Which Lutron shade style fits your windows?

Why motorize shades at all?

Because daylight has a cost. Natural light improves mood and helps keep the body's daily rhythm on schedule, which is why homeowners add skylights, bay windows and sunrooms. The same light raises the room temperature in July and fades floors, rugs and upholstery all year. A motorized shade on a schedule takes the light when you want it and blocks it when you do not, without anyone remembering to do it. Lutron builds motorized shading in several styles and a wide range of fabrics (Lutron); which style you choose depends on what each window needs to do.

Roller shades

The plainest style and usually the least expensive. A roller shade is a single panel of fabric on a tube, and it disappears into a small pocket or fascia when raised. Fabrics come in three families: sheer to keep the view and cut glare, translucent to soften direct sun into an even glow, and blackout to make a room dark. Schedules do the work: west-facing windows stay open in the morning and close before the afternoon sun loads the room, then open again at dusk. A tablet or a voice command switches between schedules.

Drapery track systems

Motorized drapery uses pinch-pleat or ripple-fold curtains on a powered track, for rooms where fabric and softness matter more than a flat panel. Lutron tracks accept a customer's own material, so the curtains can match the rest of the furnishings. A heavy lined drapery, closed, keeps summer heat outside and winter heat inside, which shows up on the heating and cooling bill.

Roman shades

A Roman shade folds into soft horizontal pleats as it rises and gives a room a finished, upholstered look. Lined and insulated versions block light almost entirely and hold room temperature well, so they suit bedrooms and rooms with large single-pane windows. Fabric and color choices are wide, and the motor is hidden in the headrail.

Woven wood blinds

Woven shades are made from bamboo, reeds and grasses, and they read as natural texture rather than a window covering. An optional blackout liner adds privacy and darkness for late mornings. Because they are heavier than fabric shades, motorization matters more. A remote or a phone raises a wide woven shade without effort, and family members who cannot manage a manual cord get the same control by voice.

Honeycomb shades

Cellular or honeycomb shades trap air in fabric pockets, which makes them the strongest insulator of the five. They suit hot afternoons on the south and west sides of a house. A seasonal schedule opens them for cool mornings and evenings and closes them for the heat of the day. The morning light is there when you get up, and the house is not an oven when you return.

What does automation add?

Shades that work with the thermostat and the lights. In Control4, a shade is a device like a dimmer. A "Goodnight" scene closes the shades, lowers the thermostat and turns off the lights from one button, and a "Good Morning" scene reverses it. Shades follow sunrise and sunset by calendar, and a summer schedule can differ from a winter one. Motorized shades also support a lived-in look while you travel, moving on a pattern rather than staying shut for two weeks.

What drives the cost?

Window count, shade width, fabric, power method and whether the house is finished. Wired and PoE motors suit new construction and remodels; battery motors suit a finished house where running wire is impractical. Blackout and insulated fabrics cost more than sheers, and very wide windows need larger motors. The instant quote gives a range; a measure visit gives a written proposal.

Need it installed?

Rivas Technology Group designs and installs motorized shades and the lighting and control that go with them, from Kent across south King County and Pierce County. Our own team measures, installs and programs. See the motorized shades page for the shade lines we carry today, or book a walk-through below.