home >> sound advice GOLLIN A Shady Subject GMC Neal Check MEET HARVEY. Harvey can help you out with your new or used vehicle. He's helped thousands of customers get into a quality vehicle at the lowest price! HARVEY BLITZ Sales and Leasing Specialist Stop in and see Harvey today! SALES MON/THUR 9-9; T/VV/F 9-6; SAT 9-3 Open Saturdays SERVICE DEPARTMENT MON-FRI 7-6; SAT 8-3 ' tide .16 2013 BUICK LACROSSE Lease $258* 2013 BUICK ENCLAVE Lease $348* IVISRP$32,535 24 month lease 10,000 miles/year using GM employee discount, lease conquest and $150 down. Payment before tax. Plate,title and daument fees extra. No security deposit required with approved credit. Offer ends 1.31/013. 2 DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Offer good through 1/31/2013 36 January 10 • 201 36 month lease with 10,000 miles/year using GM employee discount lease conquest and $150 down. Payment before tax. Plate, title and document fees extra. No security deposit required with approved credit. Offer ends 1.31.2013. I Special to the Jewish News I lived on Wayne State's campus when I was going to college there a half a million years ago. The bed- room of my apartment faced a large student parking lot, and one morning I awoke to an early morning phone call, and while standing there in my birth- day suit, realized I was on display to a parking lot full of young adults. It was a bit awkward, but as a broke college student, window shades took a back- seat to beer and carryout. Still, later that day, I took the news- paper from my neighbor's mail slot and fashioned window coverings with it. Now, these weren't just your average newspaper-covered windows, these had strings and thumbtacks allowing me to open and close them at will. If only I could automate them? Talk about art imitating life ... One of the fastest-growing segments of my busi- ness is automated motorized shades. Most of us today have window treatments of one form or another, but if you want to take full advantage of energy savings and convenience, nothing is as cool as automated blinds, shades and drapery track. When you think of window treat- ments you think of privacy and deco- ration. When you automate, you still get those features, but you also take advantage of solar radiant heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. You can get this from manual shades, but most don't because of the effort required to walk around the house opening and closing at least twice a day. The process involves installing new or replacing existing shades with a motor- ized unit. These shades can now be controlled by wall switches, handheld remotes or even your smart phone. When tied into a whole-house home control system like Control 4 or Crestron, the shades can open and close by a time schedule or part of another programmed scene such as "home" or "goodnight" This smart home tech- nology can also adjust the blinds and shades according to temperatures inside the house. There are additional benefits to motorized shades, such as protecting furniture, artwork and rugs from fading caused by direct sunlight. Shades can automatically dim during TV watching for reduced glare. Through automa- tion, the shades can provide security by randomly opening and closing dur- ing a "vacation" schedule. There is, of course, the positive emotional response when you allow natural light to enter the home every day. Whatever your reasons, today's motorized shades have many installation options. Lutron offers shades that only require low-voltage wiring; great if you are building a new home. One of our new favorites, Qmotion, offers the ultimate in flexibility and cost savings by utilizing battery-powered shade motors that operate for five years before the batteries need to be changed. As wonderful as this sounds, there is a cost involved. Battery operated units run $500-800 for an average size win- dow, while hardwired units run almost twice that price. You don't have to do the whole house, maybe just start with south-facing windows or perhaps a hard-to-reach window. Whatever you choose, you can count on it costing more than a stack of news- papers, but less than embarrassment. ❑ Neal Check is the owner of SoundCheck LLC in Southfield, which specializes in custom home theater, audio, lighting and automation.