Somfy Electric Curtain Tracks: What They Are and What to Consider

What is Somfy?

Somfy is a French company that has been making motorised shading products for decades. They are one of the most recognised names in home automation in the UK, and their electric curtain track range, the Glydea, is widely fitted by curtain makers, blind companies, and interior designers across the country.

If you have searched for an electric curtain track and seen Somfy come up repeatedly, that is largely because of how well-distributed they are. Most local curtain fitters will know the Glydea. Spare parts are easy to source. That availability counts for something.

The Somfy Glydea: what you are looking at

The Glydea is Somfy's main electric curtain track product. It comes in a few variants, mainly differing in the motor capacity they can handle:

• The Glydea 35 is suited to lighter curtains
• The Glydea 60 and 100 handle heavier fabrics and longer runs

The track itself is a slim aluminium rail. The motor sits inside the track rather than on the end, which keeps the profile reasonably discreet. Glydea tracks can be cut to length and are available in straight runs, although bay window configurations are more complex and typically need a specialist to configure properly.

Somfy also produces the TaHoma hub, which connects their motors to your home Wi-Fi and allows app control, scenes, and voice commands through Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Apple HomeKit. It is a capable smart home ecosystem and genuinely well-supported.

Where Somfy works well

Somfy is a solid choice in a number of situations:

• You have a local curtain fitter who already works with Glydea
• You want a product with widespread UK availability and easy servicing
• Your budget is modest and you do not need the quietest possible operation
• You are already invested in the Somfy smart home ecosystem for blinds or shutters

Where Somfy falls short

The honest answer on noise is that Somfy Glydea tracks are noticeably louder than Silent Gliss. Not dramatically so, but in a quiet bedroom or living room, you will hear the motor. Somfy use a mix of AC and DC motor technology depending on the model, and the DC motors are quieter, but the brand as a whole does not compete with Silent Gliss on this point.

Bay windows are another area where Somfy is limited. The Glydea works well on a straight run, but making it bend around bay window angles precisely takes a specialist and is not always elegant. Silent Gliss have purpose-built solutions for this that tend to produce a cleaner result.

Finally, DEC does not stock Somfy. If Somfy is what you specifically need, your best route is a local curtain fitter or a Somfy-authorised retailer. We are not the right supplier for that product.

Silent Gliss as an alternative

We supply Silent Gliss electric curtain tracks, a Swiss-engineered alternative that competes directly with Somfy Glydea on features but differs in a few meaningful ways.

• Quieter operation: Silent Gliss motors are significantly quieter. The difference is most noticeable in bedrooms where people use them early in the morning or at night.
• Bay window capability: The Silent Gliss 5600 is specifically designed for bay windows and can be bent to precise angles on site.
• Precise engineering: The track and glider system is tighter and smoother, which matters if your curtains are heavy or the fabric needs to hang cleanly.
• Smart home integration: The Silent Gliss Autoglide 5100 works with app control and voice assistants.

The trade-off is that Silent Gliss is less widely known in the UK fitting trade, and spare parts are not as broadly available. If you have an existing relationship with a fitter who knows Somfy, switching systems is a real consideration.

For a side-by-side breakdown of both systems across all the key factors, see our Silent Gliss vs Somfy comparison.

Which one should you choose?

If your priority is availability, local support, and a name your fitter already knows, Somfy Glydea is a reasonable product. It works, it is well-supported, and it connects to a mature smart home ecosystem.

If your priority is quiet operation, bay window flexibility, or the best engineering you can get for the price, Silent Gliss is worth looking at seriously. We would not point you away from Somfy unless we genuinely thought the alternative was better in the ways that matter.

If you are unsure which fits your situation, get in touch and we can help you work it out.