Electric Blinds: How Lazy Can You Go?

The remote control is one of the best inventions of the last century. In the beginning, we were happy to be able to switch on and off the TV set and to flip across channels without having to move from the couch. Then we were able to open our gates and garage doors without stepping out of the car. Now we can even move our curtains and blinds without getting out of our bed. Is the room too sunny? Grab your remote, press a button and have your window shutters close, to restore your comfort. Do you feel like reading and your room is too dark? Don't switch on the lights, just take your remote and make your electric blinds move according to your wish. Isn't this remote a kind of Alladin's lamp with buttons? It's like it has a genie inside, always ready to fulfill our wishes.

Back to our electric blinds, curtains, drapes or other window treatments, having them moving by remote may sound like the extreme lazyness, but I can assure you it's not. What if you were stuck in bed, having to call somebody to help you with even the slightest thing? Wouldn't you be happy to be able at least to adjust the light level in your room without bothering others to do it for you all the time? This is maybe one of the biggest advantages of electric blinds and shades: to give physically impaired persons a little bit of independence.

I don't have electric blinds. It happened a couple of times that my cat almost got hung with the cords of my window blinds. Luckily, I was home to help her detangle from those strings and thanks God she was smart enough to stay still until I did the job. It's needless to say that I've cut all cords very short, in order to prevent that from happening again. Small children may be in the same danger. Automated blinds require no cords, so they are much safer.

Another case when electric blinds are ideal is when your windows are too high to reach them. Why use long rods and crods which are inesthetic and not so safe for pets and kids?

In some cases, you can transform your ordinary window blinds into electric ones by adding a tubular motor inside the top tube, provided it's big enough to accommodate the motor. In other cases, you may need to buy new blinds, if you want them motorized.

For some people such as old aunts and grannies, having something electric in their house means danger of electrocution. In case of electric blinds, that's not at all true, because their motors, be them AC or DC, are battery-operated, low voltage, low amperage, therefore there's no electric shock hazard at all. You can even install them in bathrooms, if so you wish, because they are safe. Nevertheless, you should be aware that the high level of humidity may affect their smooth functioning if the motor is not very well encapsulated, so maybe it's not such a good idea to have your bathroom equipped with electric window treatments.