Elvis Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 Just installed two Serena shades. They are battery powered because they are mounted on two French doors. Very impressive. Very quiet. Silent almost. Being able to mount them right no the door was a big plus. There were a few things that made a positive impression. The ease of installation was surprising. But the ease of integration and setup was brilliantly easy. I have the Lutron Smartbridge Pro so I used the Lutron app to set it up. Push button easy. Adjusting the shade limits simple. Pairing them with a single Pico remote to operate both at once, super easy. Scheduling very easy. Homekit integration automatic. Alexa integration automatic. There are two major downsides: Price... Over $700 each for a 24 inch by 54 inch blackout roller shade. One French door was over $1400. And that's a discounted price. The other major downside was the lack of a local dealer to measure and install. When you spend that much money and have to hope you didn't screw it up, pretty stressful. Once you pull the trigger on the order, they are yours no matter what. Even though installation was easy, add up the price and having to do it yourself, it just seems to make them more costly. Last house the dealer showed up with samples, wife picked what she wanted, and a few weeks later they delivered and installed them -- all manual shades. Did the whole house, which included 9 exterior doors, for what one room of Serenas would have been. My advice: Don't buy one if you can't afford to buy a lot of them -- almost addictive. nukenerd 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amr Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 1 hour ago, Elvis said: Just installed two Serena shades. They are battery powered because they are mounted on two French doors. Very impressive. Very quiet. Silent almost. Being able to mount them right no the door was a big plus. There were a few things that made a positive impression. The ease of installation was surprising. But the ease of integration and setup was brilliantly easy. I have the Lutron Smartbridge Pro so I used the Lutron app to set it up. Push button easy. Adjusting the shade limits simple. Pairing them with a single Pico remote to operate both at once, super easy. Scheduling very easy. Homekit integration automatic. Alexa integration automatic. There are two major downsides: Price... Over $700 each for a 24 inch by 54 inch blackout roller shade. One French door was over $1400. And that's a discounted price. The other major downside was the lack of a local dealer to measure and install. When you spend that much money and have to hope you didn't screw it up, pretty stressful. Once you pull the trigger on the order, they are yours no matter what. Even though installation was easy, add up the price and having to do it yourself, it just seems to make them more costly. Last house the dealer showed up with samples, wife picked what she wanted, and a few weeks later they delivered and installed them -- all manual shades. Did the whole house, which included 9 exterior doors, for what one room of Serenas would have been. My advice: Don't buy one if you can't afford to buy a lot of them -- almost addictive. You have guts, congrats for that, I can never do that ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 3 hours ago, Elvis said: Just installed two Serena shades. They are battery powered because they are mounted on two French doors. Very impressive. Very quiet. Silent almost. Being able to mount them right no the door was a big plus. There were a few things that made a positive impression. The ease of installation was surprising. But the ease of integration and setup was brilliantly easy. I have the Lutron Smartbridge Pro so I used the Lutron app to set it up. Push button easy. Adjusting the shade limits simple. Pairing them with a single Pico remote to operate both at once, super easy. Scheduling very easy. Homekit integration automatic. Alexa integration automatic. There are two major downsides: Price... Over $700 each for a 24 inch by 54 inch blackout roller shade. One French door was over $1400. And that's a discounted price. The other major downside was the lack of a local dealer to measure and install. When you spend that much money and have to hope you didn't screw it up, pretty stressful. Once you pull the trigger on the order, they are yours no matter what. Even though installation was easy, add up the price and having to do it yourself, it just seems to make them more costly. Last house the dealer showed up with samples, wife picked what she wanted, and a few weeks later they delivered and installed them -- all manual shades. Did the whole house, which included 9 exterior doors, for what one room of Serenas would have been. My advice: Don't buy one if you can't afford to buy a lot of them -- almost addictive. I did exactly the same and had the same observations. I got the serena shades for 2 windows and french doors and they integrated perfectly. Then got their small pico remotes and mounted them in a decora cover which made it look completely wired despite being battery powered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnGordon Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 17 hours ago, Elvis said: Just installed two Serena shades. They are battery powered because they are mounted on two French doors. Very impressive. Very quiet. Silent almost. Being able to mount them right no the door was a big plus. There were a few things that made a positive impression. The ease of installation was surprising. But the ease of integration and setup was brilliantly easy. I have the Lutron Smartbridge Pro so I used the Lutron app to set it up. Push button easy. Adjusting the shade limits simple. Pairing them with a single Pico remote to operate both at once, super easy. Scheduling very easy. Homekit integration automatic. Alexa integration automatic. There are two major downsides: Price... Over $700 each for a 24 inch by 54 inch blackout roller shade. One French door was over $1400. And that's a discounted price. The other major downside was the lack of a local dealer to measure and install. When you spend that much money and have to hope you didn't screw it up, pretty stressful. Once you pull the trigger on the order, they are yours no matter what. Even though installation was easy, add up the price and having to do it yourself, it just seems to make them more costly. Last house the dealer showed up with samples, wife picked what she wanted, and a few weeks later they delivered and installed them -- all manual shades. Did the whole house, which included 9 exterior doors, for what one room of Serenas would have been. My advice: Don't buy one if you can't afford to buy a lot of them -- almost addictive. Glad you like them. I know what you mean about being addictive. I have several Lutron shades in my home and love them. I have to live with the products before I can sell them to my clients. 