From security cameras that stream a live feed of your front door to your smartphone, to doors that unlock at the touch of a button, and voice-activated home assistants, smart home technology is increasingly becoming a part of everyday life. Step outside, and you’ll find robots mowing lawns, plowing snow, and cleaning grill grates, while sensor-controlled sprinklers ensure your lawn receives just the right amount of water. This growing trend extends to your smart patio as well. With advanced outdoor home automation, Azenco Outdoor can bring automation to your patio cover too. Whether it’s simple remote-controlled pergola louvers or fully autonomous hands-free operations, you can enjoy seamless technological control.
So, let’s explore some of the layers of automation that can be integrated with your pergola.
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Motorized Louvers: Flexibility and Comfort at Your Fingertips
Today’s modern pergolas are designed to offer maximum flexibility for your outdoor living spaces. These pergolas feature roofs that open and close that allow you to control the amount of sunlight on your patio. When fully open, the roof lets in abundant sunlight, warming the space below. With the touch of a button, the louvers can be partially closed to create shade while maintaining airflow. When completely closed, the louvers provide full shade and protection from rain and snow. Unlike traditional pergolas that require manual adjustments, Azenco Outdoor’s R-BLADE™ pergola uses whisper-quiet motors for seamless operation of the louvered patio cover.
Advanced outdoor home automation can enhance the functionality and comfort of your outdoor living space. When it comes to pergolas, remote-controlled louvered roof systems are a popular choice for automation. These systems provide control over the amount of sunlight and shade your pergola offers, as well as protection from rain and other elements.
Here are some of the layers of outdoor home automation that can be integrated into your pergola:
Motorized Louvered roof Systems
The foundation of a smart pergola is a motorized louvered roof system. This system consists of adjustable slats or louvers that can be opened or closed to control the amount of sunlight and ventilation in your outdoor space. The louvers can be operated remotely via a smartphone app, remote control, or a wall-mounted control panel.
Lighting Control
Integrate LED lighting into your pergola to create the right ambiance for different occasions. You can control the intensity, color, and timing of the lights through your automation system. This is particularly useful for evening gatherings or outdoor dinners.
Audio Systems
For a complete outdoor entertainment experience, consider adding integrated audio systems. These can include outdoor speakers and soundbars that can be controlled through your smart home automation system. Whether you’re playing music, watching a movie, or enjoying sports event, audio automation adds to the overall enjoyment of your pergola.
Security and Surveillance
If you want to enhance the security of your outdoor space, you can integrate surveillance cameras and motion detectors into your pergola automation system. This allows you to monitor your outdoor area and receive alerts in case of suspicious activity.
Remote Controlled Retractable Screens: Enhanced Privacy and Sun Protection
For enhanced sun protection or to transform your patio into a private, enclosed outdoor living room, remote-controlled retractable screens can be integrated into the pergola frame. These screens add versatility, ensuring you can comfortably enjoy your outdoor space in any weather or at any time of day.
Outdoor screen automation for a pergola can greatly enhance the comfort and functionality of your outdoor living space. Integrating retractable screens into your pergola design offers a seamless blend of convenience, style, and practicality for any outdoor setting. When closed, our louvers are completely sealed with the frame, and when paired with screens, they create an enclosed space that retains heat and keeps mosquitoes away.
Here are some of the layers of automation that can be integrated with your pergola:
Motorized Retractable Screens
Motorized screens can be attached to the sides of your pergola, allowing you to easily raise or lower them with the touch of a button. These screens provide shade, privacy, and protection from insects. They can be controlled remotely or through a smartphone app.
Autonomous Smart Sensors for complete comfort
Enhance your patio with integrated smart sensors for a truly automated experience. These sensors continuously monitor the weather and automatically close the louvers when rain approaches. An embedded wind sensor detects heavy gusts and opens the roof to mitigate potential damage. For colder climates, optional temperature sensors monitor for freezing conditions or snow accumulation and open the louvers to prevent damage. These autonomous controls ensure you never have to adjust the louvers manually, regardless of the day’s changing weather.
