Blinds that close
before you think to close them.
Smart home outdoor blinds are motorised blinds connected to a hub, so they can be operated by phone or voice and run automatically on a schedule. Four blinds in the Nu Style range do this: Zipscreen® on the Automate® platform with Apple HomeKit, Alexa, Google Home and Matter, and NSS Galaxy, Universal and Luna through an Orvibo hub for phone app control.
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The useful part is not the phone.
Controlling a blind from a phone is a novelty that wears off in a fortnight. What does not wear off is the blind that lowers itself at four o'clock every summer afternoon, before the western sun turns the alfresco into somewhere nobody wants to sit. The Automate® app schedules by clock time and by sunrise and sunset, so the blinds respond to the sun rather than to somebody remembering.
Battery motors, where cable is awkward
Automate® makes motors with built-in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries as well as hardwired ones, and Zero Li-ion motors that retrofit to existing hardware. That matters on a retrofit, where running 240 V out to an existing alfresco can cost more than the blind.
Two hubs, because there are two families of blind
Which hub you end up with is decided by which blind you choose, not the other way round, so it is worth knowing before you pick.
Zipscreen® — the Automate® platform
The full smart-home story. The Automate Pulse PRO hub puts the blinds on Wi‑Fi and into the Automate Shades app, and from there they answer to Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Matter. Schedules run by clock time and by sunrise and sunset. If you want the blinds to be part of a wider smart home — voice in the kitchen, routines that fire with the lights — this is the one.
Galaxy, Universal and Luna — the Orvibo hub
The blinds Nu Style builds in its own factory run on a 240 V motor with a wireless remote as standard, and an optional Orvibo hub adds phone app control on top: operate from anywhere, group blinds together, and stop hunting for the handset. The remote keeps working either way — the hub is an addition, not a replacement. It is the simpler of the two paths, and on a house that just wants the blinds on a phone it is usually all that is needed.
Worth being plain about the difference: the Automate platform on Zipscreen goes further, because it reaches voice assistants and Matter. If voice control and whole-house routines matter, that points at Zipscreen. If the goal is simply “I want to do this from my phone”, Galaxy, Universal and Luna get you there.
How the Automate side goes together
Pick how the motor is powered
Three ways, and the right one usually depends on how hard it is to get power to the opening. The Li-Ion FT motor has its battery built in and charges over USB-C or from a small solar panel — no cable at all. The DC FT motor takes removable, rechargeable battery packs, so a flat battery is a two-minute swap rather than a service call. The FT15 is hardwired for continuous power, which is what you want on a new build where the cable can go in before the render.
Choose the handset
Nu Style stocks two Automate® Push handsets. The one-channel remote drives a single blind, or a group of blinds wired to act as one — the right choice where every blind on the patio should move together. The fifteen-channel remote controls up to fifteen blinds or groups independently from the one handset, which covers a whole house comfortably. Pick the fifteen if you will ever want the alfresco and the western windows on separate buttons.
Add the hub when you want the house to think
The Automate Pulse PRO puts the blinds on your Wi-Fi and into the Automate Shades app. That is what unlocks routines and sunrise/sunset schedules — the blinds start following the sun rather than following whoever remembers.
Or just talk to it
With the hub in place the blinds answer to Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Home. Most households end up using all three inputs in different rooms: voice in the kitchen, a handset by the back door, and schedules doing the rest.
The device most people do not know to ask for
The Automate® AC 240V Wind & Sun Sensor is the accessory that changes what an automated blind actually does, and almost nobody asks about it because they do not know it exists. It carries two instruments: an anemometer reading wind speed across 0–180 km/h, and a lux meter reading light intensity across 0–100 kLux. It lowers the blinds when it actually detects sun, and retracts them when the wind gets up — whether you are home, at work, or away for the weekend.
The wind half is the one that matters most, because wind is what destroys outdoor blinds. Not sun, not age — a blind left down in a squall that nobody was there to raise. The sensor removes the single failure mode that depends on a person being home and paying attention. On an exposed or coastal Perth block, or on a holiday house that sits empty, it is the difference between a blind that lasts its full life and one replaced early.
