BLINDS WON T OPEN WITH WAND INSTALL

Calibrating the Sunsa Wand took me more than three hours because the system would inevitably lose its wireless connection and time out at some point: twice on the very last turn before I was about to complete the process. That’s fine for getting the slats positioned exactly right, but bad for completing the job.Įach movement of the motor can take up to 15 seconds to register within the app, and if something goes wrong, you’ll need to start the whole process over again from the beginning. The calibration process was particularly irksome, requiring you to use the app to open the blinds fully, then close them (slats upward), then close them again (slats downward), using the system to turn the wand just a fraction of a rotation at a time. We encountered significant trouble with the Sunsa Wand’s calibration step. The Sunsa Wand connected to my Wi-Fi network easily (only 2.4GHz networks are supported), but after that, things got dicey. The company has clearly spent a lot of time on its hardware, but next to none on its primitive, undercooked mobile experience. From there, the real time commitment begins: Getting the Sunsa app set up.

BLINDS WON T OPEN WITH WAND INSTALL

Sunsa claims it takes only 2 minutes to install the system, and that’s true for the wand itself, but figure another 5 to 10 minutes to get the adapter placed just right. It’s a necessary design feature but not always the most convenient, as you must disengage the tab from the adapter if you want to control the blinds manually, and even then the tab tends to get in the way, bumping into the adapter or the blinds themselves. A small tab connects the Sunsa Wand to the adapter, giving it the leverage needed to spin the hook when the motor activates. With Sunsa, the system needs something to “hold on to,” which is included in the form of an adapter that attaches to the headrail of the blinds with adhesive tape. When you do this yourself, you provide that leverage. The trick with any wand, of course, is that it requires leverage to spin. The appendage to the left of the Sunsa Wand in this photo provides the leverage need for the wand’s motor to spin. Four AA batteries (included) are loaded into the bottom of the wand for power Sunsa says batteries should last for about a year before they need replacing. Different types of hooks and attachments are included in the box for different styles of blinds the standard hook worked out of the box for my blinds. It’s a bit fatter and much shorter than the typical wand, but it mainly looks the part. If your blinds rely on strings to adjust their tilt, this device won’t work. The Sunsa Wand is exactly that: a squat wand that clips on to the spindle mechanism your existing wand uses. For what it’s worth, my sample arrived in production-level packaging and appears fully ready to go, though the quick start guide was just a folded piece of paper that directs you to install Sunsa’s mobile app.

I received a “final” version of the product-which is now slated to ship in December 2021-but there’s no telling if this is the version that will ship, or if the product will continue to be updated. First a word of caution: The Sunsa Wand is an Indiegogo project that was initially slated to ship in February 2021. The Sunsa Wand can’t open or close your blinds (neither can the Serena product, for that matter), but it can adjust the tilt of the slats, from fully open to fully closed. The $119 Sunsa Wand promises to “make your blinds smart in minutes” by replacing the tilt wand that is common on many horizontal and some vertical blinds.

Retrofit solutions are now arriving to take some of the sting out of the process. The Serena by Lutron Smart Wood Blinds we reviewed in November 2020 cost $17 per horizontal inch, not including the bridge needed to connect to them a Wi-Fi network. Installing smart window shades or blinds is a complex and expensive endeavor.

Blinds won t open with wand