Motorized Shades
A growing trend for today's smart, connected world is to automate window treatments throughout the home or office. Installing motorized window shades is a hassle-free, convenient way to not only control the amount of light in the room, but also achieve a sense of privacy and help regulate the room temperature. By reflecting the sun's scorching rays in the summer and adding an extra layer of insulation against the frigid winter, having automated shades can easily save you money on your energy bills. Those manual, hard-to-clean blinds aren't doing your home any favors, so why not upgrade to a window treatment that is as versatile as your imagination. 
We have teamed up with PowerShades, a leading innovator in the industry, to provide affordable, programmable, and safe motorized window shades. Unlike traditional blinds, these shades have no strings attached -literally- so they are kid, pet, and active household friendly. Use the PowerShades Dashboard to remotely open and close your shades, set schedules based on your habits, and create pre-set scenes for your favorite shade positions. PowerShades fully integrates with our URC Total Control 2.0 whole-home universal control system, so you will have constant access to adjust your shades right in the palm of your hand. Now with just the push of a button you can block out that glaring sun beam, flood the room with light, or anything in between.
Why PowerShades? Other motorized shade companies require the installation of additional power injectors or adapter pieces for their units to operate, but not PowerShades. Their TruePoE units, or power-over-ethernet,  get both their electrical current and command prompts from just one cable, helping to save you money on installation. PowerShades are versatile when it comes to powering their shades too; if running a cable to the window isn't an option, PowerShades also offers other types of power sources, including a convenient solar-powered battery pack. And with a lifetime warranty on the hardware, you know these shades will be rolling along well into the future. 
Roller Styles
PowerShades offers 3 different roller styles and multiple color options for your shade hardware, allowing you to choose the best match for your room aesthetic:
Affinity - open roll
Concord - fascia style
Pinnacle - convex cassette
Hembar options: You have some choices when it comes to the weighted hembar along the bottom of the shade, too:
  1. Internal hembar- the bar is fabric-wrapped and sealed on 3 sides, or
  2. External hembar- the bar will be visible and painted any of the available hardware colors shown below. 
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Hardware Colors
With 7 different hardware colors to choose from, these shades will fit seamlessly into your existing room decor. Let the roller housing blend into the background, or jazz it up with a contrasting color; the choice is all yours. 
Day and Night Dual Shades
Not too dark, and not too bright, but just right. That is what you will get with PowerShades' dual roller system. The Affinity and Concord models are available with double rollers, allowing for two different fabrics to be used for your window. Select a room-darkening fabric for the base layer, and a more transparent, decorative fabric for the top, or try something chic and combine two light filtering fabrics for a more subtle dimming effect. The best part? You can program the layers to adjust on a schedule, so the privacy shade can automatically extend at 6pm when it is getting dark out, and retract in the morning to fill your space with light. Day and night dual shades offer unparalleled versatility and let you really get the most out of your window treatment.
Shade Fabric 
Fabric Colors & Styles
​Using textile options from Mermet Sun Control Textiles and Phifer Incorporated, PowerShades offers a wide range of fabrics to shade your windows.  The wide variety of colors, weaves, textures and solar reflection capabilities allow you to select the perfect window dressing to complement your space. During your on-site consultation, our Team Member will present you with various fabric samples for you to browse through and compare. You will have the opportunity to feel the fabric's texture, peer through the weaves to find your ideal light transparency, and assess the best color hue to compliment your decor. Once your fabric is selected and the windows are measured, we will put together a final proposal for you to review and accept prior to ordering and installation. We want you to be thrilled with your new motorized shades, and we believe PowerShades can make that happen. 
Conventional
Durable with simple designs and proportional weaves
High Performance
Best at reflecting high levels of solar energy
Decorative
Designer fabrics featuring unique coloring, weaves or textures
Privacy
Offers complete light blockage or muted glow
There's plenty more where that came from- these are just a handful of the fabric options available to you.

Fabric Weave & Openness
When it comes to fabric, the amount of openness refers to how tight the weave is, and thus, how much light is allowed to pass through the fabric. A textile with a 1% openness rating is weaved together tighter and permits less light to pass through than a fabric with a higher openness factor, such as 10%. Materials with lower openness values offer greater privacy and will block more light, but it will also decrease the visibility through the fabric. 
Light Blocking
​0 - 5% openness
Light Filtering
5 - 10% openness
Solar
10% openness and higher
Light blocking shades provide unparalleled daytime and nighttime privacy, just don't expect to see much of a view through the fabric. Light blocking shade fabric is tightly woven together for optimal light control, but the flip side of that is that you can't see through them well, or sometimes at all, depending on the fabric used. We would recommend the light blocking shades for use in purposefully dark spaces like home theaters, or they are perfect as a base layer for the double-fabric dual roller shades.
Light filtering shades let in natural light and preserve your view, while providing greater protection than solar shades against UV and infrared rays which can damage your upholstery and interior furnishings. Protect that one-of-a-kind, custom chaise lounge from the dangers of fading upholstery, or prevent the sun from damaging that solid wood, generations-old armoire. A healthy blend of both worlds, light filtering shades may just be the window treatment you have been searching for. 
Solar shades allow for a maximum possible view outside while letting in a plethora of light. The primary focus of solar shades is to decrease glare and harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun, but they also excel at providing a level of daytime privacy from any curious window-peekers. Solar shades are impressively transparent, particularly when viewed from a darker interior out onto a brighter vista, however, the loose weave that makes visibility great during the day will also do little to provide privacy at night. We would recommend the dual roller units that allow for two different fabrics to be deployed, giving you the perfect amount of uncompromised sunlight control. 
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Make your life a little easier and call today to schedule your custom motorized shade consultation!
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