When my home office went in about 9 years ago I put in standard double cell cellular blinds. They worked well but had their issues. The spacing away from the window glass meant there was a lot of convective circulation and the cold drafts coming out of the gaps on the sides was noticeable. I also had several string failures. I tried repairing the strings on one set and despite good instructions, I came to the conclusion that the hardware was so cheap that replacing the strings weren't a long term fix. For those who are new to them, the strings that are pulled on run up into the header around a pulley with a locking mechanism and then over two or more additional pulleys before they are threaded down to the bottom rail. Restringing requires the bottom part of the blind to be slide off the blind to access the ends of the cords and then the strings have to be threaded back up through the blinds to the top rail and then routed exactly where the strings used to be. I also at one point sent one out for repair but the shipping and repair costs were significant and the strings wore out again in about 4 years.
After the initial batch I went with symphony double cellular blinds with side tracks in another part of the house. One of the blinds is quite wide so it came with a heavy duty lifting option while two standard size units came with strings. These two windows are rarely used and to date are still using the original strings. The heavy duty option is an endless cord loop that is replaceable. It spins a cross shaft in the header where internal strings lift the shade. There are no pulleys and far less friction in the system. Its standard on the wider blinds but optional on the skinnier ones. I would recommend them for all blinds as it eliminates a lot of potential wear.
The new blinds with the tracks are lot more efficient. No detectable drafts out the sides. Cellular blinds are not cheap and the side tracks and heavy duty lifts probably add 20%. I expect they cant be justified with energy savings but they do raise the comfort level of the room due to fewer drafts so I can run the temp lower.
If you are looking at these definitely search out the side tracks and heavy duty lifting mechanisms if you want them for the long haul.
After the initial batch I went with symphony double cellular blinds with side tracks in another part of the house. One of the blinds is quite wide so it came with a heavy duty lifting option while two standard size units came with strings. These two windows are rarely used and to date are still using the original strings. The heavy duty option is an endless cord loop that is replaceable. It spins a cross shaft in the header where internal strings lift the shade. There are no pulleys and far less friction in the system. Its standard on the wider blinds but optional on the skinnier ones. I would recommend them for all blinds as it eliminates a lot of potential wear.
The new blinds with the tracks are lot more efficient. No detectable drafts out the sides. Cellular blinds are not cheap and the side tracks and heavy duty lifts probably add 20%. I expect they cant be justified with energy savings but they do raise the comfort level of the room due to fewer drafts so I can run the temp lower.
If you are looking at these definitely search out the side tracks and heavy duty lifting mechanisms if you want them for the long haul.
