PowerRise or PowerView? How to tell which system you have
Hunter Douglas has motorized shades under several names over the years, and the names are not printed anywhere obvious. The good news is that you do not need the name. You need one number, and you already have it in your hand.
What is the difference between PowerRise and PowerView?
They are different generations of the same idea: a motor in the headrail, powered by AA batteries in a tube, told what to do by a remote.
PowerRise is the older system. Its battery wand holds eight AA batteries and is a 12V part.
PowerView, and the Platinum system before it, is the current one. Its battery wand holds twelve AA batteries and is an 18V part.
That is the whole distinction as far as replacement parts are concerned. The two wands are not interchangeable — the wrong one will not seat in the bracket, so you cannot fit it by accident.
How do I tell which one I have?
Count the batteries in the old wand. Slide it out of the headrail and count the cells, or the channels they sit in if the wand is already empty.
- Twelve — you have an 18V system, and you need the 18V wand
- Eight — you have a PowerRise system, and you need the 12V wand
This works on a shade of any age, in any condition. It works when the sticker has worn away, when the shade was installed by someone who has long since moved on, and when nobody in the house remembers what was bought.
Why not just look at the label?
You can, and on a newer shade it will tell you. The sticker inside the headrail names the line — Duette, Silhouette, Vignette and so on — and our compatibility list turns that name into a part.
The trouble is the shades that need wands most are the oldest ones. Twenty years above a sunny window does a label no favors, and a wand that has had batteries leak inside it has usually had the print eaten off the outside too. When the label and the battery count disagree, trust the battery count.
Does the shade line tell me the system?
Mostly, but not always, which is why the count matters.
Most current lines — Duette, Applause, Silhouette, Vignette, Nantucket, Duette Vertiglide — take the twelve-battery 18V wand.
Several lines were built across the changeover and exist with either system: Solera, Provenance, Parkland, EverWood, Designer Roller and Banded, Pirouette and Sonnette. On those the name genuinely does not settle it. Check your line, then count.
Which other parts depend on the answer?
Two of the parts we stock are PowerRise-only, so this question decides whether they apply to you at all.
The battery tube conversion kit replaces an old sealed eight-cell tube with an external one you can actually reach. It is a PowerRise part.
The 13 inch power cable is the lead between the motor and the battery wand on a PowerRise headrail. If your shade is dead and the wand itself is sound, that cable is the next thing worth checking.
If you counted twelve batteries, neither of those is the part you need.
What if I cannot get the wand out?
Send us a photo. A picture of the headrail, or of the sticker inside it, is usually enough for us to tell you which system you are looking at and which part fits.
Email support@batterywands.com or call (609) 474-4242, weekdays 9am–5pm Eastern. We would far rather answer the question than process a return.