Wired or Wireless Motorized Shades: What You Need to Know

You Have Choices

We think motorized shades are one of the best and most useful smart home solutions, especially here in Las Vegas. With our sunny and warm desert climate, the power of motorization is a boon for easily controlling glare, heat gain, and potential UV damage from the Nevada sun to home interiors. Did you know that they can be installed without wires too? Powered shades can be almost as simple to install as manual ones. Less so, in a way, when you consider there are no pulls or string mechanisms to attach!

While wireless shades can be installed in many cases, there are some situations where a wired is the better approach, and you should know the pros and cons of each. Let's explore them in more detail below. 

SEE ALSO: You Can Do a Motorized Shade on that Window? 

Wired or Wireless? 

There are two ways to power motorized shades. Lutron, our shading brand, offers battery-powered and low-voltage-powered solutions. The low-voltage solution involves running wires similar to what gets installed in your house for security systems, doorbells, and smart home devices. As you might guess, a wired solution may not be the best if you don't want to open holes in walls, so battery power is great for retrofit solutions. In fact, Lutron battery-powered shaded can be used on some large windows, too, up to 12ft by 12ft in size. 

When would you need a wired solution? If you want o power heavy drapery tracks or other large window treatments, battery power might not be strong enough for these heavy ones. Batteries also need to be replaced every 2-3 years, so if a shade is mounted in a hard-to-reach location (like a high clerestory window), it will be more of a chore to replace. 

Benefits of Wired Solutions

In networking, some people think that wired connections are archaic or unnecessary. Wireless technology is indeed very reliable, but a wired connection will always be more robust. What does that have to do with shades? With wired power, your shades will always perform as they should. If your batteries are weak, you may notice decreased speed or uneven responses if the batteries need replacement. With wired power, you won't ever need to change a battery. If you are doing a significant remodel or building new, planning ahead and prewiring for motorized shades is easy and cost-effective, and you'll enjoy the benefits of not having to worry about materials, weights, and window sizes. 

What if you can’t run wires? Battery-powered shading solutions will do the job perfectly. Plus, you can always use a combination of wired and wireless power in a system such as Lutron's. So if you have one huge multi-panel sliding glass door that requires a wired approach for the window treatment, you can just do that one and use wireless for other windows. You have choice and flexibility with not only styles and materials but also how you power your window treatments for convenience and cost-effectiveness. 

There’s a motorized shade solution for practically any window in your home. To learn more about motorized window treatment options for your Las Vegas home, reach out to the team at Fusion Home Systems today! We look forward to working with you.