How to choose electric curtains? Measuring three centimeters wrong and paying shipping for free, only after helping my cousin renovate a new home did I see where the money was spent

cousin's new home was just finishing up the hard renovations. Last time, I helped her pick out sweeper , but now it's the curtains. She wants to install electric devices in both the living room and master bedroom, and immediately asked if I wanted to buy the expensive ones all at once. I said, don't rush to check the motor. This thing costs three installments; figure out where each one is spent before talking. In the end, I paid the tuition myself—the track measurement was 3 centimeters off, non-standard orders were not refunded, and I ended up paying for the round-trip shipping twice for free.

this money comes down to three parts: the motor, the track, and the curtain fabric. Don't treat it like a single item

livestream offers like a "999 yuan full set of electric curtains" seemed like a good deal, but when I received the goods, I found out the track only covers two meters, any excess is charged separately, and the curtain fabric is usually not included. Electric curtains cost three real amounts: a motor starts at 300 yuan, the track is calculated by meters at tens to just over a hundred per meter, and the curtain fabric is consumed by meter plus multiples. The wall in my cousin's living room—I dismantled the account for her: a plug-in motor costs 320 yuan, a track of 2.92 meters, and if 1.80 meters is 1.80 meters, that's around 240 yuan. The curtain fabric is twice pleated and just over six meters long, and 1.80 meters is about 480 yuan. For a single panel, it's about 1100 yuan. The motor may seem to be the main attraction, but in reality, it only accounts for 30%, with the majority being the track and fabric.

so the order of selection should be reversed: first determine whether the track can be installed and how long it can be installed, then choose the motor, and put the curtain fabric at the very end. I just got the order backwards, excitedly studying motor parameters, casually measuring the tracks, and got stuck on it.

track measured the curtain box clearance, and I measured wall-to-wall, missing three centimeters to fit in

the living room wall, the tape measure was exactly 3 meters wide, so I quoted the seller for 3 meters. When the tracks arrived, the craftsman climbed the ladder to open the curtain box and shook his head at first sight: the vertical panels on both sides of the curtain box each occupied 4 centimeters, and the internal clear width was only 2.92 meters. A 3-meter track was physically impossible to fit in.

electric rails are non-standard custom cutting products; work starts immediately upon ordering, and no reason for not eating within seven days. Cutting it short and reworking, round-trip shipping and rush fees are over 100 yuan. The lesson I learned from this hundred-plus hundred yuan can be summed up in one sentence: measure the track by measuring the clear width of the installation surface, not wall-to-wall . For top installation, consider the distance from the left vertical panel to the right vertical panel inside the curtain box, and the distance between the left and right walls. For side installation, consider protruding elements like window frames and baseboards.

Besides

width, there are three things you must clearly confirm with the seller before placing an order. I'll list them in a table:

there's another inconspicuous but most ruthless detail for rework: the motor is installed at one end of the track, the socket is left at one end, and you have to check with the seller before placing an order. In my cousin's living room, the power potential is left on the left, and the track motor is on the right. The power cable has to cross half the wall, so we have to change direction and recut the track. Asking "Which end of the motor head is at the start" before installation is much cheaper than my lesson.

the motor is lithium battery or plug-in power, first check if there are any sockets inside the ceiling

motors fall into two main categories. The plug-in version must be powered directly on; if you don't leave a socket in the curtain box during renovation, it won't work; The lithium battery version has a built-in battery and Type-C charging. Officially, a full charge lasts half a year. The one I installed was installed a few years after moving in. The lithium battery version has been used for a year and a half, recharged twice, and it's about the same as claimed.

price-wise, lithium battery versions are generally 200 to 300 yuan more expensive. The extra money you spend isn't about the battery, but about the phrase "no wiring." When my cousin's house was renovating, I kept an eye on the electrician leaving a potential at one end of the curtain box, so the living room and master bedroom were all fitted with plug-in panels, which was impressive and didn't need to be bothered; I have no other choice; using exposed wires looks too bad, so I can only use lithium batteries. How to choose between the two categories and check this table:

also do a double-track account. In my cousin's living room, we made a double-track curtain with fabric curtain. Two rails require two motors, and the cost for motors and tracks doubled. If your budget is tight, a bedroom with a privacy priority only needs a single track and one layer of blackout fabric; the living room should use one layer of tulle and one layer of fabric with double tracks, so the money is spent where you can see it.

