Somfy’s Slick New Tahoma Automates Lights, Thermostats, Shades

Somfy, a leader in motorized window shades, is launching a complete home automation system for controlling shades, lighting, thermostats and more.

When Lutron came out with a similar solution last year, the RadioRa 2, we called it a trifecta for energy management. Somfy calls it a home “energy triangle.”

Targeted to the mass market, Somfy’s TaHomA (loosely translated: “Total Home Automation”) system allows users to remotely control their home technology, notably the three systems that can most contribute to energy savings: lights, thermostats and motorized shades.

Window coverings are an often-overlooked piece of the energy management equation. When used effectively, they can harness the sun for heating a room, or block the rays to keep a space cool. They can also prevent drafts during a cold spell.

Somfy is easily the leading provider of motors and controls for window coverings, including retractable awnings, rolling shutters, interior shades, blinds, projection screens and other lift-up applications for the home.
To date, Somfy products integrate nicely with virtually all of the major home control systems, but the company has never developed its own home automation system until now.

Somfy is providing few details about Tahoma until its official debut at CES in January; however, Electronic House editor Grant Clauser got a sneak preview of the system at Somfy’s New Jersey offices.

We spied the system online via Somfy’s worldwide headquarters in France (video below), but Somfy’s U.S. business development manager Steve Iommi tells me, “The information on the Web regarding TaHomA is about the European version of the product. There will be differences between the European version and the U.S. version.”

Even so, it’s telling to look at the European version, also known as Home Motion by Somfy, which is one of the slickest home-control interfaces I’ve ever seen.

A video produced by Somfy shows how easy it is for a consumer to set schedules and scenes for their lights, thermostats and motorized shades. To create an AWAY scene, for example, select the hallway light, set it to 10% and drag it to the AWAY icon. Select the thermostat, set it to 70%, and do the same. For security sake, perhaps set all of the shades to 100% closed.

The French demo also shows Tahoma integrating with a variety of other devices outside of the energy triangle, such as electronic door locks.

Somfy’s Z-Wave Bridge

A key enabling technology for Tahoma is a new ZRTSI adapter that Somfy created to bridge its proprietary RTS wireless control technology with the widely adopted Z-Wave RF mesh networking protocol.

The bridge allows the Tahoma system to integrate seamlessly with Somfy shades and hundreds of Z-Wave devices on the market – lights, thermostats, door locks, lamp modules, relays, sensors, garage door openers and more.

The Tahoma controller has an easy-to-use web interface so the homeowner can control anything in the system from any Web browser.

Somfy says that iPad and iPhone apps will be available at launch, around the first half of 2011.

Currently, the company won’t comment on the cost of Tahoma, other than to say it will have an “entry-level” price.

The European Tahoma solution appears to require a subscription fee. Currently, a three-month free trial is available. An iPhone app for French customers appears to be available here in the iTunes store.

Scenes from Somfy Tahoma: European Edition

Video demonstrates outstanding home automation GUI for the European version of Tahoma (Home Motion by Somfy) but the U.S. version will be different.