The Quietest Motorized Roller Shade Motors: Every Maker's Published Noise Figure, Compared
Every brochure says whisper quiet. Here is what each maker actually publishes for its roller shade motors, in decibels, with the distance and the document behind the number, and what you hear once the shade is on the wall.
Which motorized roller shade motor is the quietest?
By the makers' own published numbers, the lowest figures on a roller shade motor are Vertilux's VTi Celtic Ultra Quiet AC motors at under 30 dB, Dooya's Q series at 30 dB, then Lutron's Palladiom and Sivoia QS Roller 64 at 35 dBA measured 3 ft from the drive and Somfy's Sonesse ULTRA 50 DC at 35 dB. Lutron's Roller 100 and 225, Triathlon and its 2025 Smart Shades submittal sit at 38 dBA at 3 ft, as does Somfy's Sonesse ULTRA 50 AC at 38 dB; the everyday Somfy motors we install most, the Sonesse 30 and 40 and the Sonesse 28 battery motors, publish 40 to 49 dB; Lutron's largest drive, the Roller 300 for 300 sq ft of fabric, is rated at 50 dBA. Crestron publishes no figure for any QMT motor, only "nearly inaudible operation".
The numbers are not measured the same way, so read the conditions column before ranking. Every Lutron figure is sound pressure at 3 ft (1 m) from the drive. Somfy's US product pages print a bare "dB" with no distance; its European brochure measures at 1 m at nominal torque and prints 44 dB(A) for the Sonesse 30 and 50, and its North American data book uses ISO 3741 sound power, which is not a distance at all. Vertilux and Dooya state no condition. A 30 and a 35 from two makers can describe the same motor. For scale, a whisper is about 30 dB and a quiet library about 40 (NIOSH, Purdue), and every 10 dB doubles perceived loudness (National Park Service).
- What you hear is the shade, not the motor. Fabric unrolling off a tube, a hembar meeting a sill, a bracket on a hollow pocket and a 2.5 in tube in a 3 in frame all add to the number on the sheet. Slow speed settings (Somfy's DC motors run 6 to 28 rpm) and a pocket lined to the drawing are worth more than three decibels on paper.
- Bigger drives are louder. Lutron's own ladder runs 35 dBA (Roller 64) to 38 (Roller 100, 225) to 44 (Roller 150) to 50 (Roller 300). The quietest motor that lifts the shade is the right one, not the quietest motor in the catalogue.
- Drapery tracks are a separate list. The track motors, from Vertilux's VTi Celtic at 28 dB to Lutron's drapery drives at 50 dB, are on the quietest motorized drapery tracks.
Compiled by Exotic Shades & Draperies in Fort Lauderdale from the makers' specification submittals, product pages, data books and catalogues, with the measurement condition each one states and a link to the document. We install Lutron, Somfy, Crestron, Vertilux and Dooya, so we have no brand to favor; where a maker prints no number the table says so.
Every maker's published noise figure for its roller shade motors #
Sorted from the lowest figure to the highest, then the motors with no figure at all. The condition column is the part that matters.
Swipe sideways to see every column.
