Loxone Shading and Blind Control — the house that keeps heat in mind

Midsummer, three o'clock in the afternoon: the sun is beating down on the south-facing façade, the living room is getting warmer by the minute, and the air conditioning has long been working flat out. Sound familiar? In most homes, you either jump up and lower the shutters — or resign yourself to the whole house heating up and pay for it later on the electricity bill. Loxone automatic shading resolves exactly this dilemma: the system controls roller shutters, venetian blinds, parasols and awnings using sun tracking, temperature sensors and weather forecasts — with no human input at all. In summer it protects your home from the heat; in winter it lets the sunshine in and keeps the warmth inside. The result: a more comfortable home, less energy spent on cooling and heating, and one less thing for you to think about.

How is Loxone shading different from shutters on a timer?

Cheaper timer-based or basic sun-sensing controllers are familiar enough: up at 8 in the morning, down at 8 in the evening — and every situation in between is left for you to sort out by hand. Cloudy day? The shutter goes up, even though there's no need. Strong wind? The awning is out — just when you'd have to go outside to wind it in. Winter sun on the window? The shutter is up, but nobody thought about how that sunshine could be helping with the heating.

Loxone takes a completely different approach. The system doesn't decide based on set times but on real sensor data: it measures outdoor brightness, the sun's angle (calculated for the season and time of day), indoor and outdoor temperature, wind speed and the rain sensor — and weighs all of this against the presence sensors and the current state of the heating and cooling. Decisions don't come from a static rule, but from the situation at hand.

Speaking from our experience as installers: after their first summer, clients are usually surprised how much cooler their home stayed even without air conditioning — simply because the shutters came down exactly when, and exactly as far as, they needed to.

Automatic sun tracking — light, angle, season

The sun doesn't shine from the same direction in the morning, at midday and in the afternoon — nor at the same angle in June as in December. Loxone takes this into account.

The system knows the building's orientation and which way each window faces. Using its built-in calendar and weather sensors, it always knows the angle at which sunlight is striking a given window. Once the radiation reaches the level at which it would start to heat up the room, the shutter lowers on its own — exactly as far as needed. Not necessarily all the way: if the situation only calls for partial shading, the slats or the shutter close only halfway.

This matters because there is always light and a natural view left in the room — your home never goes completely dark. Comfort stays, heat load drops.

What the system monitors:

• Sun elevation and azimuth (according to orientation)
• Outdoor light level (with a lux sensor)
• Outdoor temperature
• Indoor temperature (room by room)
• Wind speed (safety retraction in strong wind)
• Rain (automatic retraction)
• Weather forecast (proactive decisions)

Summer heat protection — the shutter as a ‘heat shield’

In summer, the biggest challenge isn't the warm air but radiant heat gain: sunshine directly heats up furniture, floors and walls — and these then give that heat back off into the room, even once it's already shady outside.

That's why Loxone's shading logic works proactively: it doesn't lower the shutters once it's already hot, but before the sun comes in and warms up the building's thermal mass. In the morning, before the sun even reaches the south window, the shutter is already slightly lowered — stopping the indoor temperature from starting to climb in the first place.

This is no small thing: bringing a heated-up home back down to temperature takes far more energy than keeping a home cool that never heated up. With properly configured shading, summer cooling demand can be cut significantly — which comes straight off the air conditioning's running time and your electricity bill.

Coordinated with heating and climate automation, the system makes decisions hierarchically: shading goes first, and the air conditioning only switches on once shading is no longer enough. In energy terms, this order is the best approach.

Winter heat gain — sunlight that heats

Many people think of shading as purely a summer issue — but in winter, properly controlled shutters and blinds do exactly the opposite: they let the sunshine in to help with the heating.

On sunny winter days, Loxone automatically raises the shutters on the south- and east-facing windows. The incoming sunlight passively warms the floors, walls and furniture — so-called passive solar gain, which reduces heating demand. When the sun goes down or a cloud covers it, the system lowers the shutter again to retain the heat that has built up.

At night, lowered shutters and blinds also act as an insulating layer of air, reducing heat loss through the glazing. This is especially noticeable with older single-glazed or early double-glazed windows — the shutter is the window's ‘winter coat’.

The end result: during the heating season, the system actively works together with the heating rather than just passively supplementing it. Real savings, captured automatically.

Presence and presence simulation — a smart home even while you're on holiday

The shutters don't just respond to the weather — they also adapt to whether anyone is at home.

When everyone goes out, Loxone knows the home is empty. It then lowers the shutters on the south-facing windows so the house doesn't heat up in the sun and the energy doesn't have to be taken back out later by cooling. When someone gets home, the system opens the shutters again according to the usual routine.