The sun half is what a schedule cannot do. A timer fires at four o'clock whether it is blazing or overcast. A lux meter responds to the light that is actually there, so the blinds come down on the hot days and stay up on the grey ones.
| Wind & Sun Sensor | Specification |
|---|---|
| Wind speed range | 0–180 km/h anemometer |
| Light intensity range | 0–100 kLux lux meter |
| Display | LCD showing signal strength, wind speed and lux; sleeps to save power |
| Power | Hardwired 240 V 50 Hz |
| Weather rating | IP54, rated −20℃ to +60℃ |
| Radio | 433.92 MHz, up to 200 m in open space |
| Mounting | Universal bracket — roof, wall, eave or fascia |
| Works with | Zipscreen® and Wire Guide, on FT and AX30 motors |
One sensor can drive several motors, so a whole alfresco is usually covered by a single unit. The catch worth knowing: each motor pairs to one sensor, and pairing a new sensor to a motor overrides the old one. It is specified with the motor rather than added later, so raise it at the measure.
Smart home blinds, answered.
Can outdoor blinds be connected to a smart home?
Yes. Zipscreen® outdoor blinds run on the Automate® motorisation platform, which connects to a smart home through the Automate Pulse PRO hub. The hub supports Apple HomeKit via Siri, Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Matter.
What is the Automate Pulse PRO hub?
The Automate Pulse PRO is the hub that connects Automate® motors to a home network and to the Automate Shades app. Pulse PRO adds Matter compatibility and longer radio range, and is the current model in the Pulse range.
Can outdoor blinds close automatically when the sun hits?
Yes, two ways. The Automate® app schedules by clock time and by sunrise and sunset, worked out from your time zone and location. The Automate AC 240V Wind & Sun Sensor goes further — its lux meter reads the light actually falling on the opening across 0–100 kLux, so the blinds respond to real conditions rather than to a timer that fires whether it is blazing or overcast.
Do automated outdoor blinds need power run to each opening?
Not always. Automate® offers battery-powered motors with built-in lithium-ion batteries alongside hardwired options, which avoids running cable to openings where power is difficult to reach.
Can I control outdoor blinds when I am not home?
The Automate Shades app controls blinds remotely over the internet, so blinds can be checked and operated while away from the property.
Will outdoor blinds retract by themselves in strong wind?
Yes, with a wind sensor fitted. The Automate® AC 240V Wind & Sun Sensor measures wind speed across 0–180 km/h and automatically retracts the blinds once it passes the set threshold, with nobody home. Without a sensor, a blind left down has to be raised by hand or from the app.
Which blinds can take the wind sensor?
The Automate® wind and sun sensor works with Zipscreen® and Wire Guide blinds running FT or AX30 motors. One sensor can control several motors, but each motor pairs to only one sensor.
What if I do not want an app?
Yes. Nu Style supplies the Automate® Push handsets in two versions: a one-channel remote for a single blind or one group, and a fifteen-channel remote that drives up to fifteen blinds or groups separately. A hub is not needed to operate blinds by remote — it is needed only for the app, voice control and schedules.
Why the date holds
Anyone can make a blind. Fewer can finish on the day they said.
Ziptrak and Zipscreen design the product. What Nu Style adds is the part that decides whether your project actually lands: a factory it owns, departments that cover each other, and a phone that still gets answered years later.
Swipe
We make it, so we can date it
Nu Style is a fabricator for Ziptrak® and Zipscreen®, and builds Galaxy, Universal and Luna in its own Malaga factory. Nothing sits in someone else's production queue, which is why a date given here is a date Nu Style controls.
Five departments, not one van
Sales, measure, manufacture, installation and service are separate functions with separate people. That is what makes a date hold when somebody is away, and it is the difference between a business and a busy individual.
Systems, so less goes wrong
Measuring, ordering and fabrication run on systems rather than memory, so errors get caught in the factory instead of on your wall. Fewer remakes means fewer weeks added to your job.
Still answering in year seven
“I had an outdoor blind installed 7 years ago and had to replace the controller and, true to his word, Bruno replaced it free of charge even though out of warranty.” — Graham Nicholson, Google review
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