Block Shading

This control element controls the automatic shading of a whole group of blinds – for instance all windows on one side of the house. When the sun shines onto that side, the blinds move together to a protective position against glare and heat; when the sun moves on, they return. Brightness and room temperature can be taken into account as well.

Operation

1. Conditions: the top row shows which conditions are fulfilled right now – the sun when it is bright enough, the arc when the sun is within the configured range, the thermometer when the room is too warm. Sun and thermometer only appear when the respective condition is switched on.
2. Large symbol: blind with arrow down – shading is on; arrow up – no shading.
3. Cross: the automatic mode is switched off or locked.

A tap on the element opens the dialog. As a circle (basic screen) it only shows the large symbol, with a cross at the top right when the automatic mode is off.

The dialog

At first the dialog only shows the row Active. The gear shows and hides the settings below it; they are longer than the screen and are moved by dragging.

1. Symbols of the title bar: clock, presence and gear, see below.
2. Active: switches the automatic mode on and off. If the shading is locked from outside – for instance in case of wind –, the left side reads Active (locked).
3. Shading position: where the blinds move when the shading starts (Active) and where they move when it ends (Inactive) – height and lamella in percent each.
4. Sun position: range of sun height and sun angle (direction, 180° = south) in which the sun shines onto these windows. The current position of the sun is shown in brackets – that makes it easy to find the range on a sunny day. If From is larger than To, the angle range extends across north.
5. Brightness: with Active shading additionally only happens when it is bright enough – so the blinds stay up on dull days. Shading starts above Active over; below Inactive under the condition only counts as gone once it stays darker for as long as set under Time to inactive. That way the blinds do not go up with every cloud.
6. Temperature: only present when a room temperature is available. With Active shading only happens when the room is warmer than Active over; below Inactive under the condition is gone.

Save applies the settings.

When shading takes place

• The shading starts as soon as the sun is within the configured range and all conditions switched on are fulfilled.
• It ends as soon as the sun leaves the range – or when all conditions switched on have fallen below their threshold Inactive under.
• The position of the sun is recalculated every ten minutes.
• The blinds only move at the start and at the end. Anybody who adjusts a blind by hand in between is not overruled until the next change.

Switching times and presence

Behind the clock are switching times that switch the automatic mode on or off – Active or Inactive is chosen as the value, for instance switching on at 8 in the morning. Everything else about switching times is described under Presence.

Behind the house it is set what happens when the presence changes. A tap on a symbol selects whether switching takes place at all for this state; next to it is whether the automatic mode then becomes Active or Inactive. In the example it is switched on when coming home and off when leaving the house, a vacation changes nothing.

Setup

This section is meant for the installer of the system.

The control element is linked to the function block Block Shading: first create the function block and its addresses, then right click on the control element and select the function block. Without a link a tap on the element points this out. See also Presence.

The function block has one output for height and one for lamella for every blind of the group; their number is set there. These outputs are connected to the setpoints of the blinds. The block calculates the position of the sun from the coordinates of the project. Whether the blinds stay where they are or move to the position Inactive when the automatic mode is switched off or locked is also set at the function block (Action on inactive, Lock action).

Each blind keeps its own control element Block Roller shutter/Blinds as well, which brings its own shading for a single window. Shading via this control element is suitable when several blinds are to move together.

Parameters

Address links

All addresses sit at the function block. The temperature settings only appear in the dialog when its input Temperature is linked there.

See also General properties of all control elements.