When I bought my house, I had to really take into consideration the cost of utility bills. Here in Texas, electric bills soar from May through October because air conditioners are constantly whirring due to the sometimes intense heat and humidity. So along with my double glazed windows, I also purchased some cellular blinds to help keep the house cool. I bought my Bali Cellular Shades at Home Depot. I paid just over $1300.00 for twelve different windows of various size, none being extra large.


An Introduction to Bali:

Bali Blinds provides you a fresh, fashion-forward portfolio of window covering ideas in plenty of spirited colors and styles to excite your design senses and complement your lifestyle.

Springs Window Fashions has a long, successful heritage in the manufacturing of innovative blinds, shades and drapery hardware for the consumer’s home under the brand names of Bali, Graber and Nanik. Springs Window Fashions has over 200 years of combined sales, marketing and manufacturing experience


The Product:

Bali Cellular Shades are made from a cloth material that is pleated and doubled to form diamond-shaped cells that perform just like a double-glazed window. These cells capture heat from the sun and store it, therefore adding extra insulation from heat and cold to your home. How’s that for energy efficiency?

Bali offers a wide range of color fabrics, opacity levels and cell sizes. For larger windows, the three quarter inch single cell is recommended and smaller windows, the three eighth inch single cell. You can also go a step further with the double cell feature which is more expensive.

Personally, I picked both the three quarter inch and three eighth inch single cell shades for my windows. I went with “bone” in color so that all my shades were the same color. This color pretty much complimented all the rooms in my house. I also bought the shades with the top-down/bottom-up feature, which allows you to pull the shade from the top or bottom. This feature adds about $60 onto the initial price. You can also buy these shades with the cordless feature for an added $70. I figured I had gotten extravagant enough so I passed on that. I had measured all my windows and Home Depot cut all my shades to fit.

Hanging the shades was much like and just as tedious as hanging a regular vinyl blind. The fit is a whole other matter. It is important that you take exact measurements so that these shades take every bit of the space in your windows to be effective. I actually accomplished that and was very proud of myself.

Once they are hung, these shades are not particularly impressive to me. The cloth looks a little papery and cheap. I think the style could be worked on a little, especially for the price you are paying. I think maybe the brighter shades might be more impressive. The pleats are very neat though and when the shades are pulled, they stack compactly and neat and there are no holes through which the sun can sneak. Of course, you can’t open the shade to take a peak outside as you would a vinyl shade. You have to pull the shade up or down to view the outside. I do believe that these blinds help lower my electric bills. They are cool to the touch when the sun is shining bright. Other blinds I had used had always been hot. This house is slightly larger than my previous house and my electric bills are about 25 percent less.


Cleaning:

Just dusting these blinds regularly keeps them clean and if there id dust build up, I take my vacuum cleaner to them. They are a lot hardier than they look. However, one of my windows that has an A/C vent below it sometimes gets some condensation and that stained my shade on one side a little.

You can’t use detergents on these shades so I just take a little soapy water and carefully blot it off, followed by a rinse and another blotting. It removed most of the stain. You must be really careful not to wrinkle the fabric as once you do; it is there to stay. Dry cleaning or ultra-sonic cleaning is not recommended.


Limited Warranty:

Bali claims that all fabrics lose their original intensity after exposure to the sun, the plastics tend to yellow and the cords will eventually wear out so I would be careful with color. However, their limited lifetime warranty cellular shade product is warranted against original defects in materials or workmanship for as long as the original purchaser owns the product provided that:

1. The product was properly installed in a residential dwelling;
2. The product was made or assembled exclusively from Springs Window Fashions' materials and components;
3. Springs Window Fashions recommendations were followed with regard to limitations and specifications.
Parts and materials are available online.


Conclusion:

I believe that my Bali Cellular Shades will pay for themselves in the first year by the savings in my electric bills. These shades are effective in insulating your house from the heat of the sun as long as they are fitted correctly. The price is high but is worth it in the end. I do think that Bali could do a lot more in the styling of these blinds. They are not very impressive in that area. Cleaning is also a bit of a problem, especially if they get wet. However, I am pleased with my purchase and have no regrets.

These shades also come in “black-out” which pretty much blocks out the sun altogether. I suppose this would darken your rooms. I was not looking for this effect. The shades I purchased are semi-opaque and let in quite a lot of light without the heat. Bali also has an opaque selection. If you live in a state with high temperatures, I recommend these shades for energy efficiency in the summer months.


For more information, go to: http://www.baliblinds.com

Or call: 1-877-792-0002


Other household products:

Robomaid
Hamilton Beach Open Ease Extra Tall Can Opener 76300
Swiffer Sweep Vac
Black & Decker 3.6 Volt 3 Position Screwdriver
Holmes Oiled-Filled Radiator Heater
Hamilton Beach 2 Slice Toaster
Eureka Whirlwind 4388 Bagless Upright Cyclonic Vacuum
Bissell Spot Lifter


Thank you for reading.


Recommended: Yes