While you're on holiday, you can also activate presence simulation: Loxone moves the shutters in a random but lifelike pattern — just as if someone were at home. It's no guarantee against burglary, but it visibly reduces the ‘empty house’ impression, one of the most important risk factors for break-ins.

This function runs in parallel with Loxone lighting control: shutters and lights simulate presence together — it's hard to get a more convincing presence simulation than that.

Integration: one system that ties everything together

Loxone shading isn't an island — it is closely linked to the other subsystems:

Heating and climate: As described above, shutters and thermal comfort go hand in hand. Loxone knows when the air conditioning is running: it then keeps the shutter at that window closed so the air conditioning isn't working against incoming sunlight. In winter, heating and sun tracking work in sync.

Lighting: In strong sunshine, Loxone lowers the shutter only far enough that the room doesn't go dark — the lighting control senses the indoor light level and, if needed, gently raises the artificial light so overall comfort is maintained. It's this coordination with lighting automation that truly brings home the real value of a smart home.

Weather forecast: The Miniserver doesn't just watch the current weather — it can also make decisions based on the forecast for the next hour and the next day. If a storm is expected in the afternoon, the awning retracts well in advance.

Wind protection: This isn't about comfort but about safety. In strong wind, slatted and fabric shading can come under serious mechanical strain — Loxone's wind speed sensor retracts them immediately, before any damage occurs.

Manual control — you always stay in charge

Automation doesn't mean giving up control. Every automatic Loxone function can be overridden:

At the wall switch: Your existing wall switches (push-buttons) stay — a short tap raises or lowers the shutter, and two quick taps hold it in place. The automation ‘sleeps’ for as long as you want it to.

App (Loxone App): From your smartphone or tablet, you can control the shutters room by room or all at once. You can also see the status of the automation there.

Voice control: Through Amazon Alexa and Apple HomeKit integration, the system also responds to voice commands — instructions such as ‘Alexa, lower the living room shutters!’ work perfectly.

Presence mode and scenes: In the ‘Cinema’ scene, the living room shutters come down automatically; in the ‘Morning’ scene, they go up. With a single button you trigger what you'd otherwise do by hand several times a day.

So automation doesn't take control away from you — it spares your daily routine the steps you'd otherwise never even think about.

Loxone Tree (new build) and Loxone Air (existing home)

One of the most common questions we get: ‘Is this only for new builds, or can it be done in our existing home too?’

The answer: both are possible — the only technical difference is how the control signal reaches the shutter motor.

Loxone Tree — the wired solution: In a new build or during a renovation, this is the most elegant option: the shutter motor's power and control run over a single cable — typically a 4-core YSLY cable, not Loxone Tree — so there's no need for a separate power cable and no complicated wiring. The Loxone Tree bus connects the sensors and control units to the Miniserver; Tree devices are extremely fast and reliable.

Loxone Air — wireless: In an existing building where you'd rather not cut into the walls, the Air system is the answer. Air-compatible shutter actuators connect to the existing motor and communicate with the Miniserver by radio. No wall chasing, no repainting, no upheaval — you can read more about this in our article on smart home in an existing house.

Importantly, the Miniserver itself is the same in both cases — the system's intelligence, automations and integration don't change. The only difference is how the signal gets to the motor.

Who do we recommend it for?

Loxone automatic shading is a particularly good choice if:

• You have large areas of glazing (south or south-west facing, panoramic windows, a conservatory) — these cause significant heat gain in summer, and shading is the only real solution.
• You run air conditioning and want to reduce its consumption — shutters are the air conditioning's best ally when the two work together.
• You travel or commute a lot — the automation keeps working while you're not at home; your home holds its temperature and doesn't waste energy.
• You already have electric shutters — in most cases the Air system can be added to the existing motors.
• Comfort and energy awareness matter to you equally — Loxone doesn't force you to choose between the two.

If you're unsure how well this solution would suit your home, a free on-site visit is the best way to find out — we'll go through the specifics of your property together.

Summary — what does Loxone shutter control do all day?

To make it clearer how this works in real life, here's an ordinary summer day from the system's point of view:

• 6:30 am — The sun rises in the east. The sensor measures brightness and sun angle. The shutters on the east-facing windows lower gently.
• 9:00 am — The sun reaches the south façade. Threshold reached: the shutters in the south-facing room lower to 70%, but not all the way — natural light is preserved.
• 12:00 noon — Peak radiation. The shutter is at 90%. The indoor temperature hasn't risen and the air conditioning hasn't started.
• 3:30 pm — A sudden gust of wind hits the sensor. The awning retracts automatically. Once the wind dies down, it extends again.
• 6:00 pm — The sun is going down and the outdoor temperature is dropping. Loxone opens the shutters — natural ventilation.
• 10:30 pm — Bedtime scene activated. All shutters close fully to hold on to the cool night air and keep the indoor temperature steady until morning.

All of this happens without any day-to-day input from you.