| Motor | Published figure | Measurement condition | The maker's wording | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vertilux VTi Celtic Ultra Quiet (45 mm AC, 6 Nm) | under 30 dB | none stated | "Our Ultra Quiet motors operate under 30 decibels" | Vertilux motorization page |
| Dooya Q and QA series (double helical gear) | 30 dB | none stated; series level, not per model | "Quiet Motor Q Series QA Series 30dB" | Dooya 2026 interior catalogue |
| Lutron Palladiom (exposed roller) | 35 dBA | 3 ft (0.91 m) from the drive | "Sound: 35 dBA measured 3 ft (0.91 m) from the EDU" | Lutron 085560m |
| Lutron Sivoia QS Roller 64 (wired or wireless) | 35 dBA or less | 3 ft (1 m) from the drive | "will not exceed 35 dBA measured 3 ft (1 m) from the EDU" | Lutron 085705d |
| Somfy Sonesse ULTRA 50 DC (24 V, RTS or RS485) | 35 dB | none stated | "Noise level (dB): 35 dB" | Somfy product page |
| Dooya SL and QL series (helical gear, low-noise type) | 35 dB | none stated; series level | "Low-Noise Type Motor SL Series QL Series 35dB" | Dooya 2026 interior catalogue |
| Somfy Sonesse ULTRA 50 AC (120 V, RTS) | 38 dB | none stated | "the quietest motor for interior blinds designed by Somfy with an acoustic performance of 38 dB"; 2016 release: "a near-silent 38 dBA" | Somfy product page |
| Lutron Sivoia QS Roller 100 | 38 dBA or less | 3 ft (1 m) | "will not exceed 38 dBA measured 3 ft (1 m) from the EDU" | Lutron 086106b |
| Lutron Sivoia QS Roller 225 | 38 dBA or less | 3 ft (1 m) | same wording | Lutron 086-105 |
| Lutron Triathlon (battery roller) | under 38 dBA | 3 ft | "Operates at less than 38 dBA at 3ft"; Triathlon WIDR "38 dBa measured 3 ft (1 m) from the drive" | Lutron Triathlon page |
| Lutron Smart Shades, Serena and Triathlon (submittal 085312k) | 38 dBA | 3 ft (1 m) | "Ultra-quiet operation: 38 dBa measured 3 ft (1 m) from the drive" | Lutron 085312k |
| Somfy Sonesse 40 WireFree Zigbee (Li-ion, USB-C) | 40 dB | none stated | "Noise level (dB): 40 dB" | Somfy product page |
| Somfy Sonesse 40 (RTS or wired, 4 to 9 Nm) | 42 dB on the product page; 42, 44 and 40 dBA by torque in the data book | data book: ISO 3741 sound power at nominal torque, no distance | "Sound Level* 42 dBA 44 dBA 40 dBA" (404S2, 406A2, 409R2) | Somfy 400 series data book |
| Somfy Sonesse ULTRA 30 WireFree (Li-ion, RTS or Zigbee) | 42 dB | none stated | "Noise level (dB): 42 dB" | Somfy product page |
| Vertilux VTi indoor motors (all, incl. RE-LION battery) | 42 dB or under | none stated | "All of our indoor motors operate at or under 42 decibels" | Vertilux motorization page |
| Dooya S and M series (standard gear) | 42 dB | none stated; series level | "Standard Motor S Series M Series 42dB" | Dooya 2026 interior catalogue |
| Somfy Sonesse 28 Li-ion Zigbee | 44 dBA | at nominal speed (20 rpm), no distance | "Sound Level 44 dBA (at nominal speed)" | Somfy datasheet, April 2025 |
| Lutron Sivoia QS Roller 150 | 44 dBA or less | 3 ft (1 m) | "will not exceed 44 dBA measured 3 ft (1 m) from the EDU" | Lutron 085-267d |
| Lutron Serena Smart Roller (2026 drive, submittal 085835a) | 44 dBA | 3 ft (0.9 m) | "Quiet operation: 44 dBa measured 3 ft (0.9 m) from the drive" | Lutron 085835a |
| Somfy Sonesse 28 WireFree Zigbee (external battery) | 45 dB | none stated | "Noise level (dB): 45 dB" | Somfy product page |
| Somfy Sonesse 50 (120 V, 6 Nm and 10 Nm) | 45 dBA (6 Nm) and 47 dBA (10 Nm); 47.2 dB on the RTS 510S2 page | catalogue table, condition in a footnote | "Sound level (dBA)" table | Somfy Sonesse 50 catalogue |
| Somfy Sonesse 30 (24 V DC, RTS or Zigbee) | 47 dB | none stated | "Noise level (dB): 47 dB" | Somfy product page |
