5 ms·

Here in Germany they have metal shutters that vertically descend and black out all light and sound. It’s common on most windows. They are permeated with little

by scanny 5y ago

Here in Germany they have metal shutters that vertically descend and black out all light and sound. It’s common on most windows. They are permeated with little holes that allows light and sound in if they have not fully descended. If they have then the little holes are folded shut. I’ve found the same issue where if they’re completely down waking up is hard, so I leave the top two rows of holes open to let in natural light. I think having a small amount of light gradually filtering in helps a bunch to wake-up. Video of shutters - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_KePLmie7lE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_KePLmie7lE

jcynix 5y ago
> Here in Germany they have metal shutters [...] Small correction: not metal, these are (mostly) made out of plastic nowadays, sometimes aluminum, and earlier, from wood. But yes, the effect if they aren't fully closed, is nicely adjustable to limit light without making a room pitch fark.
egeozcan 5y ago
I'm living in Germany and my wife really likes shutting them fully. That really makes it hard for me to wake up. I wish I could automate them. 2 problems: We don't own the flat we are living in and I wouldn't even know where to start hacking these fully closed electronic systems.
- BrandiATMuhkuh 5y ago
  I think you are looking for something like this. https://www.jalousiescout.de/gurtwickler/elektrische-gurtwickler/jaromat-eco-ap-15-5.html https://www.jalousiescout.de/gurtwickler/elektrische-gurtwic... I believe most tool stores (OBI, Bauhaus) have them. At least here in Austria.
- BrandoElFollito 5y ago
  I live in France and we have the same shutters (metal plates rolling vertically with th esmall holes that can be uncovered). I automate what I can at home - the CHO (Chief Home Officer - my wife) mostly disapproves because of some weird concerns about reliability (70% of availability for lights is that I call great, but opinions vary). There is a simple solution for the shutters - you can use a Shelly 2.5 (https://shelly.cloud/products/shelly-25-smart-home-automation-relay/ https://shelly.cloud/products/shelly-25-smart-home-automatio...) that you connect in parallel to the shutter. It works wonders if you have a manual switch on the wall and probably with a remote too (I specifically asked for a manual switch on the wall). You can program the device itself to open the shutters at, say, 10 minutes before sunrise or whatever. You can easily remove them when you leave your flat and reuse somewhere else. The Real Solution For Real Hackers (c) is to use Home Assistant (https://www.home-assistant.io/ https://www.home-assistant.io/). <flamewar on> Do not settle for inferior systems such as jeedom, domoticz, ... </flame war off please do not hunt me>
- mschuster91 5y ago
  > and I wouldn't even know where to start hacking these fully closed electronic systems. If you have electronic shutters, most of these are a simple 230V based system: one neutral line and two 230V inputs, one for each direction. Hacking them is easy, get two programmable 230V relays (e.g. use a Raspberry Pi relay board) and never ever activate both relays at the same time.
- mgoetzke 5y ago
  My Apple Watch actually starts brightening up before the alarm goes of to 'simulate' some light. My Pixel phone before also had that, works quite ok
pezezin 5y ago
You Germans have them too? Good! In Spain we have used them since forever, but it seems that most countries have yet to discover their wonders. They are one the things I miss the most when living abroad or traveling around.
stavros 5y ago
Same here in Greece. I have no idea how people sleep without them, visiting the UK or US is always frustrating because I have to wake up at the crack of dawn.
simias 5y ago
I just moved to a new flat and, by design, the motorized shutters don't close fully and the top two or three rows of "holes" remain exposed when the motor disengages. I was a bit annoyed at first and considered tweaking the mechanism to close the shutters fully, but in the meantime the impact this tiny changes has made on my and my girfriend's sleep patterns is tremendous and now I think I'll leave it that way. We used to be very late sleepers, I work from home and regularly wouldn't wake up until 11AM or so. Now at 8:30 sharp I'm awake and ready to get up. It's a pleasant way of waking up too, I can tell that my body is sort of meant to be woken up that way instead of using an alarm sound. Obviously it also means that I get tired much earlier at night. But overall it seems like a positive change, especially since I'm in my mid-thirties and it's not like I regularly party all night anymore and I appreciate getting more time to do stuff in the morning.
CppCoder 5y ago
> They are permeated with little holes that allows light and sound in if they have not fully descended. If they have then the little holes are folded shut. This too is a bit generalised, as ours do fully close. In fact they actually snap into place to activate a break in barrier. This makes it harder to break in, as they can not be easily pushed up or removed.
bradknowles 5y ago
Rolladen? Yes, I remember those! My wife and I lived in Belgium at the time, but we visited her sister and brother-in-law in Germany on a few occasions. Yes, I want! Have wanted for years, in fact. Hard to get here in the US, however.

