Somfy Sonesse 30 WireFree Battery Shade Motor Fit Guide

By Linda Barber, Shade Motors Direct

Battery shade motors get bought for one reason. There is no outlet near the window, and the client will not open the wall to make one. The Somfy Sonesse 30 WireFree 12V Rechargeable Li-ion RTS Motor (1003128) answers that, and Somfy built it well enough that it won a CE Pro BEST award at CEDIA the year it launched. Before you order one, two numbers decide whether it will work on your shade: the inside diameter of your tube, and the weight of the fabric you are asking 2 Nm to lift.

Measure the tube before anything else

Somfy specifies a minimum internal tube diameter of 1.13 in (28.7 mm) for this motor. Measure the inside of the tube, not the outside. A 1.5 in Rollease tube and a 2 in Rollease tube both clear that number, and both have a crown and drive set built for the Sonesse 30 WireFree. A tube under 28.7 mm will not accept the motor body at all, and no adapter changes that.

The motor runs 23.7 in long and weighs 1.68 lb. Add the crown and drive to that length when you check your pocket clearance. On a narrow shade the motor length becomes the constraint, not the fabric width.

Shade types the Sonesse 30 WireFree drives

Somfy lists this motor for interior window coverings. The four families it handles cover most of what an installer meets in a residential retrofit:

• Roller and solar shades, the most common application by a wide margin
• Roman and woven wood shades, where the lift cord winds on a tube inside the headrail
• Sheer shades with a light fabric weight
• Horizontal blinds with a tilt and lift assembly

The IP20 rating and the 32 to 140 degree F operating range keep this motor indoors. An exterior screen or an awning needs a sealed motor with an IP44 rating instead.

Verified specifications

Standby draw sits at 0.001 W, which is the number that lets a battery motor sleep for months between commands. Running draw hits 18 W for the few seconds the shade is in motion.

Two paths into the motor, and neither needs an electrician

Power and control stay separate on a WireFree motor. Power arrives through a charging port at the motor head, on a schedule measured in months rather than days. Commands arrive over the RTS radio at 433.42 MHz. Nothing runs back to a switch box, which is the whole point of the product and the reason it lands so often in rental units, historic buildings, and finished rooms where the drywall is staying shut.

Crown and drive: match the set to your tube

A motor without a crown and drive spins inside the tube and lifts nothing. The crown locks the motor body to the tube wall, and the drive wheel transfers torque from the shaft. Somfy builds both as a matched set, and the set has to suit your tube profile.

For 2 in Rollease shade tubes, use the Somfy Sonesse 30 WireFree Crown and Drive Kit for Rollease 2 in Shade Tubes (9021017). For 1.5 in Rollease tubes, the Somfy Sonesse 30 WireFree Rollease 1.5 in Crown and Drive (9020674) is the correct part. Ordering the motor without one of these is the single most common reason a WireFree job stalls on install day.

Control on the RTS radio

Every RTS transmitter Somfy makes will drive this motor. A Somfy Situo 1 Channel RTS Pure Remote (1870571) handles a single shade and doubles as the tool for setting the upper and lower limits. Larger jobs move to a multi-channel Situo or a Telis handheld, or to DecoFlex wall switches where the client wants something that looks like a light switch.

For app control, scenes, and voice, add a Somfy TaHoma Beecon RTS Interface (1811731). The Beecon bridges the RTS radio to the TaHoma app, which then carries Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple Home. The motor itself stays on RTS, so the radio pairing you do at install survives whatever the client later adds to their smart home.

The 12 channel capacity means one motor can answer to a dozen separate transmitters. Rolling code keeps a neighbor's remote out of your client's bedroom.

Charging in practice

Somfy embedded the lithium-ion cell, which retires the battery wand and the ladder trip that came with swapping AA cells. Charging happens through a port at the motor head, and the shade keeps working while it charges. Plan the recharge into a service visit rather than treating it as an emergency, and match the charging accessory to the exact WireFree variant you installed, since the Sonesse 30 WireFree and the Sonesse Ultra 30 WireFree take different charging hardware.

Ordering the whole assembly

A working WireFree shade needs the motor, a crown and drive set sized to the tube, a bracket, and at least one RTS transmitter. Start with the Sonesse 30 WireFree (1003128), then add the crown and drive kit that matches your tube. If the room already has RTS shades, your existing Situo will pair with this motor on a spare channel, and you can skip the extra transmitter.

Questions we get on this motor

Will the Sonesse 30 WireFree fit a 1 inch tube?

No. Somfy specifies a minimum internal tube diameter of 1.13 in (28.7 mm). A 1 in tube leaves no room for the motor body. Move up to a 1.5 in or 2 in Rollease tube, and order the crown and drive set built for that size.

Can I control a Sonesse 30 WireFree with my phone?

Yes, through a TaHoma Beecon RTS Interface. The Beecon translates between the TaHoma app and the RTS radio the motor listens on. Once the Beecon is in place, the shade also answers Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple Home commands.

How loud is a Sonesse 30 WireFree?

Somfy rates it at 49 dB. That sits close to a quiet library, and it runs for a few seconds per command. In a bedroom the motor is audible on a night-time close, and clients who want the quietest option available should look at the Sonesse 40 line at 44 dB.

Does the battery need replacing?

The lithium-ion cell is embedded and rechargeable, so there is no consumable battery to buy. Charge it through the port at the motor head. Somfy covers the motor for 5 years.

Shade Motors Direct is an authorized source for genuine Somfy motorized window shade, blind, and drapery parts.