| Somfy Sonesse 28 WireFree RTS (Li-ion or external battery) | 49 dB | none stated | "Noise level (dB): 49 dB" | Somfy product page |
| Somfy Sonesse 30 WireFree RTS (Li-ion) | 49 dB | none stated | "Noise level (dB): 49 dB" | Somfy product page |
| Lutron Sivoia QS Roller 300 (LIFT, to 300 sq ft) | 50 dBA or less | 3 ft (1 m) | "will not exceed 50 dBA measured 3 ft (1 m) from the EDU" | Lutron 085286d |
| Crestron QMT3, QMT5 and QMTDC motors | not published | none | "Digital Quiet Motor Technology for nearly imperceptible operation"; "nearly inaudible operation" in the design guide; no number anywhere | Crestron design guide 7920R |
| Dooya DM28LEU (our Essential tier) and DM35 | not published by model | none | the catalogue lists "Speed Regulation & Noise Reduction" for the DM28LEU and a series figure only | Dooya 2026 interior catalogue |
Two documents, two numbers. Lutron's Smart Shades submittal (085312k, September 2025) prints 38 dBA at 3 ft for Serena and Triathlon; its Serena Smart Roller submittal for the 2026 drive (085835a, February 2026) prints 44 dBA at 3 ft. Both are quoted above; the newer document describes the newer drive. Somfy's Sonesse 40 is 42 dB on its US product page and 42, 44 or 40 dBA by torque in the data book, under a sound-power method. Where a maker gives two figures we show both rather than pick the better one.
Why a 35 from one maker is not a 35 from another #
Lutron
Sound pressure at 3 ft
Every Lutron submittal says the same thing in the same place: "will not exceed N dBA measured 3 ft (1 m) from the EDU". One distance, A-weighted, stated as a ceiling. It is the most consistent set on this page, and it is why Lutron's ladder from 35 to 50 reads cleanly from the small Roller 64 to the 300 sq ft Roller 300.
Somfy
Three methods in one catalogue
The US product pages print "Noise level (dB)" with no distance and no weighting. The European Sonesse brochure measures "sound pressure at a distance of 1 m from the carrier product at nominal torque" and prints 44 dB(A) for the Sonesse 30 and 50 and 50 dB(A) for the Sonesse 40. The North American 400 series data book uses ISO 3741, a sound-power method, so its 42 dBA is a different quantity from Lutron's 35 dBA. The ULTRA 50 range is the one Somfy calls its quietest, at 35 dB (DC) and 38 dB (AC).
Crestron, Vertilux, Dooya
Words, a ceiling, or a series figure
Crestron publishes no decibel figure for any QMT motor: "Digital Quiet Motor Technology for nearly imperceptible operation" is the whole statement. Vertilux publishes a ceiling, "at or under 42 decibels" for every indoor motor, and "under 30 decibels" for its Celtic Ultra Quiet AC motors, with no condition. Dooya publishes a figure per gear series (30, 35 or 42 dB) and nothing for the DM28LEU by model. Honest, but not comparable to a figure measured at 3 ft.
For scale. The NIOSH noise chart puts a whisper at 30 dB and normal conversation at 60; Purdue's comparison list puts a library at 40 dB and a quiet suburb at 50; the National Park Service notes that an increase of 10 dB doubles perceived loudness. So the gap between a 35 dBA Lutron Roller 64 and a 50 dBA Roller 300 is a shade you notice against a shade you do not, and the gap between 35 and 38 is one you will not hear across a bedroom.
What actually makes a shade loud, and what we do about it #
Our practice The sheet measures a bare motor on a bench. The room hears a shade.
- The tube and the fabric. A thin tube on a wide shade flexes and lets the fabric rub; a reinforced 2.5 or 3 in tube on a wide span runs quieter than a quiet motor on a thin one. How we pick the tube is on how wide one roller shade can be.
