderstorm arrives. Above all, motorisation is the single most child-safe operation there is — no dangling cords or chains, nothing within reach.
What motorising works out at
Motorisation is never priced alone, because it rides on the blind under it. Across everything we hang, a square metre of motorised system falls between R2,500 and R7,500 — an interior roller low in that, a large exterior product high, the rest placed by product and by span. Sensors, wall switches and multi-channel handsets are their own lines on the quote.
Small windows price to a floor, and on an opening you can reach without effort a motor is usually a poor use of the budget — we say so rather than quote it. The figure per opening follows the measure, written down first.