What I learned Automating Blinds

[Neurorad]

We have a single automated shade, Lutron. Located in the kithen, we splurged for the pro install during a remodel.

It was ridiculously expensive, and I can hear the motion now, though it was nearly inaudible a year ago. Still, it's very quiet, and I would do it again, for this location. Any other location, I would DIY. Too pricey.

 

[ano]

It was ridiculously expensive, and I can hear the motion now, though it was nearly inaudible a year ago. Still, it's very quiet, and I would do it again, for this location. Any other location, I would DIY. Too pricey.

They are ridiculously expensive, with or without the automation. I'm not sure what is more ridiculous, the $300 for motor, radio receiver, electronics, and power supply, or the other $300 for a piece of cloth that goes up and down?

 

[ano]

We've put up with the temporary shades the past year as a way to really see what we would or wouldn't want to have automated (or clearly not at all).  
 
Are you talking 50/50 as to the number of windows being automated, or how often the blinds would be changed? 

Yes we have the HD paper shades here also. We looked at the top down and the bottom up, and many other variations. There is no question there are LOTS of kinds of shades.
 
I guess this all gets back to why people have blinds in the first place and why they might want to automate them.  Here, and I'm in AZ there is only really two reasons we want to close the blinds. 1) To block sun and heat in the summer from heating the house and fading the interior, or 2) privacy i.e. stop people from seeing in. In both of these cases, its pretty easy for an automation system to figure out UP or Down.  Nighttime, close the blinds, nothing to see. Really sunny in a window in the summer, close it. Otherwise open it. Maybe that is simplistic, but that is how I think living in an area with really bright sun. 
 
Currently our paper shades are always closed, because its a pain to open them. Even with paper blinds, some windows are WAY too bright, so we need more darkening shades.  Not blackout, but darker.
 
What I mean by the 50/50 comment, is because when you go through the process of specifing these, you realize its not sensible. Either you are in the camp where you feel these are outragously expensive, so if you have automated blinds you only have one or two. That makes perfect sense. If you are in the camp that yes the automation costs a bit, but over the life of the house you will get value out of them, its worth it.  If you are in the second camp, then why not automate most windows?  If you say cost, then you are probably not REALLY in the second camp, you are in the first camp.
 
In our house, ONE custom made drapery cost MORE than the added cost of a house full of automated blinds. ONE DRAPERY. I could certainly make the argument against buying the drapery, as can everyone. Luckily we only have one drapery in this house, in the bedroom.

 

[ano]

For us, going with bottom-up shades will make for better solutions in places where we want more light but also need privacy.  The master bath being the prime example.  Over the past year we've had the temp shades up just high enough for privacy, while allowing full exposure through the upper portion.  As a result it's clear that manual bottom-up 'cordless' shades will suffice. 

I see your point, but we took a different solution. We had this big bathroom window that basically looked at a wall. We took the window out, walled in the bottom part and made the top glass block.  This gives us privacy and light. I think builders put windows in standard places instead of considering the view and purpose. We have a side window that is always covered with a blind. So the question is, why have a window there in the first place?

 

[wkearney99]

We did wavy glass block in the steam shower and it has been great.  Lots of daylight but with plenty of privacy.  Since it was an entirely custom house I had the opportunity to take the 'views' into account when it came to window placement.  No point in looking into the neighbor's, or vice-versa.  Obviously not an option in most situations!  Builders following a plan don't give a damn.  Even if you're on-board before the house is constructed, most folks won't really be able to visualize things well enough to insist on changes.  Builders just want to crank the damned thing out and move on, not cater to hesitant homeowners.  I can't fault them for that.  But it's the customers that have to live with it so they really have no one to blame but themselves.  
 
The summer sun does raise the temp in some of the rooms that face the south side.  One being the office, another the exercise room.  I seem to recall there being options for more treatments on the outside surface of blinds to help with reflecting some of that back.  I don't know that we'd bother as it's not a big issue, but I could imagine how the sun in AZ would be!
 
As for purchasing 'camps', yep, I hear ya.  While I can afford to automate the hell out of all of them, there's a part of me that recognizes there's limits to the insanity.  I'm well aware this puts me on the fringes of both camps.  The 'decorator' crowd gets annoyed if I question 'their vision'.  Yeah... no.   I've found one lately that's much more helpful as a guiding consultant, rather than the usual artsy annoying types.   And all of the suppliers get nervous when they suddenly figure out I probably know more about their product than they do.  

 

[wkearney99]

In our house, ONE custom made drapery cost MORE than the added cost of a house full of automated blinds. ONE DRAPERY. I could certainly make the argument against buying the drapery, as can everyone. Luckily we only have one drapery in this house, in the bedroom.

 
Agreed.  I'm very much resisting the idea of using automated drapes in the master bedroom, as there would be four separate windows involved.  But if I did go that route I'd very likely go with non-automated bottom-up shades and then drapes with blackout.  I mean, let's be realistic, automating both would likely approach $1k PER WINDOW.  That's just crazy.

 

[NeverDie]

I just now noticed that last year Lutron introduced what it claims is a quieter, battery operated wireless roller blind with a 3-5 year battery life:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yumfgjgpLeU
 
Looks like it would be very easy to install and maintain.  
 
Seems well engineered.  I haven't checked yet, but perhaps  Lutron offers the same/similar technology in other types of blinds also.
 
On perhaps the lower end, I notice you can fairly inexpensively buy motorized cell shades from blinds.com:
http://www.blinds.com/control/product/productID,97658
e.g. $142 for a 3'x5' motorized cell shade, with free shipping, a "100% satisfaction guarantee," and a completely  free exchange (not even a return shipping cost) if you happen to measure wrong.  That would seem to address some of the perceived DIY risks articulated earlier in the thread.
 