- The speed. Somfy's 24 V DC motors run 6 to 28 rpm and its Zigbee and RS485 motors have adjustable speed; we set bedroom shades slow. Lutron's drives run at a fixed published speed (3.6 in per second on Triathlon and the Roller 300), with the hembars kept in line across a bank.
- The bracket and the pocket. A bracket screwed to a hollow drywall pocket is a drum. We mount to blocking or to the frame, and a recessed pocket built to the drawing has no gap for the tube to buzz against.
- The hembar and the sill. The last inch is where a shade clacks. Lower limits set a hair above the sill, and a weighted hembar inside the fabric rather than a bare bar, take it away.
- The quietest motor that lifts the shade. On a 72 by 84 in screen we quote a Sonesse 30 or a Lutron Roller 64 or Triathlon; a 12 ft blackout gets an ULTRA 50 or a Roller 100, which are louder on paper and quieter in the room than an overloaded small motor straining.
- Programming. Soft start and stop where the motor offers it, limits set to the millimeter, and groups aligned so ten shades make one sound instead of ten.
Quiet shades in real South Florida bedrooms #
Sunny Isles Beach
Lutron Sivoia QS, Turnberry Ocean Club
Blackout shades in side channels on Lutron Sivoia QS drives at Turnberry Ocean Club: the 35 dBA class of drive, with the seal at the channel doing the rest for a bedroom that is dark and silent.
Pompano Beach
Somfy Sonesse 30 Zigbee, Bay Drive mansion
The Bay Drive mansion runs on Sonesse 30 Zigbee motors at 24 V DC, speed-adjustable, with several family-room shades on one Sonesse ULTRA 50. Slow bedroom speeds, grouped living-room banks.
Boca Raton
Lutron Triathlon, luxury home
Fourteen Lutron Triathlon battery rollers at the Boca Raton luxury home: Lutron's under-38 dBA battery drive, no wiring, D cells that last two to four years in our experience there.
Quiet shade motors: questions
What is the quietest motorized roller shade motor? #
By published figures: Vertilux's VTi Celtic Ultra Quiet AC motors at under 30 dB and Dooya's Q series at 30 dB, with no measurement condition stated; then Lutron's Palladiom and Sivoia QS Roller 64 at 35 dBA measured 3 ft from the drive, and Somfy's Sonesse ULTRA 50 DC at 35 dB. Lutron's Roller 100, Roller 225, Triathlon and Smart Shades are 38 dBA at 3 ft; Somfy's Sonesse ULTRA 50 AC is 38 dB.
How many decibels is a Lutron shade motor? #
Lutron publishes a ceiling per drive, measured 3 ft (1 m) from the drive: Palladiom 35 dBA, Sivoia QS Roller 64 35 dBA, Roller 100 and Roller 225 38 dBA, Triathlon under 38 dBA, Smart Shades 38 dBA (2025 submittal) or 44 dBA for the 2026 Serena Smart Roller drive, Roller 150 44 dBA, Roller 300 50 dBA.
How loud is a Somfy Sonesse motor? #
On Somfy's US product pages: Sonesse ULTRA 50 DC 35 dB, ULTRA 50 AC 38 dB, Sonesse 40 WireFree Zigbee 40 dB, Sonesse 40 RTS and ULTRA 30 WireFree 42 dB, Sonesse 28 Zigbee 44 to 45 dB, Sonesse 50 45 to 47 dBA, Sonesse 30 24 V 47 dB, Sonesse 28 and 30 WireFree RTS 49 dB. Somfy's US pages state no distance; its European brochure measures at 1 m at nominal torque.
Does Crestron publish a noise figure for its shade motors? #
No. Crestron's QMT3, QMT5 and QMTDC spec sheets and its 2026 shading design guide describe Digital Quiet Motor Technology for nearly imperceptible or nearly inaudible operation, with no decibel figure. We install Crestron motors and they are quiet in the room, but there is no number to compare.
