SwitchBot
SwitchBot Curtain 3 (Rod)
- Bluetooth
Verified September 2026
The easiest retrofit curtain robot for UK rented homes — it clips onto your existing rod or U-rail with no tools or hub needed for local Bluetooth control from Home Assistant. This Rod variant handles curtains up to 15kg on rods 15-40mm in diameter (the U-rail version, sold separately, pushes 16kg on U-shaped tracks instead) — check your rail type before buying, since the two aren't interchangeable. The 3350mAh battery lasts roughly 8 months per charge on one cycle a day; add the optional solar panel and you'll never touch the charging cable again. Best for south-facing windows where that panel earns its keep.
In Home Assistant
| Control | Type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Curtain | Cover | Open/close/stop and set-position (0-100%); position is read back from the device's internal travel sensor. |
| Battery | Sensor (%) | Battery level — only available over direct Bluetooth, not when paired via a SwitchBot Hub. |
| Light level | Sensor | Onboard ambient light reading (low/bright bands), also direct-Bluetooth only. |
| Curtain movement speed | Number (0-255) | Options-flow setting controlling drift speed; 1 = Quiet Drift, 255 = standard speed on firmware 1.1+. |
| Calibration | Binary sensor | Reports whether the device has completed end-of-travel calibration, set via the SwitchBot app rather than HA. |
The switchbot integration exposes Curtain 3 as a native cover entity with real position feedback over local Bluetooth — no Hub or cloud round-trip needed — but it clamps reported values above 95% to 100 and below 5% to 0, so "fully open/closed" can register slightly early. On firmware 1.1+, the integration's Curtain Movement Speed option (0-255) maps to the device's real drift modes — 1 is Quiet Drift, 255 is standard speed — letting you slow it at night without leaving HA. Calibration (true end-of-travel limits) must be set once in the SwitchBot app before pairing; skipping it causes the motor to stall short or grind past the rail end since HA has no calibration UI of its own.
Specs
- battery
- 18650 Li-ion, 3350mAh — rated ~8 months per charge on one open/close cycle daily, charged via USB-C
- dimensions
- 78 x 71 x 205mm (Rod variant)
- noise level
- 42dB in Normal mode, 25dB in QuietDrift mode
- solar panel
- Optional SwitchBot Solar Panel 3 (sold separately) keeps it topped up indefinitely with just ~3 hours of direct sun per day
- rod compatibility
- Round rods 15-40mm diameter (47-125mm circumference); works with grommet, ring-top, back-tab and tab-top curtains
- max curtain weight
- 15kg on Rod-type tracks (16kg on the U-rail variant)