Roller, motorised and solar insect screens: the complete guide

An insect screen is a simple product that is easy to get wrong. Almost every complaint we hear traces back to the same mistake: the wrong type for the opening. Get that decision right and the screen becomes invisible; get it wrong and you fight it every day of the summer.

Start from the opening, not the catalogue

The rule is close to arithmetic. Taller than wide, the mesh should travel vertically. Wider than tall, it should travel sideways. That single comparison eliminates most of the wrong answers.

• Standard windows — a roller screen. The mesh winds into a slim cassette at the head and drops in front of the opening.
• French doors and sliding bays — a side-sliding screen. The mesh crosses horizontally, so you are not winding two metres of mesh every time you step onto the terrace.
• Large spans and exposed terraces — a motorised screen, driven like a roller shutter.

What makes a roller screen last

Three components decide it, and none of them is the mesh.

The internal mechanism: the springs should be heavy-duty, silent, and the return speed adjustable with the screen already fitted — because a screen that snaps back is a screen that will be torn within two seasons.

The seals: one or two PVC seals at the roller close the gap above the mesh. Without them, flying and crawling insects simply come in over the top, which is the most common reason a screen “does not work”.

The side channels: telescopic and adjustable, to take up any out-of-plumb in the opening, with brushes closing the sides.

Motorised and solar: when they earn their place

Past a certain area a screen becomes uncomfortable to operate by hand, and the mesh copes badly with wind. A motorised screen solves both. The ZIP versions weld a bead along each edge of the mesh and run it inside a closed channel, so the mesh cannot pull out and stays taut instead of billowing — which is what allows the very large spans, and what makes screens viable on the open sides of a pergola.

Solar versions exist where bringing power to the opening would mean opening a wall. The same caveat applies as for shutters: the panel needs real exposure to work properly.

The mesh is a real choice, not a detail

• Standard grey — general purpose, and the most discreet from outside.
• High transparency — a finer thread and more open weave, for when the view is the reason you bought the house.
• High contrast — easier to see through against strong backlight.
• Fine weave — for the smallest insects.
• Anti-pollen — filters a large part of airborne pollen, for hay fever sufferers.

Made to measure, and why it matters here

Riviera openings are rarely square, particularly in older buildings. A screen built to the measurement taken at the opening seals at the perimeter; one bought to a nominal size leaves the gaps that let insects in. Everything we make is built to the measured dimension in our workshop at La Gaude.

See the full range of insect screens, or send your openings through the quote form.

Why choose a Somfy io motor for your roller shutter

Motorising a roller shutter is rarely a question about the motor. It is a question about the cable, the wall and what you want the shutter to be able to tell you. The Somfy io range answers all three, and it is the range we fit most often — but not in every case, and it is worth knowing why.

Two-way radio, which is the real difference

io-homecontrol is a radio protocol shared by several manufacturers working in home automation. Its defining property is feedback: the shutter does not only receive orders, it answers. It can report its exact position, the temperature at its control point, and the battery charge if it is solar-powered.

In practice that changes what the installation can do. A one-way system sends an order and hopes. A two-way system knows whether the shutter actually moved — which is what makes reliable scheduling, grouping and remote checking possible.

868 MHz rather than 433

io motors work at 868.95 MHz. That band is far less crowded than the 433 MHz used by many cheaper systems, so it is less exposed to interference from other devices. On top of that, the protocol sends several command pulses per button press, so a single missed pulse does not mean a shutter that ignores you.

Fitting without opening the walls

The obstacle to motorising an existing shutter has never been the motor — it is running a supply to a wall switch. That means cutting a channel, sleeving it, filling it and repainting a strip that never quite matches.

A radio motor removes half the problem: the control point becomes wireless and can go where it suits you. A solar io motor removes the cable entirely — a small panel feeds a battery housed with the motor, and orders arrive by radio. That is the option we suggest for an isolated opening, an outbuilding with no supply, or a flat where drilling the façade would need a vote at the owners’ meeting.

Solar has one real limit and we would rather state it: the panel needs decent exposure. On a north elevation closed in by a neighbouring building, we will steer you back to a mains-fed motor.

The protections that pay for themselves

More than half of all call-outs on roller shutters are caused by something left underneath the curtain, and very often the curtain is what gets replaced.

• Obstacle detection stops the motor before the hardware breaks.
• Frost protection puts the motor into a safe mode rather than forcing a frozen curtain.
• Reinforced braking stops the motor being back-driven by someone lifting the curtain from outside. With anti-lift locks, that is a genuine additional barrier.

A step towards home automation, if you want it

Because io is shared across brands, an io shutter is not a dead end. It can later join a Somfy TaHoma box alongside gates, lighting and heating, and be grouped or scheduled. If you never want that, io still works perfectly well as a plain handset-operated shutter — you simply will not use the feedback.

When we suggest something else

If you want a straightforward radio link, no feedback and a lower price, Somfy RTS or a CAME radio motor does the job. The comparison of the four families is set out in our radio motor comparison.

To have a motor specified for your own opening, send the dimensions and a photo through the quote form, or read how we build our made-to-measure roller shutters.

Radio motors for roller shutters compared: RS 100, Oximo, Altus and CAME

Four radio motor families cover almost every roller shutter we build. They are not interchangeable, and the choice is decided by the weight of the curtain first, then by the protocol you want to live with. Here is what actually separates them, from the manufacturer that fits them.

Torque before anything else

Torque, in newton metres, is what lifts the curtain. Get it wrong and no feature list will save the installation.

• RS 100 — 6, 10 and 20 Nm. Small to medium windows.
• Oximo — 30, 40 and 50 Nm. Larger openings and heavier aluminium curtains.
• Altus — the RTS workhorse across a similar range.
• CAME — an alternative radio family we also fit.

io-homecontrol: the protocol that answers back

io-homecontrol is a radio protocol shared by several manufacturers committed to home automation. Its defining feature is feedback: the shutter can report its exact position, the temperature at its control point, or the battery charge if it is solar. Communication is two-way — the handset sends the order, the shutter replies.

io runs at 868.95 MHz. That band is far less crowded than 433 MHz, so it is less exposed to radio interference, and the protocol sends several command pulses per button press to make sure the motor receives the order.

The protections that save the curtain

More than half of all call-outs on roller shutters are caused by something left underneath the curtain. Very often that ends in a replaced curtain.

• Obstacle detection. io motors detect the obstruction and stop before the hardware breaks.
• Frost protection. If the curtain is frozen, or the motor is dangerously outside its operating temperature range, it goes into a protective mode rather than forcing.
• Anti-intrusion braking. Reinforced brakes stop the motor being back-driven by lifting the curtain. Combined with anti-lift locks, that is a real additional barrier.

Noise: where the RS 100 stands apart

The RS 100 is quiet for two structural reasons rather than one marketing reason.

First, it is a brushless motor: there are no brushes rubbing on the rotor, and brushes are what generate most of the noise in a conventional motor. Second, it slows as it reaches its end limits — which is precisely where the slats stacking up make the most noise.

That two-speed behaviour applies even when you are not using the quiet mode, and it protects the mechanical parts as well as your ears. With compatible control points the RS 100 also offers a feather mode: a slow-running mode that makes opening and closing all but inaudible, which matters if the rest of the household is already asleep.

So which one

Give us the width and height of the opening and the material of the curtain, and the torque decides itself. The protocol is your call: io if you want feedback and a path towards a fully automated house, RTS or CAME if you want a simpler, less expensive radio link and no feedback.

See how these motors are specified on our made-to-measure roller shutters, or send your dimensions through the quote form.