Are 35 dBA and 35 dB the same thing? #
Not necessarily. dBA is A-weighted to the ear; a distance makes it sound pressure at that distance (Lutron: 3 ft); a sound-power figure such as Somfy's ISO 3741 data-book value is not tied to a distance at all; and a bare dB with no condition, as on Somfy's US pages and the Vertilux and Dooya pages, cannot be placed on the same scale. Compare within a maker first, and across makers only loosely.
Is a battery shade motor louder than a wired one? #
Often slightly, on paper. Somfy's Sonesse 28 and 30 WireFree RTS motors publish 49 dB against 47 dB for the wired Sonesse 30 and 35 to 38 dB for the ULTRA 50; Lutron's Triathlon publishes under 38 dBA against 35 dBA for the wired Roller 64. In a bedroom the difference is small next to the tube, the bracket and the speed setting.
Why is my motorized shade louder than the number on the spec sheet? #
Because the sheet measures a bare motor and the room hears a shade: fabric rubbing on a flexing tube, a bracket on hollow drywall, a hembar hitting the sill, a tube buzzing against a tight pocket, or a small motor straining on a heavy shade. Each of those is fixable at installation; see what we do about it above.
Which quiet motor do you use for a bedroom? #
For a standard window: Lutron Triathlon or Sivoia QS Roller 64 (35 to 38 dBA at 3 ft) or Somfy's Sonesse 30 set to a slow speed; for a wide blackout: Somfy's Sonesse ULTRA 50 (35 to 38 dB) or a Lutron Roller 100 (38 dBA), with side channels and a weighted hembar. The quietest motor that lifts the shade comfortably, not the quietest in the catalogue.
How quiet is 35 dB? #
About a whisper. The NIOSH noise chart puts a whisper at 30 dB and normal conversation at 60; Purdue's list puts a library at 40. Every 10 dB roughly doubles perceived loudness, per the National Park Service, so a 50 dBA drive sounds about three times as loud as a 35 dBA one.
Do motorized drapery tracks publish noise figures too? #
Yes, and they are on their own page: the quietest motorized drapery tracks compares every maker's track motor, from Vertilux's VTi Celtic at 28 dB and Somfy's Glydea ULTRA at under 38 dBA in silent mode to Lutron's drapery drives at up to 50 dB.
Where the numbers come from #
All documents accessed 17 October 2026. Each figure is reproduced as the maker prints it, with the condition the maker states; where a maker publishes no figure the table says so. Makers revise their documents, and we will update the page when a figure changes.
- Lutron, Palladiom shading system specification submittal 085560m (06.04.25): 35 dBA at 3 ft (0.91 m) from the EDU. assets.lutron.com
- Lutron, Sivoia QS and QS Wireless Roller 64 submittal 085705d (09.25.25): will not exceed 35 dBA at 3 ft (1 m). assets.lutron.com
- Lutron, Sivoia QS Roller 100 submittal 086106b: will not exceed 38 dBA at 3 ft. assets.lutron.com
- Lutron, Sivoia QS Roller 225 submittal 086-105: will not exceed 38 dBA at 3 ft. assets.lutron.com
- Lutron, Sivoia QS Roller 150 submittal 085-267d (04.04.24): will not exceed 44 dBA at 3 ft. assets.lutron.com
- Lutron, Sivoia QS Roller 300 LIFT submittal 085286d (08.05.2024): will not exceed 50 dBA at 3 ft. assets.lutron.com
- Lutron, Triathlon roller shades product page: operates at less than 38 dBA at 3 ft; Triathlon WIDR submittal 085333b: 38 dBa at 3 ft. www.lutron.com
- Lutron, Smart Shades (Serena and Triathlon) submittal 085312k (09.09.25): 38 dBa at 3 ft (1 m). assets.lutron.com
