I would strongly recommend against mounting it with VHB tape. That stuff is the tape equivalent of superglue, it's permanent. You will not be able to remove it without needing to re-plaster and re-paint to repair the damage. 3M's official removal instructions involve soaking it in WD-40 and then using a powered reciprocating saw. If you try to rip it off, you'll take off the paint and drywall paper at best, and chunks of gypsum at worst. On the other hand, if you use screws, you can easily replace it when the unit eventually fails, hiding the old holes behind the new unit if necessary (I assume that this exact model won't be available by the time it fails). And if you remove it entirely, it's far easier to patch the small screwholes (especially on a white wall) than repairing a square foot of damaged drywall.
One thing not mentioned is how you can use it with a metal bead chain that has a connector in the middle to join the two ends. The blind has a sealed cog wheel which the connector cannot pass through. The smart blind device has a cog that the connector also cannot pass through. The length of the chain between both cogs is not enough to fully open and close the blinds and it's already at the lowest part of the window recess. How do you solve that?
The only workaround I can suggest is buying a new chain for the length you need. These are available on Amazon. I didn’t have this issue with mine personally, sorry I’m not able to help more
I would strongly recommend against mounting it with VHB tape. That stuff is the tape equivalent of superglue, it's permanent. You will not be able to remove it without needing to re-plaster and re-paint to repair the damage. 3M's official removal instructions involve soaking it in WD-40 and then using a powered reciprocating saw. If you try to rip it off, you'll take off the paint and drywall paper at best, and chunks of gypsum at worst. On the other hand, if you use screws, you can easily replace it when the unit eventually fails, hiding the old holes behind the new unit if necessary (I assume that this exact model won't be available by the time it fails). And if you remove it entirely, it's far easier to patch the small screwholes (especially on a white wall) than repairing a square foot of damaged drywall.
This is a good point, thanks for sharing.
does it work with homekit?
One thing not mentioned is how you can use it with a metal bead chain that has a connector in the middle to join the two ends. The blind has a sealed cog wheel which the connector cannot pass through. The smart blind device has a cog that the connector also cannot pass through. The length of the chain between both cogs is not enough to fully open and close the blinds and it's already at the lowest part of the window recess. How do you solve that?
The only workaround I can suggest is buying a new chain for the length you need. These are available on Amazon. I didn’t have this issue with mine personally, sorry I’m not able to help more
what if you dont have roller blinds
Lack of replaceable battery makes this a no-go for me.
They expect me to either throw it away or leave a dangling USB cable? No.
@robertfeliciano5723 It’s not for everyone I guess. I do think a replaceable battery makes sense though, hopefully in a future version.