The short answer
Yes, many can, but not all, and not in the same way. Some electric roof windows speak a home-automation protocol and join a hub, an app and a voice assistant. Others have only a wall switch or a handheld remote, and a smart link has to be added with a relay or interface module. Whether a rooflight is "smart" is decided by the control system it ships with, so it is worth choosing that before the glass.
The useful question is what you want it to do. Opening on a timer, closing when you leave the house and responding to a voice command are all realistic. Shutting itself in the rain does not depend on your phone at all, and it should not.
What "smart" means on a rooflight
The word covers three different levels, and a product can sit at any of them.
- Local control
- A wall keypad or a handheld remote talks to the motor over a short-range radio link. Nothing connects to your internet. It is simple and dependable, and it is what a basic electric rooflight offers.
- Hub control
- A small gateway joins the rooflight to your wifi. You then get an app, schedules, scenes (for example "morning: open the landing window, raise the blind") and often a link to a voice assistant. Several VELUX electric and solar roof windows work this way through a gateway on the io-homecontrol system, which also runs their blinds and shutters.
- Building-system control
- The motor takes a plain signal, such as a switched live, a volt-free contact or a low-voltage control input, from a relay or a wider home-automation controller. This is common on flat rooflights and lantern vents, where the actuator is not tied to one maker's app. It is more flexible and needs more design.
What you can ask it to do
Once a rooflight is on a hub or a controller, the sensible jobs are modest ones.
- Open a few centimetres at a set time to air a landing or a bathroom, and close again later.
- Close every opening rooflight with one press when you leave, or at night.
- Open on a signal from a temperature or humidity sensor in the room.
- Respond to a voice command through a compatible assistant.
- Run together with electric blinds, so a hot afternoon closes the blind and cracks the window.
Treat the rain sensor as a separate safeguard. On a well-specified unit it closes the sash on the first drops regardless of the app or the schedule, and an automation should never be able to override it. Our guide to rain sensors and automatic closing explains how the two sit together.
Where the limits are
A few points catch people out, and it is better to hear them before the quote than after the fitting.
Compatibility is by system, not by brand name. A motor built for one maker's controller will not necessarily take commands from another's hub, and a gateway that handles blinds may not handle a different company's lantern vent. If you already run a particular home-automation platform, tell us at the survey, and the control route can be chosen to suit it.
Wifi range matters more than people expect. The rooflight is often at the top of the house, on a landing or in a loft room, which is where the signal is weakest. A gateway close to the unit, or a signal extender, makes the difference between an app that works and one that times out.
Power is the other limit. A smart link controls an electric rooflight; it does not replace its supply. A mains unit still needs a cable run, and a solar one needs enough daylight on its panel. Our answer on what happens in a power cut covers the fallback.
Finally, the smart layer ages faster than the glass. Apps change and gateways are updated, while the roof window may be in place for decades. A system that still has a manual or wall-switch override is the safer choice, so the window works even if the app stops.
Security and privacy
A rooflight that answers to an app is a window that can be opened remotely, so it is fair to think about who can reach it. Use a strong, unique password on the hub and the account, switch on two-step sign-in where it is offered, and keep the gateway software up to date. Most systems let you restrict who in the household can control which window.
It is also sensible to decide what the window may do while nobody is home. Many people set it to close and stay closed overnight and when the house is empty, and keep any open-at-a-set-time scene for daytime hours when someone is in. A roof window on a landing, out of reach from outside, carries less concern than one above a flat roof or an extension that a person could climb onto.
Lastly, a smart link does not alter the requirements for the opening itself. If the window is also an escape route from a loft room, it has to open fully by hand when the power or the network fails.
Deciding before the roof is opened
The control route is easiest to settle at the start, because it affects cabling and the position of the unit. A mains motor needs a supply brought to the opening, and a hub system needs a socket and a decent signal near it. If the cable has to run through a finished ceiling, it is better to know that while the ceiling is still being cut and made good, not afterwards.
That is why the control choice appears alongside the lining and the finish on the finish schedule we write for your room. The cable route, the position of any switch plate and the way the lining is formed around the motor are all recorded before work starts. The wider choice between manual and powered units is covered in electric or manual opening rooflights, and the full picture is on our electric opening rooflights page.
If you would like a rooflight that links to your existing system, ask for a quote and tell us what you already use. We will confirm what can be linked at the survey.