Roller shutters
Roller shutter motors compared on torque, tube size and end limits
622 models from 6 brands
What it's called
What you're looking for is called a tubular motor in the industry: a motor installed inside the roller tube that winds the shutter curtain up and down.
In German: Rollladenmotor, Rollladen, Rohrmotor. In French: moteur de volet roulant, volet roulant, moteur tubulaire.
Find the right size
Rule of thumb: required torque ≈ weight × 9.81 × tube radius × 2, and the motor body must be at least 5 mm smaller than the tube. Confirm with the manufacturer's sizing table.
Matching models
Tubular motors
Folding shutter drives
| Model | Brand | Torque | Speed | Body Ø | Supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elero Folding shutter drive | Elero | — | — | — | — |
Gearboxes
Blind & shutter controls
Manual override kits
| Model | Brand | Torque | Speed | Body Ø | Supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geiger Antriebstechnik Rescue-R Kit | Geiger Antriebstechnik | — | — | — | — |
| Geiger Antriebstechnik Rescue-R Module 1.x | Geiger Antriebstechnik | — | — | — | — |
| Geiger Antriebstechnik Rescue-R Module 2.x | Geiger Antriebstechnik | — | — | — | — |
| Geiger Antriebstechnik Rescue-R Module 3.x | Geiger Antriebstechnik | — | — | — | — |
Accessories & spare parts
| Model | Brand | Torque | Speed | Body Ø | Supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elero ExitSafe spare battery | Elero | — | — | — | — |
Selection notes
A roller shutter motor sits inside the shutter's roller tube and winds the slatted curtain up and down. Picking one is mostly a matter of fit and load: the motor has to slide into the tube, it has to lift the curtain with some margin, and it has to run on the supply and control system already planned for the building.
What decides the choice
- Tube size. The motor body goes inside the tube, so its diameter must be smaller than the tube's inside dimension. The selector on this page keeps the motor body at least 5 mm under the tube's outer diameter. As a common pairing, a 40 mm octagonal tube takes a 35 mm motor, 50 to 60 mm tubes take 45 mm motors, and heavier shutters on 70 mm tubes and above use the 58 to 59 mm class; check the motor maker's tube list for the exact profile.
- Curtain weight. Aluminium, steel and PVC slats weigh very different amounts per square metre. Weigh or calculate the whole curtain including the bottom bar.
- Supply. Mains AC is still the norm for shutters. Low-voltage DC and solar motors are an option for retrofits where no mains cable can be run.
- Limit setting. End positions are set either mechanically, with adjusting screws on the motor head, or electronically.
- Control. Wired switches, a built-in radio receiver, or a bus interface. Check which one the rest of the building uses before ordering.
Sizing the torque
A simple rule of thumb gives a starting point: required torque in Nm is roughly the curtain weight in kg × 9.81 × the tube radius in metres × 2. The factor of 2 covers the curtain wrapping round the tube, friction in the guide rails and a safety margin. A 12 kg curtain on a 40 mm tube works out at about 5 Nm; the same curtain on a 60 mm tube needs about 7 Nm.
The selector on this page applies exactly that rule and passes the result to the product filter as a minimum torque, together with a maximum motor diameter. Treat it as a first cut. Manufacturers publish sizing tables per motor series that account for slat profile and shutter height, and their table should decide the final order.
Speed matters less than torque, but it affects how long a tall shutter takes to close. Among the shutter drives listed here with a published speed, the median is 14 rpm.
What the catalog shows
This page lists every drive for roller shutters: motors filed under tubular motors or roller shutter and door motors, plus drives the manufacturer lists for roller shutter use. Drives with a published torque above 300 Nm are left out; in this catalog every drive above that value is an industrial door operator filed in the same category.
- Published torque runs from 1.2 Nm to 270 Nm. 470 drives publish a torque value. Six in ten of them are rated 20 Nm or less (the median is 20 Nm), and fewer than one in ten exceeds 80 Nm.
- Where the body diameter is published, 45 mm is by far the most common size, followed by 35 mm and the 58 to 59 mm heavy-duty class.
- Where the supply is published, most entries are mains AC motors. Electronic limit setting is listed more often than mechanical.
- Elero, Becker and Geiger have the most entries in this list.
Every value in the table links back to the manufacturer document it came from. Values a manufacturer does not publish are shown as such, not estimated.
Before you order
- Confirm the tube profile and inside dimension, and that a matching crown and drive adapter exist for the motor.
- Check the motor's duty cycle against how often the shutter will run. Where the tubular motors in this catalog publish a duty rating, it is typically 4 minutes of continuous running, after which the motor needs to cool.
- If obstacle or freeze detection matters, look for it explicitly in the data sheet; not every electronic-limit motor has it.
- For a building with mixed shutters and awnings, keep one control protocol across both.
Related standards
Drives for rolling shutters, awnings and blinds are covered by the household appliance safety series under IEC 60335-2-97. Compare manufacturers side by side in brand comparisons, or browse all tubular motors. Shutters that are also part of a smart home setup are covered in smart home integration, and motors that must replace an existing unit in replacement and retrofit.
Data as of 2026-10-05.