Motorized Window Coverings
Hunter Douglas PowerView, on shades, blinds and shutters across Boise and the Treasure Valley. What it moves depends on the product, and knowing which is the difference between delight and disappointment.
Read This Before You Order Anything Motorized
The single most common misunderstanding about motorized window coverings is what the motor actually does. It is not the same across products, and nobody tells you at the point of sale.
On shades, PowerView moves the whole shade. Roller, cellular, Roman, woven wood, banded and sheer shades all raise and lower under power. This is what most people picture when they imagine a motorized window covering.
On wood blinds, PowerView tilts the slats only. The slats turn from a remote or the app, with no wand or tassel hanging on the blind, but you still raise and lower it by hand at the bottom rail. That is a genuinely useful product, and it is not the same thing.
On two inch aluminum blinds, you can have full automation. The Macro collection takes PowerView Gen 3 properly, which makes it the one blind that behaves the way people expect.
On shutters, it operates the louvers. Palm Beach vinyl shutters take PowerView for hands-free louver control, which is aimed squarely at shutters you cannot easily reach.
If you take one thing from this page: ask which of those four you are being quoted. We tell you unprompted, but not everyone does.
How You Actually Control It
There are four ways, and most households settle on one or two rather than using all of them.
Tap, wall mounted. A simple up, down and stop control that sits on the wall like a light switch. No app, no learning curve, and the answer for anyone in the house who does not want a phone involved.
Tap, on a tabletop. The same control in a cradle, so it lives on a side table or a nightstand rather than being fixed to a wall.
The Pebble remote. Handles groups and scenes, so one press moves a whole room or a whole floor rather than one shade at a time.
Set Your Schedule With the PowerView App
The PowerView app on a phone or tablet is the fourth control, and it is the one that changes how the house behaves rather than just how you operate a shade.
Scenes group shades and positions together. Morning might raise the kitchen and living room and leave the bedrooms alone. Evening might close everything on the street side. One press.
Schedules run those scenes on their own, including relative to sunrise and sunset, which matter far more in Boise than a fixed clock time because sunset moves by nearly four hours across the year. A schedule that closes the west-facing shades at sunset stays right in June and in December.
This is the part people underestimate before they buy and then use every day. Cutting the afternoon heat before it arrives is worth more than cutting it afterwards, and a schedule does that whether or not anyone is home.
Power, Batteries and Charging
Most PowerView shades run on a rechargeable battery, and it lasts roughly a year of normal use before it needs charging rather than replacing. On some products the battery is concealed inside the roller tube so there is nothing visible on the shade at all; on others it sits in a slim battery wand.
Charging is done with a cable that plugs into the shade, and there is a genuinely thoughtful detail here: an extension pole attachment screws onto a standard painter’s pole, so a high window can be charged from the floor rather than off a ladder. Worth knowing before you rule out motorizing a stairwell.
If you would rather never think about it, hardwired power is available, and there is also a premium wired option that both powers and controls the shade. That is a decision best made before the walls are closed up in a remodel, which is why it is worth raising motorization early rather than at the end of a project.
One practical note that catches people out on a shallow window frame: a rechargeable battery wand adds about half an inch to the mounting depth. On a tight recess we check that at the measure.
Which Windows Are Actually Worth Motorizing
We would rather you spent this money on four windows that need it than on every window in the house.
Anything you cannot reach. A stairwell window, a shade above a stair landing, a transom, a window over a kitchen sink or behind a large piece of furniture. These are the windows people otherwise leave permanently in one position, which wastes the covering entirely.
A whole wall of shades. Four or five shades that should move together are tedious by hand and take five seconds by remote. This is where people notice the difference immediately.
West-facing rooms. A schedule tied to sunset closes them before the room heats rather than after you notice it is hot. In a Treasure Valley summer that is a real comfort difference and a real cooling cost difference.
Accessibility. If reaching, bending or gripping is difficult, motorization turns a window covering from something you avoid into something you use.
Where we would talk you out of it: an easily reached bedroom window that gets adjusted twice a day. Cordless lift is cheaper and does the job.
Other Benefits of Motorization
There is no cord. A motorized shade has no lift cord, no wand and no tassel hanging anywhere on it. In a house with young children or pets, that removes the hazard entirely rather than managing it, and it is a large part of why people choose it in nurseries and playrooms.
It also removes the visual clutter. On a wall of windows, the cords and wands are what make a covering read as equipment. Take them away and the shades read as part of the architecture.
Questions People Ask About Motorization
Does Motorization Move the Whole Shade, or Just Tilt the Slats?
It depends entirely on the product, and this is the thing people get wrong. On shades, roller, cellular, Roman, woven wood, banded and sheer, PowerView moves the whole shade up and down. On wood blinds it only tilts the slats, and you still raise the blind by hand. On two inch aluminum blinds you can get full automation. On shutters it operates the louvers. Ask which one you are getting before you order.
How Long Does the Battery Last?
About a year of normal use on a rechargeable battery, then you recharge rather than replace. Charging is done with a cable that plugs into the shade, and there is an extension pole attachment that screws onto a standard painter’s pole so you can reach a high window without a ladder. Hardwired power is available if you would rather never think about it.
Do I Need a Hub or a Smart Home System?
No. A remote alone is enough, and plenty of our customers never use anything else. The app, schedules and voice control are optional layers on top. If you do want it tied into a wider smart home, that is possible, but nothing about the shade requires it.
Is It Worth the Extra Cost?
On the right windows, clearly. A window you cannot reach without a ladder, a whole wall of shades you would otherwise adjust one at a time, or a west-facing room you want covered before the afternoon sun hits rather than after. On a single easily reached bedroom window, honestly, probably not. We will tell you which of your windows are which.
Can I Still Operate a Motorized Shade by Hand?
On most, yes. One caveat worth knowing on Palm Beach shutters: a slip clutch lets you move the louvers by hand, but a hand close may not fully seat them. On those, use the motor to close if you want the tightest light block.
What Is the Warranty on the Motor?
Hunter Douglas provides five-year limited coverage for motorized components. Other parts may have different coverage under the Lifetime Limited Warranty. We review the applicable terms with your product selection.
Try the Remote Before You Decide
Motorization is difficult to judge in the abstract and obvious in about ten seconds with a remote in your hand. Justin brings the controls to your house, shows you what moves on the product you are actually considering, and tells you which of your windows justify it and which do not. 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.
Or call (208) 808-8676
Explore More
Shades | Blinds | Shutters | Cellular Shades | Roller Shades | Contact