If you’re looking for motorized shades for windows for commercial, industrial, or simply for your home, two companies are sure to satisfy. One is Draper, and the other is MechoShade.
Both of these companies tackle many other product types and many other styles of shades. But for the purposes of this article, we’re going to concentrate on what they have to offer solely in the motorized window shade arena.
Motorized Shades
Though motorized shades can be seen as a luxurious item in a household, it’s often a must commercially, or in an industrial type building. When you have several floors worth of windows to fool around with, it can be a taxing operation to make shade adjustments throughout the day in a uniform manner.
The world of window shading has come a long way from simple vertical blinds and tinting. You can get motorized shades, programmable shades, and smart shades that can be controlled via a phone app.
Also, the spectrum of materials and color schemes are only limited to the imagination for the most part. Commercial and industrial applications typically have a reserved scheme that owners would want to use, but as far as homeowners go, there’s a color and a material for all occasions, and for whatever scheme you’ve decided to go with for the home.
Similarities Between Draper and MechoShade Concerning Motorized Shades for Windows
These two companies are competitors in the industry, both having their own set of strengths and weaknesses. Because they do compete, they both bear similarities to one another.
Before we compare the services and products these two businesses provide, let’s have a look at the similarities.
- Both of these companies have been flourishing for decades
- Both businesses originated in the United States
- Both offer several different window coverings including manual systems and a variety of control systems
- Both companies provide residential, commercial, and industrial services
- They both design and fabricate their products, but installation is up to the customer. They can lend assistance and instruction, but neither provides installation.
- They both recognize and concentrate on making their products to be as economically friendly as possible, and in some cases, as green as possible.
- Draper and MechoShade both have several locations worldwide and have dealers scattered all across the globe.
- Custom orders appear to be the specialty of both companies
- Both require that you contact a representative to produce a quote for what you’re looking for. This is business as usual for purchasers but is a bit of a different way of doing things for a homeowner. In other words, you can’t hit their website and see products next to a price.This makes sense because of how many different variables are out there between size, color, materials, the number of windows, etc. Also, if what you’re looking for is something that you’d like to have custom made, and would only like a few, it’ll be far more expensive than if you wanted a greater quantity fabricated.
Draper Vs. MechoShade: Which Brand is Right for You?
Everyone has different needs when in the market for any type of window covering, let alone motorized shades. Now that we’ve seen how these two companies are similar, let’s have a look at how they differ from one another.
To get a little flavor of the companies themselves, we’ll look into each individually, and in so doing, we’ll see what each has to offer. This way, you can see the differences between them and have a better idea of which would be best for you.
Draper Motorized Shades
Draper was first established in 1902 and is now headquartered in Spiceland, Indiana. The company has evolved over the years to include movie screens, a host of window coverings, and also fabricates gymnasium equipment.
Draper offers up several different product types and combinations concerning motorized window shades. Here is a list of their product line.
- Motorized Roller Shades- This particular line has several different options and types available. The Roller Shade type appears to be their flagship product as far as motorized shades are concerned.
- Rechargeable Battery-Operated Shades- A great to save on wiring expenses and to eliminate the worry of powering the shades in unfriendly wiring areas.
- Dual Roller Shades- You can have two different tint shades available at all times, or one tinting or blackout screen, and one projection screen if you wish.
- Lightblock Zip- The edges running down each side are concealed to flanges that are mounted to the window, creating a total blackout effect.
- Motorized Tension Shades- Designs to cover standard-sized skylights as well as large or oversized units.
- Smart Shades- Using I/O technology to set timers, or work automatically as the sun rises or sets.
MechoShade Motorized Shades
MechoShade has been in business since 1969 and is currently headquartered in Long Island, New York.
The product line at MechoShade is structured much differently than Draper. As Draper has specific sets, as you can see above, MechoShade tends to be a little looser- at least as far as their website is concerned. This may be because of their capacity to handle custom orders and shift things around to work for different customers.
- ElectroShade Motorized Shade Systems- This is the broad brush of MechoShade. The general motorized shade system is robust and caters to all sorts of shapes and sizes.
- UrbanShade Motorized Shade Systems- Offers battery-powered operation to be a solution for difficult areas, or to cut on the installation costs.
- DoubleShades- An inner shade and outer shade. Perfect for when you want to deaden glare or completely darken a room.
- Smart Shades- Similar to what we see above, MechoShade has a variety of smart systems using I/O technology to set timers, or work automatically as the sun rises or sets.
Conclusion
There are two different ways I’d approach determining who to use when it comes down between these two companies. Am I looking for something custom built to my specifications, or am I willing to take whatever they have to offer that I’d like?
In my view, the answer would be different for both questions.
If you’re not satisfied with the norms, and would rather have a custom order of shades fabricated to your specifications, MechoShade would be the way to go. Although Draper has a comprehensive custom order option, MechoShade seems to be geared more toward that particular option.
If I were the type to see what was available and go with what I find, Draper would be the choice. Their product line seems to be flushed out much better than MechoShade and has more selections available to choose from. Also, each product type has its own set of options that make its standard products a little more unique.
These are very similar companies in many ways and offer similar products. At the end of the day, both of them hold value to customers. But it depends on what type of customer you find yourself to be, is what determines who’s best to turn to.
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