VELUX ACTIVE with NETATMO Reviews

Had Velux skylights for years with simple battery remote. No issues with opening and closing.

Had them all replaced last year (they were 20+ years old and developed troubles with a couple of the blinds) and luckily was given remote to use along with VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO . VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO never worked properly so we relied on the remote. Now the remote doesn’t even work, Leaving us with some of them with blinds stuck open and some stuck closed. All less than a year after replacing the skylights. Would have expected much better from Velux.

Maybe they can ditch the garbage software and supply their customers with simple remotes using 1980’s tech that actually works?

Notifications almost never work. Opening the skylight manually sometimes works. The daily airing often fails silently. Sometimes it claims it’s raining and won’t open on a clear day. VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO doesn’t confirm your set location and doesn’t log any activity, making troubleshooting impossible. Their support department appears to be one person who relies on Netatmo for any answers and is not really interested in fixing any of the many problems. I recommend avoiding this product.

I spent a long time trying get this to work. I installed 2 gateways, 2 sensors, hooked it up to the WiFi. In the end I can open and close window from my phone. But that is really not much functionality.

I was hoping to have the Active control open and close windows when it was hot and cold. Sadly, this functionality doesn't work well. The main problem is that the windows don't consistently open when it's hot. Oh, once in a while it will "air the room", but they don't stay open base on temperature.

Don't get me wrong, I love my VELUX skylights and blinds. I am very happy I installed them. VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO is stable and you can use it to open and close windows. But the VELUX Active doesn't work well.

In the end I went back to the legacy remotes. On 30 minutes I had it programmed to open in the morning and close at night. This isn't based on temperature, but at least it works.

Need more than maximum 90 minutes choice from sunset or sunrise

I saw the battery info on solar blinds display once and I don’t know how/why, but that’s a great feature - don’t hide it! Show it all the time or let me choose to display it or not.

So glad to have scheduled automations! HOWEVER, need the ability to turn on/off all automations with a single click. I’m talking about one toggle globally, not just the one toggle locally to each individual automation. For those of us with multiple automations a day and multiple velux products, turning them all on or off can be a real pain! On the main screen it would be nice if the group icon changed to match the status of the blinds in the group - if all are closed, show the closed blind icon instead of always showing the open blind icon.

I write software for a living and if only one created this in my company, they would be looking for work. Let’s start with internals. VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO eats power. I have an older iphone but it ate 50% of my battery in an hour. Verified by looking at power consumption in settings. The actual interface for controlling the blinds is good employing the more modern minimalist icons but doesn’t adjust space for more than two skylights and blinds. There is plenty of room. The real problem is the complicated set of menus to configure rooms and uses computer ease like “bind” “equipment”. This isn’t 2010, it’s 2018. Just drag the blind on top of the skylight. Double tap to unbind. Hold a second or so to locate or if modern phone push hard. A tutorial comes up showing a drag and explains verbally and in text what to do. Lastly the interface to pick is sometimes unresponsive. The hardware interface is good, keep you engineers but the rule is NEVER let engineers anywhere close to user interface or user function. It’s clear their implementation percolated into user interface.

I am considering returning my VELUX App Control unit because VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO itself doesn’t do the main thing I bought it for: To have it close my skylights automatically after a few hours

. The remote on my wall and VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO , only give you 60 minutes max to automatically close the skylights. Who opens their window on a nice day and wants to close it after 60 minutes I can’t open my skylights and go to bed and have them close automatically after a few hours. I want my skylights to close on my schedule, not on the apps schedule.

One of the most difficult app installations I have ever attempted. One wrong step and you’re back to the beginning. My indoor temperature sensor disconnected a year ago, and I’m terrified to attempt the process to get it to work again, so it sits in a drawer. Whoever designed this should be embarrassed or fired. And did I mention the lack of instructions?

Having said that once I did get it working, with the help of Velux technical experts on the phone for an hour or more, VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO is brilliant. Now, one of my blinds has disconnected. Do I dare try to get that working? Will I end up back at the beginning? Who knows.

UX of VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO, same as their remotes and gateway is just horrible.
Someone already wrote and extensive report of the technical issues with VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO , but nobody mentioned the horrible UX.

I own a software (and a bit of hardware) development company.
If we did things this way we would have had no clients at all…

First of all, none of the companies that are authorized dealers of Velux actually knew which gateway I need at all.
None of them even knew what HomeKit is…
I have contacted Velux support in Denmark directly, nobody responded.
Documentation about HomeKit integration on their website is so basic that it has no meaningful info at all.

