Rako Blind Control: Let Your Blinds Follow the Sun

Most of us open our blinds in the morning, close them at night, and forget them in between. With Rako blind control, that routine can look after itself. Your blinds can open and close in time with the sun rising and setting.

At Ablectrics, we install Rako lighting and blind control systems for homes across Bristol and the surrounding area. Here’s how it works and why we like it.

What is Rako?

Rako Controls is a UK lighting control manufacturer based in Rochester, Kent. Its systems manage lighting, blinds and curtains together as one, rather than as separate gadgets with separate remotes. The curtain and blind range covers motorised curtains, blinds and projector screens, with options for both mains and low-voltage motors. It can run on its own or be integrated with your lighting, and everything can be controlled from the Rako app.

Blinds that rise and set with the sun

This is the feature most people love. Rako’s Hub supports timed events, holiday mode, dawn and dusk settings and calendar scheduling, so your blinds can follow the natural daylight of the day rather than a fixed clock time.

• Mornings: the blinds open as the sun comes up, so you wake to natural light. Because the schedule follows the sun, it shifts through the seasons on its own, opening earlier in summer and later in winter.
• Evenings: as the sun goes down, the blinds close automatically. Your home feels private and cosy without you walking round every window.
• While you’re away: holiday mode keeps the house looking lived in, which is a simple deterrent to opportunist burglars.

There are practical benefits too. Closing blinds on a hot afternoon reduces solar gain, closing them on a winter evening helps keep the heat in, and keeping direct sun off furniture and flooring slows fading.

Wired or wireless

Rako has a solution for new builds, renovations and retrofits alike.

• Wireless: compact RF modules such as the RACUB sit close to the motor and respond to Rako wall plates. Versions are available for 240V motors and 24V motors, so we can match the system to almost any blind.
• Wired: for new builds and larger projects, modules like the DIN-4C mount in your electrical cupboard. It’s a four-channel unit that can control each blind individually or in groups, and it works with Rako’s wired wall keypads.

Wall plates with simple open, stop and close buttons are available in three- and six-button versions, so there’s always a physical control as well as the app.

The Hub

The Hub is the brain of the system, a compact counter-top unit that makes the sunrise and sunset scheduling possible. It also gives you:

• Voice control through Alexa, Siri and Google Home
• The Rako app, where you can save scenes, upload photos of your rooms and view an activity log
• Advanced programming, with triggers and commands across both wired and wireless devices

Blinds and lighting, working together

Because blinds and lighting sit in one system, a single tap or voice command can set a whole scene:

• Good Morning: blinds open, kitchen lights come up softly.
• Cinema: blinds close, main lights dim, wall lights glow low.
• Good Night: blinds close, downstairs lights go off, landing lights stay low.

Who is it for?

It suits homeowners with large windows or hard-to-reach blinds, people with limited mobility, families who want cord-free blinds, and anyone planning a new build or renovation.

Get in touch

Ablectrics

sales@ablectrics.com
33 Zetland Road, Redland, BS6 7AH
0117 942 5355