When it comes to home automation, many people forget about window shades in the house. Having to adjust the window shades throughout the day in our home seems like such a daunting task. Having to walk to each individual room and roll up or down, close or open the blinds is an inconvenience to our everyday lives. Besides owning a device that could control your shades with a touch of a button, there are additional benefits to shade control besides convenience. Let’s start off with accessibility. The shade system is extremely easy to use; even a caveman could do it. You’ll be able to control every Lutron shade in your home with a touch of a button through the use of remote devices or an app that can be downloaded on your smartphone or tablet device. The application even allows you to set schedules throughout the day, meaning even less work for you. Lutron allows you to set your shades based on an astronomic clock rotation. No more having to get up in the morning to roll up your shades. They will automatically open to give you the best morning wake up call. Don’t worry, they will let in the most optimal amount of natural light instead of just opening all at once and making you feel like a vampire in the sun. That sounds a whole lot better than your average alarm clock. For those of you worried about compensating the design of the room; the neat thing about shade control is that you can customize it to your aesthetic. You can choose from a variety of different colors, textures, and finishes. I love this option because you can give each room a different mood and atmosphere. For example. In the breakfast room, you can add shear panels to open up the room with natural lighting and keep outdoor views in sight, even when closed. If you have a designated theater or media room, you can add blackout panels that block out any light coming through for the perfect movie time experience. Direct sunlight exposure for long periods of time can fade out the colors of your furniture, floors, art or drapery. Monitoring the amount of light that comes in and the direction of your blinds can provide more protection for your valuable possessions. In the long run, having shade control will save you money and energy. The shades have the ability to read temperatures which allows them to adjust the shades accordingly. Opening them on sunny days in the winter and keeping them closed for hot summer days, in turn, takes some pressure off your heating and cooling system which saves on your overall utility bills. By automatically adjusting to natural light coming through the home, electric light levels throughout the home can also be decreased. This is probably one you didn’t think of; added security. Having the option to schedule your blinds can ward off uninvited guests by creating an appearance of someone being home while you are away. Geofencing technology is incorporated into the system so they will automatically close or open when you leave or enter the home.
By Wendy Wang
