Lutron’s Do-It-Yourself Remote-Control Shades Bow At $700

Lutron is continuing its march toward the mainstream customer with what it calls an affordable lighting control product promising energy-saving benefits. Earlier this month the company announced a $29 occupancy sensor that automatically shuts off lights in a room when no one is present (CED Nov 15 p6). On Tuesday Lutron unveiled a remote-controlled electronic shading system that brings technology from Lutron’s $1,000-per-window Sivoia shades for the custom market to a $299-per-window shade that consumers can install themselves.

To date, Lutron’s lighting control products have largely been the domain of luxury custom installation market, but with the slowdown in that market, Lutron is expanding its base, said David Weinstein, vice president of residential sales at Lutron. When asked how the company could take technology from its more expensive line and offer it for roughly a third the price, Weinstein cited manufacturing efficiencies associated with a very popular, lightweight and affordable shade material that’s built to popular window sizes ranging from 3 x 5 feet to 84 inches square, which he said covers 80 percent of the North American market. “We took a popular shade style, added Lutron battery technology and worked hard to drive to a volume target that would allow us to sell this very affordably,” Weinstein said. “This market is significantly larger than the ultra high-end,” he said. Weinstein wouldn’t comment on when the company will break even on the product line. “We made a very nice investment,” he said, saying the privately held company invests “well over 10 percent of revenue back into market development engineering."

With the Serena line, Lutron is promoting the R-Value, the resistance to heat flow, of the shades, which come in single cell, double cell and blackout versions. Typical roller shades have an R-Value of 1, he said. Lutron’s Serena line ranges in R-Value from 2.5 to 4, he said. Because of “too many variables” involved with size and type of glass, the company doesn’t provide potential energy savings estimates for a home that uses its shades to control light, but Weinstein said, “what people can understand is that cellular shades can double the insulating properties of a window.” Lutron is continuing the message it initiated with higher end shades and encouraging consumers to allow shades to block out the hot sun in summer to keep a room cooler and open to allow in the warm sun in winter so they rely less on a furnace or heater.

The Serena shades start at $299 for a 3 x 5-foot window with infrared control. The line tops out at $700 for the highest end fabric, a spokeswoman said. Radio-frequency control adds $25 per shade, a spokesman said. The infrared shades can be controlled by universal remote controls and have a sensor in the top compartment of the shades that’s “invisible,” the spokesman said. Four “D” batteries power the shades and the shades are rated to run for 3 years, twice up and twice down a day, without a battery change, Weinstein said. The shades come with a 5-year full-replacement warranty, he said.

Serena shades are available from the Lutron website, and the company is in discussions with home improvement retailers “where customers are currently comfortable buying shades,” Weinstein said.