Motorized Window Treatments
“To love beauty is to see light… when you’re ready for it”
What are the benefits of using motorized window treatments?
Motorized window treatments are the ultimate in convenience and control, they're also really cool! Motorized shades may appear complicated but getting help from our in-home design team is easy.
Looking to create the perfect ambiance in the bedroom or maybe you want to binge watch your favorite show on the weekend and reduce the glare in the family room? With the push of a button, the swipe of a smartphone or the spoken words “Alexa, movie time” you can keep yourself planted on that comfy couch.
Maybe you want to cut your energy bill or make it appear you are home while cruising the seven seas? With timers and schedules you can do this right from your smartphone or tablet anywhere in the world.
Keep the kiddos and fur babies safer by eliminating unsightly hazardous cords while increasing the value of your home.
Have high window or skylights? No problem, you can now eliminate that annoying afternoon sun without getting up. Power these puppies by batteries, solar power, low voltage or even hard wiring. You can even tie in our motorized products with virtually any existing automation system on the market or even retrofit your existing shades.
Confined to a bed or a wheelchair? Automated shades give you full control with the push of a button or the sound of your voice.
Technology is changing the way we live, allow us to show you how.
What Type of Window Treatments Can Be Motorized?
The answer is simple we can motorize virtually everything we sell.
Bring romance to the bedroom with motorized roman shades or sleep in like you do in Vegas with motorized blackout draperies and bedside controls. Allow your kids to sleep longer with room darkening battery operated cellular shades. Maybe you have the opposite problem and you want your teenager to get up before noon? Set a schedule to have those roller shades come up at the crack of dawn.๏ปฟ
Need simplicity and prefer the good ol’ 2” wood blinds? No problem, we have tilt and raise solutions for those as well. Blinds around the bathtub are great, but many times you have to step into your tub to operate your shades, very annoying! Let the light in while still maintaining privacy with elegant motorized sheer shades. During the day you can see out, but others cannot see in.
Hit the kitchen wall switch and use that patio to enjoy the blissful cup of coffee you've been waiting for with motorized solar shades or a retractable awning to block that morning sun. You might live in a downtown loft or have floor to ceiling windows, motorized vertical blinds or sheer draperies can give you that privacy and light control you have been looking for. Just give them a quick tug without a remote and let the motors do the rest.
For a more relaxed feel motorize those natural woven wood shades and give your family room a "beachy" vibe while filtering in the natural light while controlling them from your smartphone.
The possibilities are endless!
Integrate with Home Automation
Imagine waking up to the beautiful day ahead with the push of a button.
You then go into your bathroom and your shades automatically opened from the top down giving you that wonderful natural light but still giving you the privacy you need to get ready for the world ahead.
You finish up in your bedroom and you walk downstairs to your kitchen to get that well deserved cup of joe. You say, “Alexa, Start My Day” then the lights on your kitchen turn on, your favorite morning acoustic blend from Spotify starts playing, and the shades in your kitchen and living room go up. Wanting to be eco-friendly while at work, you've set a schedule for your shades to go down during the day so your house remains cool during the summer heat and your air conditioner--and pocketbook--get a well deserved break. Not to mention the sun is not fading those interior finishes.
Before you arrive home you love the outdoors and the last bit of light so all of your shades go up without you even having to think about it. You finish dinner, homework, walking the dog, bath’s for the kids and your moment has arrived. “Alexa Movie Time” Your shades go down your lights dim and it’s time to watch episode 35 of the show you just binged watched last weekend on Netflix.
We can even integrate with systems like Crestron, Control 4, Lutron, Savant, Samsung Smart Things, Wink, Amazon Echo, Google Home and many more.
Control Options
Power Options
There are a number of ways to power your motorized window coverings and there are many factors to consider.
It used to be that any motorized shade needed a hard-wired connection that required an electrician to run expensive wiring not to mention tearing up your walls to do so. Hard-wiring is actually taking wire from a power source to the head of your motor.
90% Of The Motorized Blinds Are Powered By Batteries
Today more than 90% of the motorized blinds on the market can be powered by batteries. The biggest factors that come into play for power options are size and weight. Size and weight can vary considerably depending on the product you choose. For example a 96” x 96” roller shade is going to be a heck of a lot lighter than a roman shade or woven wood shade of the same size. In this case you could operate the roller shade with a battery motor, but the roman and woven wood would require a hard-wired motor.
