VELUX ACTIVE and Smart Control

The window, the flashing and the lining stay exactly as they would for any electric INTEGRA installation. What changes is what decides when the sash moves. A small gateway connects to the home's broadband router and talks to the window's own motor over its own wireless signal, and the app on a phone sits between the two, showing what the sensor is reading right now and letting a person override whatever the automatic system has decided.

Because ACTIVE builds on an electric window rather than replacing it, a manual VELUX has to be converted or swapped for an INTEGRA sash before ACTIVE can be added. Our answer on converting a manual VELUX to electric sets out which ranges allow that on the same frame and which need a new window fitted instead.

The rain sensor sits apart from the indoor readings and always has the final word. A window opened automatically for humidity will still close the moment rain lands on the frame, in the same way an INTEGRA window closes for rain whether it was opened by hand, by remote or by the automatic system. Our answer on what the VELUX ventilation flap does covers the smaller, passive vent built into the handle bar, which keeps working whether or not a room has ACTIVE fitted at all.

An automatic system that opened the instant a reading crossed a line, and closed the instant it dropped back below it, would leave a window opening and shutting every few minutes on a changeable day, so ACTIVE works to a small margin either side of its set points rather than a single line. A room has to warm past its threshold by a noticeable amount before the window vents, and cool back down by a similar margin before it shuts again, which keeps the sash settled rather than restless.

Before it opens on its own, the system also checks the local weather forecast rather than only the rain sensor already on the glass, so a window is less likely to vent for a warm, sticky room ten minutes before a shower is due. That forecast check narrows the chance of an automatic opening being followed almost immediately by an automatic closing, though the rain sensor remains the backstop if the forecast turns out wrong.

Scheduling sits alongside the automatic readings rather than instead of them. A household can set quiet hours where the system will not vent a bedroom window overnight even if the humidity would otherwise call for it, leaving the automatic behaviour active during the day and switched off while people are asleep.

• A daily schedule can vent a landing or bathroom each morning and close it again by a set time, without anyone touching a switch
• A holiday setting keeps humidity control running in an empty house, while a household is away, rather than leaving every window shut for a fortnight regardless of what is happening indoors
• The app shows whether a window is currently open or closed from wherever a phone has a signal, useful for checking before leaving for work whether a landing window was left open overnight

None of this needs a person present in the house at the time. A gateway connected to the home's own broadband keeps working whether anyone is in the building, which is what lets the holiday setting and the remote check both function while a house stands empty.

Where a blind is fitted alongside an electric window, it is usually wired or paired into the same gateway rather than left on its own separate remote, so a blind can respond to a reading in the same way the window does, closing on a temperature rise from strong sun rather than only on a manual press. Our guide to VELUX blinds: blackout, duo and awning covers which blind types are built for automatic control and how each sits against the glass when open.

A blind and a window fitted together, and specified for automatic control from the outset, avoid the mismatch that can turn up when a blind is bought separately later and found to run on a different standard from the window it sits against. Deciding both together on the home visit, rather than adding a blind afterwards, keeps the whole assembly on one system from the start.

ACTIVE can usually be brought into a wider smart home setup rather than staying an isolated system on its own app, with voice commands through a smart speaker able to open, close or check a window in the same way a light or a thermostat is asked to change. A household already running routines through a smart home hub can typically fold a roof window into the same setup, so a window closes as part of a leaving-the-house routine that already switches off lights and turns down heating, rather than needing its own separate command.

How far this stretches depends on which smart home ecosystem a household already runs, and it is worth checking compatibility with whatever hub is already in place before assuming a particular voice assistant or automation platform will pick the window up automatically. The gateway and sensor are what ACTIVE actually needs to function on their own; the wider smart home link is an option on top, not a requirement for the automatic venting itself.

Whether the window's own wiring needs an electrician is a separate question from ACTIVE itself and comes down to how the INTEGRA window is powered in the first place. Our answer on whether a VELUX INTEGRA needs an electrician sets out that split for the window; the gateway and sensor that sit on top add no further electrical work of their own, since both run on battery or a simple plug rather than tying into the ring main.

Fitting an ACTIVE system changes very little about the window itself and quite a lot about where the gateway ends up sitting. The survey includes checking that a wireless signal actually reaches the loft or landing in question, which is a real question on some of Peterborough's older stone cottages around Stamford and the Nene valley villages, where thick limestone or Collyweston stone slate walls can weaken a router's signal well before it reaches an upstairs room.

A loft conversion in one of the newer township estates, around Orton, Hampton or Werrington, more often has a router already close to the roofline and a straightforward run for the gateway to sit within easy reach of it. A Fletton brick terrace converted room by room sits somewhere between the two, and the survey is where a sensible spot for the gateway, close enough to both the router and the window, gets settled rather than guessed at afterwards.

Because the sensor reads humidity as one of its three measures, an ACTIVE system fitted well can quietly reduce the kind of moisture build-up that leads to condensation on a VELUX window, by venting a bathroom or kitchen automatically rather than waiting for someone to notice a misted pane and open a window by hand.

The gateway itself needs very little upkeep once it is set up, in much the same way a plain INTEGRA window needs little beyond the checks covered in our answer on whether VELUX windows need maintenance. The sensor runs on battery and occasionally needs a fresh one, which the app flags well before it actually runs flat, and the gateway itself sits on ordinary mains power rather than needing any wiring back to the window.

If the home's broadband drops out, the gateway loses its link to the app and to the wider internet, so scheduling, the holiday setting and any remote check from a phone stop working until the connection returns. The window itself is not stranded by this: it still answers to its ordinary wall keypad or remote in the meantime, since that link between window and switch is separate from the gateway's own connection to the router.

Does ACTIVE still work if the broadband goes down?

The automatic readings and any remote or scheduled control stop working until the connection returns, since both depend on the gateway reaching the app. The window itself keeps answering to its ordinary keypad or remote throughout, because that link runs separately from the broadband connection.

Can someone in the house override an automatic reading and shut a window by hand?

Yes. A press on the wall keypad, the remote or the app closes the window immediately, whatever the sensor was reading a moment before, and the automatic system simply resumes from the room's next reading rather than fighting the manual command.

Does the sensor need recalibrating or resetting over time?

Rarely. It behaves like most small home sensors: kept clear of direct sun and away from a draught so its readings stay representative of the room, with occasional app updates handled automatically rather than needing any hands-on work.

Can ACTIVE be added later if a plain INTEGRA window is fitted now?

Yes, provided the window fitted is electric, wired or solar, adding the gateway and sensor afterwards is a straightforward step that needs no reopening of the roof, since the window's own motor is already there and waiting to be given something new to answer to.

Whether ACTIVE earns its place in a particular room comes down to how that room is used day to day, a bathroom or kitchen that steams up often benefits differently to a quiet landing that rarely needs venting at all, and that is worth talking through on the home visit alongside the window itself. We measure the opening, check the signal a gateway would actually get in that spot, and bring back a sightline sketch showing the view the finished window will give from where you actually sit or lie, whichever control it ends up fitted with. Read more about our full VELUX window installation service in Peterborough, see what affects the cost of a rooflight, or find out more about the sightline sketch and how we plan the view before booking a home visit or messaging us on WhatsApp.