Climate Control Sensors
Maximize the efficiency of your automated pergola with climate control sensors. These sensors detect sunlight intensity and outdoor temperature, allowing the system to automatically adjust the louvers for optimal comfort. For example, the louvers can partially close during the hottest part of the day to provide shade and open during cooler evenings.
They detect rain and automatically close the louvers to protect your outdoor furniture and space from exposure. This feature is especially useful when you’re not at home, ensuring your outdoor furniture remains protected.
They can monitor for freezing conditions or accumulating snow, and autonomously open the louvers to prevent system damage.
Weather Sensors
Enhance your motorized louvered roof system with smart weather sensors for optimal protection and comfort.
1. Rain Sensor
- How it Works: The rain sensor detects the presence of precipitation through a moisture-sensitive element. When it senses rain, it triggers the motor to close the louvers automatically.
- Why it Works: This sensor prevents water from entering your outdoor space, keeping furniture and flooring dry, and allowing for continued use of the area even during sudden rain showers.
2. Wind Sensor
- How it Works: The wind sensor continuously monitors wind speeds using an anemometer. When the wind exceeds a preset threshold, the sensor signals the motor to adjust the louvers or even fully open them to reduce wind resistance.
- Why it Works: This feature protects the pergola structure from potential damage due to high winds, ensuring durability and longevity while maintaining a safe outdoor environment.
3. Temperature Sensor
- How it Works: The temperature sensor measures the ambient outdoor temperature. Based on the readings, it adjusts the louvers to regulate the amount of sunlight entering space, maintaining a comfortable temperature.
- Why it Works: This sensor helps to create a pleasant outdoor atmosphere by automatically adapting to weather conditions, reducing the need for manual adjustments and enhancing comfort.
4. Photocell Sensor
- How it Works: The photocell sensor detects the intensity of sunlight through a light-sensitive component. It adjusts the louvers to provide optimal shading and control the amount of natural light.
- Why it Works: This sensor optimizes the use of natural light, reducing glare and heat buildup, and enhancing energy efficiency by minimizing the need for artificial lighting.
These sensors ensure your outdoor space remains protected and comfortable in any weather.
Effortless Patio Control
If stepping away from your delightful frozen cocktail is too much to expect on a gorgeous day relaxing on your smart patio, then consider voice control options for your motorized louvered pergola. With a voice-activated pergola, all you must do is give commands to your preferred digital home assistant.
Our system, utilizing Bond, integrates with smart home systems like Alexa, Google Home, Siri, and the open-source Control4, allowing you to control all your pergola’s smart features from one place. Compatible with both Apple and Android devices, you can easily request, “Google, close the louvers,” when you need some extra shade.
Solar-Powered Pergolas: Sustainable and Convenient
If you are looking to automate your patio but prefer a solid roofed pergola design that creates full-time shade, you can integrate solar panels on the fixed roof to power all the amenities on the patio. While our qualified pergola designers will usually recommend hardwiring backup power from the house, your solar pergola is more than capable of powering TVs, LED lights, motorized retractable screens, etc. Pergola-mounted solar panels can also be wired to charge your electric vehicle too. So, if home energy independence sounds nice as energy bills continue to creep higher, then an integrated solar array maybe be just what you need.
Conclusion
We all have become accustomed to the massive convenience of outdoor home automation, and your relaxation space should also offer those conveniences. If you are planning a home addition outdoors, then these savvy, high-tech automation controls should be part of your project planning.
If you would like to dream up your new smart patio, contact us to be connected with one of our local pergola dealers near you.
2 Responses
They’re a website to help guide me for the azenco control for the lights.
Good afternoon Paul.
You can contact your system installer for guidance. For further assisstance, you can connect with us at azenco@azenco-outdoor.com or call us (305) 306-3204.