WINDOW COVERINGS - BACK

One way to improve your home's insulation is by covering your windows with highly energy efficient window treatments. Honeycomb shades are used to cut down on usage of non-renewable energy when heating and cooling our homes.

Heat naturally moves toward cold surfaces, such as glass windows in the winter, and experts calculate that almost 40 percent of all heat inside a home unnecessarily escapes this way.  The opposite happens in the summertime, when 50% of the solar heat in the home enters through the windows, thus increasing usage of air-cooling systems.  Windows can be covered with many different energy-efficient materials.  The degree of insulation provided depends on the window covering material’s ability to trap air between the covering and the glass.

A treatment that is mounted inside the window frame creates a tighter air seal that reduces air movement and increases insulation.  Honeycomb shades are among the most energy efficient treatments, as the cells actually trap cold air in winter, decreasing the intensity of the temperature as it enters the room.   The air in the cells is brought to a less extreme temperature, making the heat in your home less attracted to the windows. They can translate into significant utility bill savings.

Energy Saving Tips: 

Summer:
During the hottest months of the year, it has been estimated that 53% of all heat entering a home comes in through the windows.  A window treatment with a low summer shading coefficient (the lower the number, the better) is the most effective in reducing heat gain by reflecting heat and shading the interior of your home. 

It is wise to keep all window coverings closed if the window is exposed to direct sunlight or when the air conditioning is in operation.  When air conditioning is not in use, shaded windows can be opened for ventilation. 

Where direct sunlight is a problem, the best treatments to have are ones with metallized or white backings.  They can reflect the greatest amount of sunshine, while still shading your interior. 

Winter:
A great deal of the heat in your home escapes through your windows, and windows are typically about 20 percent of your wall space.  Window coverings with a high winter R-value (resistance value) can provide much needed insulation and significantly reduce heat loss.  The higher the R-value, the more insulation a window treatment provides. 

Windows facing south gain more heat during the day than they lose at night.  To help maximize the heating benefits of south facing windows during the cold winter months, it is best to keep window treatments that face south open for at least six hours during the day. 

Since solar heat is gained through windows facing east during morning hours and through windows facing west in late afternoon, good cost cutting advice would be to keep east facing window treatments open in the morning and west facing windows open in the afternoon.

Mostly, windows facing north receive no direct sunlight and are always losing heat.  It is best to keep treatments in those windows facing north closed during the winter unless it is an unusually warm sunny day.