A quick tip about

power: curtains over 15 kg, velvet fabric, thick shading layers, and double-layer layers—ordinary 30-watt motors can't drive them, so you need a DC motor in the next setting. Before ordering, estimate the weight of the curtain fabric to customer service. Don't let a small motor pull a big cart—after running for two years, it will burn out. Removing the curtain and replacing the motor is more troublesome than anything else.

these three items were not included during renovation, installing electric curtains later costs half the cost

cousin's house was so well renovated because three things were done during the renovation phase. This is the truly cost-saving part of electric curtains, much more important than choosing the right brand:

First, make the curtain box large enough. The inner width of the electric monorail box should be at least 15 cm wide and 20 cm deep; Gauze curtains combined with cloth curtains are double-tracked, with a width of 25 cm or more. Make it into ordinary hand-pulled rails under 10 centimeters, but the electric track plus motor head can't fit, and rework ceilings cost more than anything.

second, the load capacity of the roof slab. The electric rail and motor weighed several kilograms, and the operation vibrated. When carpentry ceiling was installed, an 18mm Otsupine board was laid on the curtain box top, and self-tapping screws were used to secure the installation. Directly nailed to the gypsum board, the track would hang down at one end after half a year.

third is electric potential. Just leave the socket at either end of the curtain box, not the center, as it will touch the motor. All three of these issues are fixed at the plumbing and carpentry stages, just like smart switches need to leave neutral wires in advance the same problem as a pack of cigarettes before smashing the wall, similar to what I wrote about replacing the weak current box in my renovation wiring back then. If it leaks during renovation, it's a huge hassle to fix it after moving in.

curtain fabric is eaten at multiple times; four meters is a dividing line

curtain fabric accounts are easiest to calculate and also the easiest to be cheated on. The opening and closing curtains should have pleats to look good. The fabric width is a multiple of the track width: windows below 4 meters have double pleats, above 4 meters 1.8 times . My cousin's track is 2.92 meters, with double pleats means fabric just over 6 meters long (2.92 by 2 meters plus folded edges on both sides), 1.80 meters and around 480 pieces.

pit is in two places. First, make the multiplier lower for you—1.5x pleats save material. After pulling it up, the pleats are flat, so from a distance they look like a board. Second, there is a large price difference between fixed-height fabric and fixed-width fabric. For ordinary windows with a ceiling height under 2.8 meters, fixed-height fabric is used, and the fabric width itself is sufficient, so the width can be cut as much as needed, saving nearly half the material compared to fixed-width fabric. You don't need to figure this out yourself—just ask the shop, 'Is it more cost-effective to use height or width for my window?'

room requires all black, like night shift nap or a media room, don't expect ordinary fabric with electric rails—just use a fully blackout coated fabric or replace it with honeycomb curtains for integrated heat insulation and shading. Electric lift styles even save side light leakage, but the price is a step up.

control layer, always keep a

control of electric curtains is arranged by reliability: remote control, wall panel, app, and voice command. The remote control uses radio frequency and doesn't rely on the home network or gateway. Even when the internet is off, you can press the button as usual. The elderly at home also use this system. App timing and shouting out loud are indeed comfortable, but I've written about networking separately : the WiFi-based motor's scheduled tasks are stored in the cloud, and the external network timing at home went silent once when the time was off; The Zigbee version of timer is stored in the gateway, and when disconnected from the external network, it runs as usual. For protocol selection, just refer to my article. Just one thing to add—no matter which you choose, don't skimp on remote control. If the network fails or the gateway leaks, it's the only switch you can press.