Norman Provides Solutions.

At Norman, when designing and delivering our products, we ensure they provide solutions for our customers. This doesn’t end once the product has been installed. These shutters are a perfect example of this.

A few months ago, our local retail partner Bombo Blinds completed a fantastic installation which due to the difficult access required a ladder and scaffolding. Our customer wanted shutters in a high, raked window made of Western Red Cedar, making it the ideal candidate for our Ultra Motorised shutters.

The result left the customer with beautiful shutters that were operating well and looking great! However, a few months pass and the motors stop working…..

As the name suggests, our “Perfect” tilt Motorisation has a great reputation for reliability and has been proven to be a trouble-free offering for Norman customers so anytime an issue with their functionality pops up, we take note, especially when we hear it is multiple motors “failing”.

We quickly arranged a time to investigate this rare exception!

Upon arriving at this scenic location, we discovered a few environmental factors that we suspected could be contributing to the motors no longer operating the louvres.

These included:

– Rainforest, lots of trees and very little sunlight getting to the motors

– Beautiful wide eaves on the house achieved their purpose of protecting the home but also further prevented sunlight

– The custom window design, while architectural in its look and feel meant lots of fixed timber in front of the solar panels

– Finally, the tinted glass meant that the majority of the light that did get through is reflected away again and had minimal absorption by the solar panel

Each motor module is powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. An integrated solar panel extends the battery charge. The factors above, all contributed to the fact that the solar panels were not getting enough light to power the shutters and they were therefore running out of charge faster than usual!

To solve this, we had to come up with a plan to provide an easy charging option for the customer as these shutters were inaccessible without a ladder.

We designed a system using the standard charging cables and connected these to a remote switch meaning the customer only needs to flick the switch to charge the motors when required. This option will ensure continual power and provide Christine with many years of trouble-free operation. Using the Norman app, the user can get a visual onof the level of charge each motor module has.

Since this adjustment, there have been no problems with the shutters! They, like us, just needed a bit of sunshine!

If you’re lucky enough to live in such a gorgeous location with rainforest surrounds, have a window up high, have a window or door that’s an unusual shape or even live in a location with extreme temperatures – at Norman, we have a solution for you!