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VELUX ACTIVE review

In August 2016 Danish producer of roof windows, VELUX, announced a collaboration with Apple to develop products compatible with HomeKit. Then in January 2017, VELUX announced a partnership with French smart home company Netatmo, and in July 2018 VELUX ACTIVE was available for controlling VELUX roof windows, roller shutters and sunscreenings.

As an owner of two VELUX Integra roof windows I had longed for a smarter solution than just the accompanying remote controls for opening the windows, so my expectations where quite high when I ordered the VELUX ACTIVE kit.

The box containing the product is nice with a short description and a mention of both Netatmo and Apple HomeKit.

Unboxing the product from the protective packaging reveals three devices:

An indoor Climate Sensor

The Climate Sensor will measure temperature, humidity and CO2. There is also switches to manually open or close the VELUX windows, roller shutters and sunscreenings.

A Departure Switch

The Departure Switch is used for manually securing the VELUX windows, roller shutters and sunscreenings. The same function is available in the app.

A gateway

The gateway connects wirelessly to the internet and allows operation from outside the local network.

In addition to the main hardware, there is a manual, two different power cables, batteries for the Climate Sensor and Departure Switch, and adhesive and screws for wall mounting. To insert the batteries you need to press two clips on the side of each of the devices with a screwdriver or something similar. The indoor Climate Sensor uses three AA batteries and the Departure Switch uses two AAA batteries. The overall feel of the Climate Sensor and Departure Switch is unfortunately a bit cheap and plastic-like, but once assembled again it seems fine.

When batteries are inserted and the gateway is connected to a power outlet, setup and configuration can begin after downloading the Velux Active app from the App Store. A setup assistant will guide the user through connecting the gateway to the network, pairing the devices and configure the rooms etc. Afterwards it is possible to adjust preferred settings for temperature, humidity, air quality and time for automatically opening windows for ventilation. One thing to keep in mind is that each room with a window, roller shutter or sunscreening is supposed to have an indoor Climate Sensor. The Climate Sensor itself can handle many windows, but obviously it can only measure values in the room it is situated in.

When setup is done the user can add VELUX ACTIVE to HomeKit via the Home app where it will show the windows/roller shutters/sunscreenings, the gateway, a Carbon Dioxide sensor, Humidity sensor and Air Quality Sensor. These sensors can be used to trigger scenes, automations and notifications and of course you can tell Siri to “Open the windows” etc.

I have been a user of VELUX ACTIVE for about a month and my overall impression is good. The automatic ventilation works as expected, and being able to use Siri and the app to open and close my roof windows whether I am home or not, is a nice feature.

Pros:

Easy setup

Provides a better indoor climate

Works automatically

Compatible with Apple HomeKit

Easy setup Provides a better indoor climate Works automatically Compatible with Apple HomeKit Cons:

The product feels a bit cheap and plastic like

The gateway only connects wirelessly