Configuration Wizard

The integration’s settings are managed via a multi-step wizard. To invoke the configuration wizard:

Go to Settings → Devices & Services.
Find Smart Cover Automation.
Click the gear icon to open the configuration wizard.

Notes

The configuration wizard can be canceled at any time. When you do that, no changes are made to the configuration.
The configuration wizard can be invoked as often as needed to inspect the configuration or make changes to it.

Step 1: Weather Forecast Sensor and Covers to Automate

Weather Forecast Sensor

The integration needs to determine:

Is the weather hot enough to require sun protection?
Is the sun currently shining?

This is done with the help of a weather forecast sensor by default (various alternatives exist, see UI configuration entities).

Home Assistant provides various weather integrations that should work well. See this official list of weather integrations and this community guide to weather integrations for help choosing one.

The following weather integrations have been tested successfully:

To determine if the weather is hot enough to require sun protection, the integration uses both the daily minimum and maximum temperatures. If both are above their respective thresholds, the weather is considered to be hot.

The integration considers the following current weather conditions as the sun is shining (as reported by the weather forecast service):

sunny
partlycloudy

Offline Use

The integration caches the weather forecast response for situations when internet connectivity is unavailable. When offline, the integration continues to work as well as is possible under the circumstances.

Covers

Select the covers the integration should automate.

Step 2: Azimuth Settings

In this step of the configuration wizard, you can specify two kinds of azimuths for each cover. An azimuth, by the way, is an angle measured from north.

Cover Azimuth

Specify each cover’s azimuth (direction). This is necessary so that the integration can calculate when the sun is shining on a window.

There are several online tools available to measure azimuth. OpenStreetMap Compass works well, as does SunCalc. You can find instructions for both on this website. Your phone’s compass app might also be accurate enough.

Sun Azimuth Tolerance & Min/Max Elevation

These settings let you configure the exact angles at which the sun hits a cover (left, right, top, bottom). They are available per cover, making it possible to model your building’s geometry precisely while accounting for nearby trees or other buildings that provide shade. As a result, the integration’s heat protection can close covers accurately when they are exposed to direct sunlight and open them otherwise.

The sun azimuth tolerance specifies the left/right angle between the sun and the cover at which the sun is considered to be shining on the window. The minimum and maximum elevation does the same for the bottom/top angles.

The optional values you specify here override the global settings configurable on the device page of the integration instance.

The following settings are available for each cover:

Azimuth tolerance start: Azimuth at which the sun is considered to start hitting the window (looking out, the angle to the left).
Azimuth tolerance end: Azimuth at which the sun is considered to stop hitting the window (looking out, the angle to the right).
Minimum elevation: Elevation at which the sun is considered to start hitting the window (bottom angle).
Maximum elevation: Elevation at which the sun is considered to stop hitting the window (top angle).

Minimum/Maximum Sun Angle

Step 3: Max/Min Positions (Optional)

In this step of the configuration wizard, you can specify maximum and minimum positions (0 = fully closed, 100 = fully open). These options can be used to always let some light in and/or always provide a minimum of shade.

The following settings are available:

Maximum cover position: The most closed position the integration moves the cover to during regular operation (e.g., for heat protection).
Minimum cover position: The most open position the integration moves the cover to during regular operation (e.g., to let light in).
Cover position for evening closure: The position the integration moves the cover to for evening closure.

Global Position Settings

The above position settings are available as global settings that are applied whenever no per-cover setting is configured.

Per-Cover Overrides

The global positions can be overridden per cover.

Step 4: Tilt Angle Control (Optional)

In this step of the configuration wizard, you can specify how the tilt angle of covers with adjustable slats is to be controlled. The following options are available:

Auto: Block direct sunlight but allow seeing through as much as possible.
- Only direct sunlight is blocked (cloudy conditions and the sun’s position is taken into account).
- If the sun is not shining on a window, the slats are kept in open mode to allow indirect light through.
- Not available in night mode.
Manual: Don’t change the user’s manual setting.
Open: Keep the slats fully open.
Closed: Keep the slats fully closed.
Set value: Keep the slats at a fixed angle.
External: Set the tilt angle from your own automation.
- When this mode is selected, the integration creates additional entities that receive the tilt angle.
- The integration-created entities are fully managed, i.e., they’re deleted again if the mode is changed away from external.
- The integration-managed tilt angle entities are available globally as well as per cover, depending on where you configured external as tilt angle control mode.
- The integration only adjusts your covers’ tilt angles if the tilt angle entities actually have a valid value (0-100).
- If both global and per-cover external tilt angle values are specified, the per-cover value takes precedence.

The following settings only apply to auto mode (details below):

Tilt open to cover open delay
Horizontal tilt position
Vertical tilt position

Global Tilt Modes for Day and Night

The above tilt modes are available in two variants: one applies to operations during the day, the other to the evening closure position.

Per-Cover Overrides

The global tilt modes can be overridden per cover.