- Lutron, Serena Smart Roller submittal 085835a (02.02.26): 44 dBa at 3 ft (0.9 m). assets.lutron.com
- Somfy, Sonesse ULTRA 50 DC and ULTRA 50 DC RS485 product pages: noise level 35 dB. www.somfysystems.com
- Somfy, Sonesse ULTRA 50 AC product page: an acoustic performance of 38 dB; ULTRA 50 RTS 506A2: 38 dB. www.somfysystems.com
- Somfy press release, 12 April 2016: Sonesse ULTRA 50 range operating at a near-silent 38 dBA. www.somfysystems.com
- Somfy, Sonesse 40 WireFree Zigbee Li-ion USB-C product page: 40 dB. www.somfysystems.com
- Somfy, Sonesse 40 RTS 404S2 product page: 42 dB. www.somfysystems.com
- Somfy, 400 series data book (8.2019): Sonesse 40 sound level 42, 44 and 40 dBA by torque, ISO 3741 at nominal torque. service.somfy.com
- Somfy, Sonesse ULTRA 30 WireFree RTS and Zigbee product pages: 42 dB. www.somfysystems.com
- Somfy, Sonesse 28 Li-ion Zigbee technical datasheet (April 2025): 44 dBA at nominal speed. service.somfy.com
- Somfy, Sonesse 28 WireFree Zigbee (external battery) product page: 45 dB; Sonesse 28 WireFree RTS pages: 49 dB. somfysystems.com
- Somfy, Sonesse 30 RTS 24 V DC and Zigbee 24 V DC product pages: 47 dB; Sonesse 30 WireFree RTS Li-ion: 49 dB. www.somfysystems.com
- Somfy, Sonesse 50 specification catalogue (August 2023): 45 dBA at 6 Nm and 47 dBA at 10 Nm, 120 V; Sonesse 50 RTS 510S2 page: 47.2 dB. service.somfy.com
- Somfy, Sonesse brochure (Europe): sound pressure at 1 m at nominal torque; Sonesse 30 44, Sonesse 40 50, Sonesse 50 44 dB(A). service.somfy.com
- Crestron, CSM-QMTDC-163-1-CN and CSM-QMTDC-275-4-EX product pages and Shading Solutions Design Guide 7920R: Digital Quiet Motor Technology, no decibel figure. ko.crestron.com
- Vertilux, VTi motorization page: all indoor motors at or under 42 dB; Celtic Ultra Quiet motors under 30 dB. partner.vertilux.com
- Dooya, 2026 Interior Application catalogue: Q/QA series 30 dB, SL/QL series 35 dB, S/M series 42 dB; DM28LEU listed without a figure. www.dooya.com
- NIOSH and CPWR, Noise levels by decibels: whisper 30, normal conversation 60. stacks.cdc.gov
- Purdue University, Noise comparisons: library 40 dB, quiet suburb 50 dB, whisper 20 to 30 dB. www.chem.purdue.edu
- National Park Service, Understanding sound: an increase of 10 dB doubles perceived loudness. www.nps.gov
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Exotic Shades & Draperies, Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach
Exotic Shades & Draperies is a South Florida window-treatment company that designs, sews and installs its own work: Lutron and Somfy motorized shades, custom draperies sewn in our Fort Lauderdale workroom by five in-house seamstresses, plantation shutters and blinds. Established in South Florida in 2024, backed by more than 20 years of window-treatment manufacturing and installation experience. Lutron certified dealer, Somfy Expert, Crestron and Control4 integration. The same in-house team measures, installs and programs every project; when shading has to integrate with another control system, we bring in our smart-home partner Adom Smart Home.
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Quiet motorized shades, from Miami to Palm Beach
Lutron, Somfy, Crestron and Vertilux motors chosen for the shade they have to lift, mounted to blocking, set slow where the room sleeps, with the limits and the hembars set to the millimeter. The same in-house team measures, installs, programs and services from Miami Beach to West Palm Beach.
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