Somfy Automation for Awnings & Screens

Here’s what separates a shade you love from a shade you forget you own: the one you love operates itself. Every retractable awning and motorized screen we install is Somfy-powered, quiet, reliable motors and controls from the company that defined the category, and with the right sensors and a TaHoma hub, your patio starts managing itself.

The TaHoma hub is the centerpiece: it connects your awnings and screens to your phone, so you can run the whole patio from anywhere. But the real magic is the sun and wind sensors. The sun sensor watches the light and extends your awning or drops your screens before the heat builds; the wind sensor watches the gusts and retracts the awning on its own when the Santa Anas show up. No sprinting outside mid-gust, no watching the weather app, the system protects itself.

Then there are schedules and scenes. Want the west-facing screens down at 4 PM every day when the glare hits? Want the awning out for Saturday lunch and everything retracted at sunset? Set it once and forget it, or trigger a whole scene with one tap: movie night, pool party, away-from-home. And because Somfy plays well with the major smart-home platforms, voice control works too.

Automation isn’t just for new installs, either. Many existing awnings can be upgraded to Somfy motorization, we do these upgrades regularly, and we’ll tell you at the estimate exactly what your frame supports. Whether it’s going on a new retractable awning, a motorized screen, or the patio cover lighting we’ve wired for automation, we configure every remote, scene, and sensor before we leave, and show you how it all works. One underrated use case: California rooms and covered patios with open sides, where motorized screens become the walls. With Somfy controls, one tap drops the screens against the afternoon sun, another raises them when the breeze is perfect, and a schedule does it for you daily. It turns a three-season patio into a year-round room, and the screens retract out of sight when you want the openness back.

You don’t have to automate everything on day one. A lot of our customers start with the motor, the button press, the smooth operation, and add the TaHoma hub and sensors later, when they’re ready. Somfy systems are built to grow: the motor we install today accepts the wind sensor you add next fall and the hub you add after that. We’d rather build it right in stages than have you wait another year for the patio you want now.

Install day is when it all comes together. We mount and wire everything, pair the sensors, set up the TaHoma hub, build your schedules and scenes, and then walk you through it on your own phone before we leave. You’ll retract the awning from the app, override the sensors, and run a scene yourself, so the first time you use it alone, it’s old hat. And if anything ever behaves oddly, you call the crew that installed it, not a help line in another time zone.

The awnings and screens we automate are covered by our 15-year warranty, and automation upgrades qualify for the same financing as everything else we do, flexible financing options for qualified buyers. Your estimate is free, on site, and in writing.