Additional Settings

Minimum tilt change: Minimum tilt change (%) required before sending a command. Prevents excessive motor wear from small adjustments.
Slat overlap ratio (d/L): Ratio of slat spacing to slat width (0.5 – 1.0). Lower values mean more overlap between slats. The default of 0.9 works well for most venetian blinds. Only relevant for Auto mode.
Tilt open to cover open delay: Delay between opening the slats fully and reopening the cover. Only applies to covers with tilt support whose effective daytime tilt mode is Auto and that were previously closed for heat protection.
Horizontal tilt position: Home Assistant tilt percentage for fully horizontal slats. Auto mode treats this as the horizontal slat position. Default: 100%.
Vertical tilt position: Home Assistant tilt percentage for fully vertical slats. Auto mode treats this as the vertical slat position. Default: 0%.

Step 5: Additional Settings and Window Sensors (Optional)

In this step of the configuration wizard, you can configure additional global settings plus optional window sensors for each cover.

Additional Settings

Delay between covers: Delays the start of one cover movement relative to the next within the same automation cycle. Use this when you want to avoid multiple covers starting at the exact same time. A value of 0 disables the delay.

Window Sensors for Lockout Protection

You can enable lockout protection by configuring window sensors for each cover. If any window sensor associated with a cover reports that the window is open, the cover won’t be closed. This is especially useful for patio or terrace doors with a cover that would block you from re-entering the building if closed.

Step 6: Time Settings (Optional)

In this step of the configuration wizard, the following settings can be configured:

Blocked Time Range

Blocked time range allows you to disable the automation in a certain time range, e.g., when you sleep. It delays the cover opening in the morning until the end of the configured time range. So, if you configure the blocked time range as 22:00 to 7:00, the covers will not open before 7 am.

You can also have the automation pre-close covers in the evening before a hot sunny day. This ensures silence (no cover movements) during the blocked time range while still providing heat protection through closed covers in the morning. Pre-closure runs at the beginning of the blocked time range and closes all covers the sun will shine on between sunrise and the end of the blocked time range.

Blocked time range settings:

Disable automation in time range: Enable or disable the blocked time range function.
Blocked time range: mode: Specifies the blocked time range:
- Absolute time: A fixed time of day.
- External: Set the blocked time range from your own automation.
  - The integration creates two additional entities that receive the start and end of the blocked time range.
  - These entities are fully managed, i.e., they’re deleted again if the mode is changed away from external.
  - If either of these entities has no valid time, no time range is blocked.
Disable from: Start time of the time period in which the automation should be inactive.
Disable until: End time of the time period in which the automation should be inactive.
Pre-close for next-morning heat protection: In the evening before a hot sunny day, pre-close covers the sun will shine on the next morning.

Evening Closure & Morning Opening

Evening closure allows you to automatically close all or a subset of the previously selected covers in the evening, either at a fixed time, with a certain delay after sunset or at an externally controlled time.

The same covers become eligible to reopen in the morning if normal automation permits, either at a fixed time, with a certain delay after sunrise or at an externally controlled time.

Notes:

Covers closed by the evening closure function stay closed until the specified morning opening time or until the end of the blocked time range - whichever is later.
Whether a cover actually reopens also depends on the automatic reopening mode:
- In Passive automatic reopening mode, only covers previously closed by the automation are reopened.
- In Active automatic reopening mode, covers closed manually can reopen after the manual override duration has elapsed.
- In Off automatic reopening mode, covers are not reopened automatically.

Evening closure settings:

Evening closure: mode: Specifies the closing time:
- Absolute time: A fixed time of day.
- Relative to sunset: A specified delay after sunset.
- External: Set the closing time from your own automation.
  - The integration creates an additional entity that receives the closing time.
  - This entity is fully managed, i.e., it’s deleted again if the mode is changed away from external.
  - If this entity has no valid time, the integration cannot determine when to close the covers, so they stay open.
Evening closure: time: Depending on the selected mode: delay after sunset, or fixed time of day. This setting is ignored if Evening closure: mode is external.

Morning opening settings:

Morning opening: mode: Specifies the earliest reopening time for the previously closed covers. Actual reopening only happens if normal automation permits (e.g., heat protection).
- Absolute time: A fixed time of day.
- Relative to sunrise: A specified delay after sunrise.
- External: Set the earliest reopening time from your own automation.
  - The integration creates an additional entity that receives the opening time.
  - This entity is fully managed, i.e., it’s deleted again if the mode is changed away from external.
  - If this entity has no valid time, the integration cannot determine when to reopen the covers, so they stay closed.
Morning opening: time: Depending on the selected mode: delay after sunrise, or fixed time of day. This setting is ignored if Morning opening: mode is external.

Evening closing & morning opening settings:

Close covers in the evening: Enable or disable the evening closure function.
Covers: Subset of covers to close after sunset.
Ignore manual override duration: When enabled, the evening closure can move selected covers even if a manual override pause is still active.
Keep covers closed: When enabled, selected covers are closed again during the overnight evening-closure period if they are reopened. Manual override duration is respected. Lock mode takes precedence, so covers are only re-closed after lock mode is disabled.
Automatic reopening: Controls how automation reopens covers after closing conditions no longer apply:
- Active: Always reopens covers.
- Passive: Only reopens covers that were previously closed by automation.
- Off: Disables automatic reopening.

Next Steps

After the configuration wizard, take a look at the UI configuration entities.