At our previous house I purchased a few (non-motorized) cellular shades (the kind which does both up-down and down-up) on-line and saved a lot of money that way.  I'm not saying everyone should do that, but it went without a hitch.  You can be very precise about the dimensions you specify.

 

[zenix]

I just now noticed that last year Lutron introduced what it claims is a quieter, battery operated wireless roller blind with a 3-5 year battery life
 
Looks like it would be very easy to install and maintain.  

 
They have been introduced at CEDIA 2013. These are 12V powered, easy to install, and can be hardwired to 12V power brick. I wouldn't say that they are quieter: all Lutron shading lines are rated at 44-46 dBa.
 
 

On perhaps the lower end, I notice you can fairly inexpensively buy motorized cell shades from blinds.com:
http://www.blinds.com/control/product/productID,97658
e.g. $142 for a 3'x5' motorized cell shade, with free shipping, a "100% satisfaction guarantee," and a completely  free exchange (not even a return shipping cost) if you happen to measure wrong.  That would seem to address some of the perceived DIY risks articulated earlier in the thread.

 
Intriguing price, however I see that they only have RF control option. Without IP it would be tough (if not impossible) to tie it in into your HA system of choice.

 

[zenix]

We have a single automated shade, Lutron. Located in the kithen, we splurged for the pro install during a remodel.

It was ridiculously expensive...

 
When you say "ridiculously expensive", is it in the $1500 range or $500 range? I had met some "dealers" which were charging over 50% more over MSRP, could it be that was the same in your case?

 

[picta]

Agreed.  I'm very much resisting the idea of using automated drapes in the master bedroom, as there would be four separate windows involved.  But if I did go that route I'd very likely go with non-automated bottom-up shades and then drapes with blackout.  I mean, let's be realistic, automating both would likely approach $1k PER WINDOW.  That's just crazy.

 
Drapery is VERY expensive, but you can get a DIY roller shade with blackout for $350-$600 per window. I believe our most expensive shade was below $650 all in for 9'x12' window. For windows wider than 10' it's best to go with a drapery rod. The roller shades are almost always fully open during the day and fully closed at night, but with RS485 control we also set them to different levels during some days to block the sun. We had battery operated shade in the early days, I would never do it again. In the current house we pre-wired every window and being adding shades through time as the budget allowed.

 

[wkearney99]

The advances in battery, solar panel and motor technologies has really improved what's possible for shades.  Trouble is it's hard to tell what aspects of those advancements the vendors have actually implemented, or how effectively.  I'd be much less hesitant to go with battery operated shades for regular windows these days.  For a 10' wide window though I'd still look at powered, at least for the motorization.

 

[wkearney99]

The advances in battery, solar panel and motor technologies has really improved what's possible for shades.  Trouble is it's hard to tell what aspects of those advancements the various vendors have actually implemented, or how effectively.  I'd be much less hesitant to go with battery operated shades for regular windows these days.  For a 10' wide window though I'd still look at powered, at least for the motorization.

 

[Neurorad]

Lutron QS kitchen window shade and power supply, $1300. Measure and install $250. Plus 9% sales tax. Plus custom wood valence made by a carpenter. And, I added a RA2 keypad next to the window for local control.

Local shade installer was outstanding, extensive Lutron experience, very helpful. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

 

[NeverDie]

Lutron QS kitchen window shade and power supply, $1300. Measure and install $250. Plus 9% sales tax. Plus custom wood valence made by a carpenter. And, I added a RA2 keypad next to the window for local control.

Local shade installer was outstanding, extensive Lutron experience, very helpful. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

 
 Is yours the Triathlon version (cf. above youtube video), or something else?  http://www.lutron.com/en-US/Products/Pages/ShadingSystems/SivoiaQSTriathlon/Overview.aspx      
 
Are you operating yours standalone or is it also controlled through your home automation system?  If the latter, how is it interfaced to your home automation?  I do notice Lutron makes a wireless bridge  to a number of different Lutron shade models:
http://www.amazon.com/Lutron-L-BDGPRO-WH-Temperatures-Programmed-Triathlon/dp/B00QH3N9FC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1431290960&sr=8-1&keywords=lutron+triathlon
 
Staples Connnect apparently works with Lutron's Serena shades:
http://staples.serenashades.com/

 

[ano]

I just now noticed that last year Lutron introduced what it claims is a quieter, battery operated wireless roller blind with a 3-5 year battery life:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yumfgjgpLeU
 
Looks like it would be very easy to install and maintain.  
 
Seems well engineered.  I haven't checked yet, but perhaps  Lutron offers the same/similar technology in other types of blinds also.
 
On perhaps the lower end, I notice you can fairly inexpensively buy motorized cell shades from blinds.com:
http://www.blinds.com/control/product/productID,97658
e.g. $142 for a 3'x5' motorized cell shade, with free shipping, a "100% satisfaction guarantee," and a completely  free exchange (not even a return shipping cost) if you happen to measure wrong.  That would seem to address some of the perceived DIY risks articulated earlier in the thread.
 
At our previous house I purchased a few (non-motorized) cellular shades (the kind which does both up-down and down-up) on-line and saved a lot of money that way.  I'm not saying everyone should do that, but it went without a hitch.  You can be very precise about the dimensions you specify.

I myself wouldn't use a nameless uncontrollable shade like this, but if you do click on Bali Motorized shades at Blinds.com you get shades that use Somfy motors. If you add the 120V option to these, the motors and power supply add around $220 to each blind, which isn't bad. However I think these have the 12v Somfy motors which is louder. It worthwhile to upgrade to the AC only motor which is much quieter.