Cellular Shades
The only window covering that insulates. Rows of hollow cells trap air at the glass, which is where Boise homes lose heat in January and gain it in July. Fitted and installed across the Treasure Valley.
The Honeycomb Is the Whole Idea
Look at a cellular shade edge on and you see rows of hollow chambers, shaped like a honeycomb. Every other shade is a flat piece of fabric. This one is a structure, and those chambers are full of trapped air.
Trapped air is insulation. It is the same principle as a double-pane window or a puffy coat. Instead of hanging fabric over cold glass, you are putting a layer of still air between the glass and your room. That is why this is the shade people buy for comfort rather than for looks, though it happens to look clean and modern too.
Hunter Douglas builds them in single-cell and in Architella, which nests cells inside cells for more insulating layers. Pleat sizes come in three quarters of an inch and one and a quarter inches, in light-filtering and room-darkening fabrics.
The cells up close. Each row is a sealed pocket of air. More layers of cells means more insulation, which is the difference between the standard construction and Architella.
What That Buys You
Hunter Douglas publishes real numbers for Duette Architella against a double-pane clear glass window. Up to 40 percent less heat lost through the window in winter, and up to 60 percent of unwanted solar heat kept out in summer.
Paired with automated schedules that raise and lower the shades at the right times, Department of Energy laboratory studies put the whole-home heating and cooling saving at up to 15 percent.
These are also the first window coverings to carry an energy rating from the Attachments Energy Rating Council, which is an independent certification backed by the US Department of Energy rather than a manufacturer claim.
Why This Matters in the Treasure Valley
Boise gives a window covering two different jobs six months apart. In July the west and south sides take direct afternoon sun and the room is unusable by four o’clock. In January the same glass is the coldest surface in the house, and the heat you paid for goes straight out through it.
A honeycomb shade is the one product that addresses both, because trapped air works in both directions. It slows heat coming in and it slows heat going out. Nothing else on this site does that. Roller, solar, roman and woven wood shades all control light well, but none of them insulate.
If your bigger problem is glare and keeping the view rather than temperature, look at solar shades instead.
Light Where You Want It, Privacy Where You Need It
Cellular shades offer a design option most products cannot. A top-down bottom-up shade has two moving rails, so you can lower it from the top instead of raising it from the bottom. Daylight comes over the top of the shade while the lower half of the window stays covered.
It is the answer for a street-facing room, a bathroom, or any window where you want the light but not the audience. There is also Duolite, which puts two fabrics in one shade, a sheer for daytime and a room-darkening panel for night, on the same headrail.
The Catch and the Fix
Room-darkening cellular shades mounted inside the window frame leave a thin halo of light around the edges of the fabric. It is inherent to how a honeycomb shade is built and every manufacturer has it. Anyone who tells you a standard inside-mount shade will give you a blacked-out room is overselling.
There are two real fixes. Mount the shade outside the frame so the fabric overlaps the wall, which cuts most of the halo. Or specify Duette LightLock, a system of side channels lined with micro-ridges that absorb and deflect the light trying to sneak past the edge, with the bottom rail seating magnetically into a sill channel.
The room below is a LightLock installation photographed in daylight. That is the difference it makes, and it is why LightLock is what we specify for bedrooms, nurseries and media rooms rather than a standard room-darkening shade.
How It Opens and Closes
LiteRise is the cordless standard. Push the bottom rail up, pull it down, no cord on the window at all, which is the safe choice around children and pets.
UltraGlide uses a slim retractable wand that self-lowers, so a tall shade stays easy to reach without a long dangling cord.
EasyRise is a continuous cord loop for larger, heavier shades.
PowerView automation is where cellular shades earn the most, because the energy saving depends on the shades being in the right position at the right time. Set them to close before the afternoon sun hits and open again in the evening, and the saving happens whether or not anyone is home to think about it. That is the combination the 15 percent figure is based on. See motorized window coverings.
There are also specialty systems for the awkward openings: Vertiglide for patio doors and wide spans, TrackGlide for French doors and tilt-turn windows, SkyLift and Simplicity for skylights, and EasyView for arches.
Duette or Applause
Justin carries both. Duette is the premium line, with 15 fabric collections and the Architella multi-cell construction that produces the energy numbers above, plus LightLock and the specialty systems. Applause is the value line with 7 collections, sharing the same headrail and most of the same operating systems.
In practice, most homes end up with a mix: Duette Architella on the windows that cost you money in energy, Applause where the shade is mostly about light and privacy. Working out which is which, window by window, is the useful part of the consultation.
Questions People Ask About Cellular Shades
Will They Really Lower My Energy Bill?
They reduce heat moving through the window, and Hunter Douglas publishes the numbers against a double-pane clear glass window: up to 40 percent less heat lost in winter and up to 60 percent of solar heat kept out in summer with Duette Architella. Department of Energy laboratory studies put whole-home heating and cooling savings at up to 15 percent when the shades run on an automated schedule. How much you actually save depends on your windows, your exposure and how the shades are used, which is why the automation matters.
Can I Get a Room Completely Dark?
Close, and honestly not perfectly with a standard inside-mount shade. A room-darkening honeycomb fabric leaves a thin halo of light around the edges because of how the shade is built. For a bedroom or nursery, either mount it outside the frame or specify Duette LightLock, which adds channels down the sides that absorb the light trying to get past.
How Do I Keep Them Clean?
Light regular dusting keeps them looking new. You can vacuum gently with a brush attachment, use compressed air or a hair dryer on cool to blow dust out of the cells, or spot-clean with warm water and mild detergent. For a deeper clean there are professional ultrasonic services. We give you the care guidance for your specific fabric at install.
Do They Collect Dust Inside the Cells?
Less than people expect, and a puff of compressed air or a vacuum brush clears what does. One practical note for bathrooms and kitchens: leave the shade open a few inches regularly so air moves between the shade and the glass and any condensation can dry.
What Is the Difference Between Duette and Applause?
Duette is the premium line with more fabric collections, the multi-cell Architella construction that produces the best energy numbers, and access to LightLock and the specialty systems. Applause is the value line and shares the same headrail and most operating systems. Justin carries both and most homes end up using a mix.
Can I See the Fabric Before I Decide?
That is the whole point of the in-home consultation. Justin brings the Hunter Douglas samples to your house so you can see the fabric and the cell size against your own window, in your own light. Our showroom at 2615 W Main St in Boise is open too if you would rather come to us. Call ahead so we can be sure to be there.
Find Out Which Windows Are Costing You Money
Not every window needs an insulating shade. Justin walks your house, works out which glass is doing the damage in summer and winter, and tells you where the money is worth spending and where it is not. The in-home consultation is free and there is no pressure to buy.
Or call (208) 808-8676
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