When given a choice it is always better to hard-wire a motor since hard-wired motors rarely have power problems whereas batteries will die.
Battery life once again depends on the size and weight of the shade as well as frequency of use. Typically if you raise and lower your 34” x 64” shade each day you can expect anywhere from 1 -5 years of battery life. That sounds like a big range right? Again it depends on size, weight and frequency. Many homeowners report that 2-3 years is the norm. We always warn customers that your first set of batteries usually goes the quickest because you are constantly showing off the coolness factor to your friends.
There are 4 main types of power options to consider:
Battery
Solar powered battery
Low voltage (DC or Direct Current)
Line voltage (AC or alternating current)
To further clarify think of low voltage wiring like your speaker wire and line voltage as the thick wire that goes to all of your light switches and electrical outlets in your home. Depending on the motor system battery motors come in all shapes and sizes. For example the QMotion system uses D-Cell batteries which tend to have a longer life and can raise more weight whereas the Somfy or Graber Virtual cord systems use AA batteries. The bigger batteries come at a cost, that cost is versatility. Whereas smaller AA can work in most shades.
There are 3 main types of battery systems:
Standard replaceable batteries
Solar powered batteries
Rechargeable batteries
Batteries are loaded into a battery tube which is usually attached to the back of the shade. Systems like the Lutron Serena integrate batteries in the headrail whereas Qmotion motorized shades have the batteries located in the roller shade tube. Solar powered batteries still require a battery, but the batteries are charged by a small concealed solar panel that mounts to the top of the window. Expect about 5 years of life on the solar battery systems. Other systems like the Rollease and Somfy motor systems have rechargeable battery options where the batteries are imbedded in the motor. These systems recharge similar to your cell phone but typically require charging every 6-12 months.
Hard Wired Motors
Enough talk about batteries now let’s talk about hard wired motors. As we explained before hard-wiring is always the top choice, but it does come at a cost. That cost varies greatly on where you are in your project. It is much cheaper to run wire when you have bare wood framing vs. a house that has finished walls with Venetian plaster. Most good electricians are like magicians and can run wire on existing construction with minimal drywall damage. The keyword here is minimal. You will still need to patch, texture and paint which is an extra expense.
Direct current or DC motor systems require low voltage cable similar to speaker wire and alternating current AC systems require beefier wire otherwise known as romex wire. With the price of copper these days beefier wire does cost more.
The benefits to hard-wired systems are reliability and versatility. Motorized drapery systems for example are only hard wired and simple rule of thumb is any shade over 96” wide by 96” tall will require hard wired motors, but there are exceptions. Solar/Roller shades, sheer shades and cellular shades depending on the fabric selection will accommodate sizes up to 120” x 120”.
Don't Take Our Word For It
Our experience w/Affordable Blinds was wonderful! I love my new 2cell/cellular blinds up/down! The color was perfect….I love the quality & the header matched my Blinds & wasn’t just white. I also ordered them for my doors w/divided lite glass….they look amazing! Shane was wonderful to work with, he worked with us in finding the perfect window covering for our situation on our sliding glass door & decided we would go ahead & change our coverings on our doors to match! So glad we found Affordable Blinds….the prices were very affordable & we love the look & quality! Thanks again Shane….looking forward to doing business with you in the future when we change out our other windows!
Kristi
I HIGHLY recommend Affordable Blinds of Durango! The product is superior to others (metal v plastic parts), my questions were answered in detail, every phone call was returned promptly, the price was identified to the penny in advance, every appointment was met on time, the level of courtesy and respect were inspiring and uplifting, and I’m thrilled with my beautiful, efficient blinds. If you use Affordable Blinds of Durango you’ll be rewarded with excellent service and product AND find yourself basking in sunshine of old-school professionalism!
Susan
Affordable blinds, will always be my choice for window coverings for my home. Shane, from Affordable Blinds was exceptional in assisting us choose what would be an efficient , quality product without “breaking the bank”. The work was done in a timely manner. Our home has just the improvement we were hoping for!
Connie
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3206 Main Ave, Suite 3B Durango, CO 81301
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