Only a small selection of Blind Suppliers & Manufacturers market products that have built in smart technology, Ikea probably being the most well known. The problem is that this seriously limits the design and sizing of what is available. Rather than replace the whole blind and compromise we now have the option of buying a separate independent motor that can be installed to work with most common blind cords. Here we give an overview of integrating the Aqara E1 Blind Motor into your Home Assistant without the need to purchase the separate Aqara Hub.
The method we will use will be to add the Aqara Motor to Home Assistant via Zigbee2MQTT protocol. So we would assume this is already configured within your Home Assistant Instance.
This method allows you to use the blind without the Aqara Hub which saves on money and complexity of your home automation environment.
Aqara E1 Blind Motor & Home Assistant – Zigbee2MQTT
Table of Contents
Open the Zigbee2MQTT Configuration
Go to the Zigbee2MQTT configuration Page (Configuration > Devices & Services > Zigbee Home Automation Configuration > Click Configure)
Click Add Device
Hold down the Pair Button on the Aqara E1 Motor
Hold the button for 5 Seconds until the light on the front flashes red (once) and then blue (repeatedly)
Rename the device to something you will more easily recognise. Add an area if appropriate.
The device is now connected to Home Assistant.
Attach the Motor to the Blind
You now need to attached the motor to the wall beneath your blind. I would check the blind is still securely installed. be sure to check the position so that the blind itself doesn’t interfere with the motor function.
Set high and Low Positions of blind
This is a very important step to ensure that the blind opens and closes correctly when you add automations.
Press the up arrow on the blind motor and when the blind is fully opened press the up arrow again to stop it. To store the up position press the up arrow 5 more times. It will flash blue when complete.
Repeat this for the down potion. Make sure the blind is fully closed and then press the down arrow 5 times to store the down position.
Use with Automations
Set whatever you wish the trigger to be – it could be a time of day, or a smart switch etc etc.
For Actions, without the Aqara hub, you must use the ‘Set Value for Blind Motor Name analogue_output’.
Set the value to 100 for Open or 0 for closed.
I have found this blind motor quite useful. I have automations set for time of day and manual use with an Osram mini Zigbee switch. It has worked without hitch. I have it attached to quite a large heavy blind and have been recharging every 4-5 months. Smaller blinds could probably go for about 12 months in between charges. I will likely be buying more of these devices.