17 hours ago, Elvis said: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Posted June 14, 2020 Author Share Posted June 14, 2020 On 6/9/2020 at 5:35 PM, Amr said: You have guts, congrats for that, I can never do that ... I don't know if "guts" is the right word! Not sure I'll ever do that again. nukenerd 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelermedallion Posted August 14, 2020 Share Posted August 14, 2020 Why would you not do it again? Was it difficult, did you measure incorrectly or happy with the performance? Did you integrate to c4?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amr Posted August 14, 2020 Share Posted August 14, 2020 1 hour ago, Steelermedallion said: Why would you not do it again? Was it difficult, did you measure incorrectly or happy with the performance? Did you integrate to c4? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Cost is the issue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnGordon Posted August 14, 2020 Share Posted August 14, 2020 8 hours ago, Steelermedallion said: Why would you not do it again? Was it difficult, did you measure incorrectly or happy with the performance? Did you integrate to c4? I'll let Elvis speak for himself, but he bought the shades from me and I'm pretty sure he likes them a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Posted August 14, 2020 Author Share Posted August 14, 2020 9 hours ago, Steelermedallion said: Why would you not do it again? Was it difficult, did you measure incorrectly or happy with the performance? Did you integrate to c4? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro I am very happy with them, and I am going to purchase two more of them from Dawn. For motorization and integration, I'm not sure you can beat Lutron. We've seen a few brands in showrooms and they weren't nearly as quiet or nearly as easy to change batteries. There are two issues and cost is one, but the price is consistent across brands (except for Ikea's where you have one color choice.) So buying motorized just means $$$ -- it is not Lutron specific. The main issue is that the buyer has to measure and install, and there are no mulligans. If you screw it up, there is a 100% re-stocking fee. For the price of four motorized shades, we purchased non-motorized for the rest of the house. And they came out with large samples to show in place, measured every window, and wrote up the quote. When they come in, they install them all and if something doesn't fit, they replace it at no charge. Hope this helps. nukenerd 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted August 14, 2020 Share Posted August 14, 2020 32 minutes ago, Elvis said: I am very happy with them, and I am going to purchase two more of them from Dawn. For motorization and integration, I'm not sure you can beat Lutron. We've seen a few brands in showrooms and they weren't nearly as quiet or nearly as easy to change batteries. There are two issues and cost is one, but the price is consistent across brands (except for Ikea's where you have one color choice.) So buying motorized just means $$$ -- it is not Lutron specific. The main issue is that the buyer has to measure and install, and there are no mulligans. If you screw it up, there is a 100% re-stocking fee. For the price of four motorized shades, we purchased non-motorized for the rest of the house. And they came out with large samples to show in place, measured every window, and wrote up the quote. When they come in, they install them all and if something doesn't fit, they replace it at no charge. Hope this helps. I think the main issue with Lutron is color selection in Serena and if you want like a silhouette like option. In the Serena line they are good value if you can live with a non louvered shade and their limited colors. If you have to step up in their line unfortunately Hunter Douglas become much better value, imho. If its monopoly money to you, then go all the way Lutron, they are great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Posted September 1, 2020 Author Share Posted September 1, 2020 On 8/13/2020 at 11:55 PM, Steelermedallion said: Why would you not do it again? Was it difficult, did you measure incorrectly or happy with the performance? Did you integrate to c4? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro I actually did do it again. All the motorized shades in the house will be Serena. If the house hadn't been bare with no window coverings at all, I would have motorized a lot more of them, spreading out the cost over time. Since I just retired, I was too chicken to write the big check required to motorize more of them. nukenerd 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbie3130 Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 On 8/14/2020 at 8:55 AM, ejn1 said: I think the main issue with Lutron is color selection in Serena and if you want like a silhouette like option. In the Serena line they are good value if you can live with a non louvered shade and their limited colors. If you have to step up in their line unfortunately Hunter Douglas become much better value, imho. If its monopoly money to you, then go all the way Lutron, they are great! +1 Was surprised that HD w/ Powerview came in considerably less than Lutron's in my situation. Did the whole house in one shot and must say I'm completely satisfied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstafford388 Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 The Hunter Douglas stuff has come a long way the past few years. Still considerably louder motors but even that is getting better. They also now have a former C4 product manager in charge of the integration and are embracing the C4 world. I don't have many bad things to say about them at this point and that was not the case at all a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnGordon Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 Interestingly, Battery-powered HD and Lutron can be very close price-wise depending on the fabric. I sell both of these brands and sometimes it just comes down to fabric selection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Posted September 22, 2020 Author Share Posted September 22, 2020 I ended up buying 3 more of these from @DawnGordon and still super happy. We did find two great local dealers. So that allowed us to price shop and see other options. And Dawn is right, when you actually compare apples to apples (same fabric, same valance) the prices are very comparable. And even when the dealer is super helpful, you have to actually see the price written down to get the real number. I mean they are selling, so it I get it -- but what's said on the showroom floor usually doesn't equal what is written down when it comes down to placing an order. "Oh, you want THAT fabric" and "Oh, you want it motorized, that's right..." and next thing you know you are very close to the same price. For me, since my system is running on Lutron, it was an easy decision. We bought the remaining blinds from The Blind Place in Tyler. And there is definitely value added when they show up and install them... a LOT of them. Of the motorized shades we saw, the Serena were still noticeably quieter. DawnGordon and nukenerd 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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