Motorized Shades Boca Raton
Welcome to our Guide to Motorized Shades? in Boca Raton.
2022 UPDATE:
In our 2022 update we included ….
Energy Savings
In our 2020 update we included ….
Smart home integration
I can see you have good taste! In this guide we’ll help you bring your windows into the 21st century with nifty motorized systems. We’ll take you by the hand. We have a lot of info for you – so first, do you want the “short story” or the “long story”?
- Short Story
- Long Story
- How they work.?
- Battery vs plug in to wall?
- Brands and their quality.
- Smart home integration.
- More Energy Savings.
- Coming soon
- Noise level
- Higher Level of Convenience
- Difficulty of installation. /need for a professional.?
- Length of time to job completion (manual vs motorized)
- Choosing motorized versus manual. How to make the decision.
- Great motorization VS. something from Costco
- local suppliers
- not-so local suppliers
- local installers
Short Story
Whether you are a gadget lover or a pragmatist, motorization could be the solution for you.
While the main benefit you’ll gain from motorization is a higher level of convenience, many? are surprised to find that motorization can also lead to more energy savings.
The Long Story
We have done motorized shades for a very long list of Boca Raton clients and these are some of the common questions clients have about them:
Frequently Asked Questions
Are motorized shades worth it?
How long do motorized shades last?
Should I get motorized blinds?
How do motorized shades work?
Do motorized shades need power?
Are motorized shades battery operated?
How to charge motorized shades?
Can you convert blinds to motorized?
Can cellular shades be motorized?
Are motorized shades reliable?
Can motorized shades be operated manually
Which motorized shades are best?
As we add to this guide below we hope to answer these questions.
How they work
How do motorized shades work?
Here is a look at the inside of a motorized shade.
The majority of motorized shades have a tubular shaped motor that fits inside the shaft of the shade (pictured above) and turn it to raise or lower the shade material.
However there are some shades that pull a chain instead of turning/spinning a shaft.
Battery vs plug in to wall
Do motorized shades need power?
How to charge motorized shades?
Battery-powered shades are wireless and therefore don’t have a cord that has to be hidden.
A battery motor can be recharged using a standard outlet. Most take the same amount of time to recharge as a mobile phone.
Window treatments with a battery motor do not need to be located near an electrical outlet (an added plus there is that a battery motor will continue to function even if a power outage occurs).
On the other hand are plug-in motors.
Plug-in motors never need to be recharged.
Most are quieter than battery-powered window treatments.
But since the motor needs to be plugged in, the window treatments must be located near an electrical outlet to work (limiting where you can install the shade).
Most battery shade motors can go for more than 6 months without needing a recharge.
Wondering how to program motorized shades?
Your installer will set default up-and-down limits, and the channel. (see “smart home integration” below)
Brands and their quality
Which motorized shades are best?
Among the brands of automated shade, there are three we’d like to mention. They are:
Somfy
Hunter Douglas
Lutron
The quality of these three are comparable and excellent.
Smart home integration
For general motorization there are a variety of controls available (remote controls, switches, etc.).
For automation to full smart home integration there are many different solutions. They can link your blinds to a smartphone or other device as part of an IoT (Internet of Things) solution.
The most well know devices might be:
Amazon Alexa
Google Home (through IFTTT)
But there are also many?iPhone or Android apps.
Energy Savings
Closing your shades is about more than just privacy. In colder climates, closing shades and blinds help to contain heat within the walls of your home on cooler days, prevents heat leaks, and keeps cool air from seeping in.
In warmer climates (like Boca Raton) and on warmer days, closing the blinds against the direct sun can keep excess heat from penetrating your home and helps prevent cool air conditioning from escaping.
A study by Energy House
in Salford, England, has found that drawing closed window blinds and shades at night can reduce heat loss by as much as 17%.?
