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ABOVE Janice Brock & Wes Petch
Smart window coverings for smart homes Technology enhances savings and security
By Ellen Ashton-Haiste As 21st-century smart-home technology ramps up, window treatments are benefiting from the trend. Today’s homeowners can control their shades and blinds from virtually anywhere. “You could be in Germany and moving your blinds in Grand Bend with Internet access,” says Wes Petch, coowner with Janice Brock of London’s Custom Shades and Custom Covers For Home and Office in Exeter. It’s a scenario that’s growing in popularity, Petch says. “We’ve been doing automation and motorization for a dozen years and it has progressed exponentially every year.” While the technology is a convenience that does entail a price upcharge, he points out that it has a significant potential for cost savings on heating and air conditioning by providing enhanced temperature control. “For example, on a
hot, sunny day, you can have the blinds closed to cool the house down before you get home.” For providers of window treatments, Petch says the challenge is keeping up with ever-escalating technological advances. His stores have an advantage in being supported by Hunter Douglas, a prominent global manufacturer of custom window blinds, shades, shutters and draperies. The company is a pioneer in automation. Petch and professional installer Patrick Alber have taken numerous Hunter Douglas courses and have expertise in the company’s signature PowerView Automation. The newest incarnation of this application, PowerView Plus, sees the technology hard-wired into a home during construction, with the wiring concealed behind the drywall and tied into the wi-fi system. Petch says Custom
Shades frequently works with custom builders, installing this option. There’s also considerable demand from homeowners to upgrade their blinds and shades to automation. “We do a lot of take downs and replace the whole works of window coverings in older homes,” Petch says. Although these systems are not hardwired and run on battery power, he notes that there are technological advances there as well. As an example, Hunter Douglas recently introduced rechargeable lithium batteries, good for 500 recharges, reducing ongoing operating costs. The technology, combined with myriad choices for styles, fabric and colour, and highly trained staff from sales to installation, allows Custom Shades to offer superior value for its services, Petch says. n
● FOR MORE INFORMATION CUSTOM SHADES • 1422 Fanshawe Park Road West, Unit #3A • 519-601-4443 • www.customshadesoflondon.ca CUSTOM COVERS FOR HOME AND OFFICE • 415 Main St., Exeter • 519-235-2444 • www.customcoversontario.ca July/August 2021 Lifestyle 33