So, I had to investigate by myself in order to find a gateway that should hopefully work.
Made a blind purchase hoping that it will work since dealers were not able to confirm and Velux did not respond.

Luckily, I was able to force it somehow with 2 hours lost for setup.

One horrible experience, but since I already made a mistake purchasing their windows I had no other choice…

For the price of the skylights you’d think they would hire some designers and engineers instead of offshoring the development and not testing it with actual users.

Aside from the super small font, super slow registration process, and clunky interface, here’s what I expected but is missing: Ability to group skylights within a room or in different configurations (all, just top, left side, etc..). Works with Alexa (this is key!!). Set open/close schedule by skylight, group, or room. Works with IFTTT (to get it to work with Alexa and other devices). The ability to turn off notifications every time we open or close (annoying).

Good news is that I can open and close with my phone, which is kinda cool I guess. Otherwise, very disappointing.

VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO was pretty easy to set up but I did not a technical support person to address that one Skylight was not synching. VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO works great but the one key functionality that is missing is the ability to program the blinds to open and close each day based on a schedule. The remotes off this functionality. Thank you.

My Active has been working well for 4 years. Originally I had a few hiccups during setup, but after I learned the routine it is great. I especially like to use my phone to control the products. Definitely the way to go with VELUX solar products.

A bit clumsy but always works when Apple Home sometimes falls down. I wish the screen leading up to Schedules and Automatons didn’t stay blank for so long. A couple of times when I haven’t used it for a while I end up thinking it doesn’t work and I give up. It’s only when I get distracted for a minute and look back at the screen do I remember that it can take up to 30 seconds of completely blank screen before my automations appear. Someone should drop in a message on that completely blank screen to let us know that it hasn’t failed. Otherwise I’m happy with it.

Very convenient, especially to close or or open all you lights at the same time or 1 or 2 different openings . The rai sensors kick in when they sense enough rain . You can take it to another level step and get the indoor sensors also but I think I won’t need to vent my house at certain temps besides I also have heat pumps that have some of there tech features that create redundant action . All and all great product and I get compliments on the skylights and the technology that comes standard with them .

When I am away, I no long have to wonder if the house is getting to hot with the sun or to shut all the windows wondering about the rain... A simple press on VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO allows me to control my windows to open or to close and by how much I would like. If it ever starts to rain, my window's rain sensor will quickly close all the windows and VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO will notify me of the window opened/closed/locked status. Best of all, there is also a timers which I can set the window(s) to automatically close Within an hour or any time within the hour in 5-minutes increments. Super convenient and it is password secured/protected.

I designed in a #8 center-pivot roof window into our home plans when built in 1978. It’s always been a interesting focal point but difficult to manage certainly. Now solar powered shade/vent Velux Active manages all with ease and security never thought of. After over 3 years of remodel THIS is the best part of all I have done. It’s simply amazing how it manages light and air quality and the aesthetics are a game changer.

Seems relatively stable. Occasionally the system disconnect from my Wi-Fi, and then it takes a bit of work to get it working again, but so far I’ve been able to fix it each time and then it works for many months at a time

What is a little upset when I got my new windows with some blinds with the very outdated remotes that has no LED screens whatsoever. But it’s extremely easy and very intuitive. Way. How to set up the gateway, step-by-step, and to assign windows and blinds to each room. I like VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO .

Our skylights were installed with Integra wireless control pads. I find that automations are best setup on the gateway while just using the wireless pads to open or close the skylights at will. A handy feature of the gateway phone app is the ability to control the skylights when the Integra wireless pad is not in reach.

Following a power loss, had problems with pairing remotes so Tech Support walked me through it but then realized VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO wasn’t working. Thinking the Gateway took a surge when power restored, they replaced it. Now, I have the solar blinds programmed to open/close and, I can do it remotely using the VELUX App. Happpeee, happeee as long as power doesn’t go off for 14 hours again!

I love my VELUX skylights app! I have a 4x4 sized skylight in the kitchen and two 2x2 in living room dining area on a 15 ft valted ceiling. VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO works so well with them all! I can adjust the built in blinds to any length, open and close the windows to any amount. I LOVE VELUXACTIVEwithNETATMO! Super easy to pair and your off to using it.