by scanny 5y ago

jcynix 5y ago

> Here in Germany they have metal shutters [...] Small correction: not metal, these are (mostly) made out of plastic nowadays, sometimes aluminum, and earlier, from wood. But yes, the effect if they aren't fully closed, is nicely adjustable to limit light without making a room pitch fark.

egeozcan 5y ago

I'm living in Germany and my wife really likes shutting them fully. That really makes it hard for me to wake up. I wish I could automate them. 2 problems: We don't own the flat we are living in and I wouldn't even know where to start hacking these fully closed electronic systems.

BrandiATMuhkuh 5y ago
I think you are looking for something like this. https://www.jalousiescout.de/gurtwickler/elektrische-gurtwickler/jaromat-eco-ap-15-5.html https://www.jalousiescout.de/gurtwickler/elektrische-gurtwic... I believe most tool stores (OBI, Bauhaus) have them. At least here in Austria.
BrandoElFollito 5y ago
I live in France and we have the same shutters (metal plates rolling vertically with th esmall holes that can be uncovered). I automate what I can at home - the CHO (Chief Home Officer - my wife) mostly disapproves because of some weird concerns about reliability (70% of availability for lights is that I call great, but opinions vary). There is a simple solution for the shutters - you can use a Shelly 2.5 (https://shelly.cloud/products/shelly-25-smart-home-automation-relay/ https://shelly.cloud/products/shelly-25-smart-home-automatio...) that you connect in parallel to the shutter. It works wonders if you have a manual switch on the wall and probably with a remote too (I specifically asked for a manual switch on the wall). You can program the device itself to open the shutters at, say, 10 minutes before sunrise or whatever. You can easily remove them when you leave your flat and reuse somewhere else. The Real Solution For Real Hackers (c) is to use Home Assistant (https://www.home-assistant.io/ https://www.home-assistant.io/). <flamewar on> Do not settle for inferior systems such as jeedom, domoticz, ... </flame war off please do not hunt me>
mschuster91 5y ago
> and I wouldn't even know where to start hacking these fully closed electronic systems. If you have electronic shutters, most of these are a simple 230V based system: one neutral line and two 230V inputs, one for each direction. Hacking them is easy, get two programmable 230V relays (e.g. use a Raspberry Pi relay board) and never ever activate both relays at the same time.
mgoetzke 5y ago
My Apple Watch actually starts brightening up before the alarm goes of to 'simulate' some light. My Pixel phone before also had that, works quite ok

pezezin 5y ago

You Germans have them too? Good! In Spain we have used them since forever, but it seems that most countries have yet to discover their wonders. They are one the things I miss the most when living abroad or traveling around.

stavros 5y ago

Same here in Greece. I have no idea how people sleep without them, visiting the UK or US is always frustrating because I have to wake up at the crack of dawn.

simias 5y ago

I just moved to a new flat and, by design, the motorized shutters don't close fully and the top two or three rows of "holes" remain exposed when the motor disengages. I was a bit annoyed at first and considered tweaking the mechanism to close the shutters fully, but in the meantime the impact this tiny changes has made on my and my girfriend's sleep patterns is tremendous and now I think I'll leave it that way. We used to be very late sleepers, I work from home and regularly wouldn't wake up until 11AM or so. Now at 8:30 sharp I'm awake and ready to get up. It's a pleasant way of waking up too, I can tell that my body is sort of meant to be woken up that way instead of using an alarm sound. Obviously it also means that I get tired much earlier at night. But overall it seems like a positive change, especially since I'm in my mid-thirties and it's not like I regularly party all night anymore and I appreciate getting more time to do stuff in the morning.

CppCoder 5y ago

> They are permeated with little holes that allows light and sound in if they have not fully descended. If they have then the little holes are folded shut. This too is a bit generalised, as ours do fully close. In fact they actually snap into place to activate a break in barrier. This makes it harder to break in, as they can not be easily pushed up or removed.

bradknowles 5y ago

Rolladen? Yes, I remember those! My wife and I lived in Belgium at the time, but we visited her sister and brother-in-law in Germany on a few occasions. Yes, I want! Have wanted for years, in fact. Hard to get here in the US, however.