You buy blinds and shades for your home to control light and add style to your home, but those are only two of the purposes they serve.
Properly selected blinds can also help you manage energy use whether the weather is hot or cold.
As the Department of Energy points out, you can reduce heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter by up to 77% with your choice of window coverings.
The amount of control they offer varies according to what you choose.
Energy Savings With Shades Simple and effective, shades mounted close to the window glass can seal the space and block heat.
For the best results, you should keep shades in sunny rooms lowered in the summer.
In the winter, you should raise those on the south side of the house during the daytime and lower them at night.
Specialty shades do an even better job of temperature control.
Dual shades, for example, are white and reflective on one side and heat absorbing and dark on the other, so you can reverse the reflective side in the summer and winter.
Some types of roller shades and Roman shades are crafted with fiber batting and sealed edges to form an air and insulation barrier, while controlling incoming air better than most soft new treatments.
More Limited Options With Blinds The slats in blinds both make heat control more difficult while allowing more flexibility to enjoy light and ventilation.
When it's sunny, highly reflective blinds reduce heat gain by 45% if they are closed and lowered.
In a room with a light-colored ceiling, blinds can block light and direct it onto the ceiling, which defuses it without adding to heat or glare in the room.
Exterior blinds installed outside the window, especially on a deck, patio or south-facing window, stop heat transference to the inside and require less dependence on air-conditioning.
When you open the blinds at 5% for low openness, you achieve better privacy and blockage of UV rays, while selecting 10% for high openness means you'll have access to a better view of the outside.
Lighter colors more effectively block UV rays while dark colors offer a better view to the outside.
This concept of window treatments installed on the outside of the home also applies to shades.
How Drapes Help With or without blinds or shades, curtains and draperies can aid in heat control.
For effectiveness, the window treatment must cover the window and be drawn to be effective.
How well they work in blocking heat depends on many variables, such as whether they are made of open or close weave fabric, the color, how close they are positioned to the window, whether they are backed with thermal material, how full they are, and whether they are combined with a second pair.
According to the Department of Energy, medium colored drapes with white plastic backing may reduce heat gain by 33% in the summer and reduce heat loss by 10% or more during the winter.
To gain the greatest effects from drapes, hang them close to the window and buy them long enough that they extend from the ceiling to the windowsill or floor.
Adding a cornice at the top, overlapping the drape in the center, and sealing drapes on both sides with Velcro or magnetic tape can work together to cut heat loss by 25%.
Needless to say, if you couple drapes with shades or blinds, you can control heat gain and loss even more efficiently.
Properly selected blinds can also help you manage energy use whether the weather is hot or cold.
As the Department of Energy points out, you can reduce heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter by up to 77% with your choice of window coverings.
The amount of control they offer varies according to what you choose.
Energy Savings With Shades Simple and effective, shades mounted close to the window glass can seal the space and block heat.
For the best results, you should keep shades in sunny rooms lowered in the summer.
In the winter, you should raise those on the south side of the house during the daytime and lower them at night.
Specialty shades do an even better job of temperature control.
Dual shades, for example, are white and reflective on one side and heat absorbing and dark on the other, so you can reverse the reflective side in the summer and winter.
Some types of roller shades and Roman shades are crafted with fiber batting and sealed edges to form an air and insulation barrier, while controlling incoming air better than most soft new treatments.
More Limited Options With Blinds The slats in blinds both make heat control more difficult while allowing more flexibility to enjoy light and ventilation.
When it's sunny, highly reflective blinds reduce heat gain by 45% if they are closed and lowered.
In a room with a light-colored ceiling, blinds can block light and direct it onto the ceiling, which defuses it without adding to heat or glare in the room.
Exterior blinds installed outside the window, especially on a deck, patio or south-facing window, stop heat transference to the inside and require less dependence on air-conditioning.
When you open the blinds at 5% for low openness, you achieve better privacy and blockage of UV rays, while selecting 10% for high openness means you'll have access to a better view of the outside.
Lighter colors more effectively block UV rays while dark colors offer a better view to the outside.
This concept of window treatments installed on the outside of the home also applies to shades.
How Drapes Help With or without blinds or shades, curtains and draperies can aid in heat control.
For effectiveness, the window treatment must cover the window and be drawn to be effective.
How well they work in blocking heat depends on many variables, such as whether they are made of open or close weave fabric, the color, how close they are positioned to the window, whether they are backed with thermal material, how full they are, and whether they are combined with a second pair.
According to the Department of Energy, medium colored drapes with white plastic backing may reduce heat gain by 33% in the summer and reduce heat loss by 10% or more during the winter.
To gain the greatest effects from drapes, hang them close to the window and buy them long enough that they extend from the ceiling to the windowsill or floor.
Adding a cornice at the top, overlapping the drape in the center, and sealing drapes on both sides with Velcro or magnetic tape can work together to cut heat loss by 25%.
Needless to say, if you couple drapes with shades or blinds, you can control heat gain and loss even more efficiently.
SHARE
