Installing Custom Shades For the Home
Having snugly fit, well installed windows in a home is an important step to managing a home’s energy efficiency. Not all homeowners may realize it, but sometimes, the heating and cooling system in a home is overworked because hot or cold air leak through poorly fitted windows, and this can rack up extra energy bills. A well fitted window can also look good on a home, but there is another factor to consider: the blinds themselves. Windows are often not complete without blinds, but with a set of custom shades, blackout blinds, custom shutters, or roller shades and more, any given window, or all of them in a house, can be convenient, energy efficient, and practical for any homeowner.
Windows and Energy
Windows can often be weak points in a home’s energy consumption, given how nearly 50% of a home’s power may go toward heating and air conditioning. The statistics can highlight this case clearly. For one thing, the Natural Resources Defense Council, nearly a third of a house’s thermal losses can be attributed to doors and windows. Similarly, the Attachments Energy Rating Council has determined several statistics about windows, blinds, and energy savings. The AERC has determined that once attachments are placed on a window, that window’s performance is improved and up to 13% of the home’s energy rate can be saved.
Similarly, roller shades that are attached to a single pane window stand to save up to $180 per year, and cellular shades on such a window can save anything from $280 to $470 each year. Even drapes can serve this purpose; medium shaded drapes with white plastic backings are capable of cutting down heat gains by up to 33%. In winter, drapes can cut a room’s heat loss by up to 10%. How is all this energy saving working? After all, a window is glass and has no insulation either way; hot sunlight can easily warm a room up, and in winter, heat can easily leak through that glass, even if the window is well fitted. Clearly, a well fitted window is just the start. Shades, blinds, and drapes complete this energy saving work.
Getting the Right Window Work Done
Blinds, shutters, and drapes are not only practical, but can make a room visually appealing and can control sunlight in a room for visual effects and can prevent outsiders from spying into the house. For privacy’s sake, blinds and drapes, whether simple models or expensive ones, block line of sight into the house, especially for bedrooms or rooms with expensive items in them such as flat-screen televisions or jewelry boxes. For aesthetics, thin wooden blinds can give a room a rustic and countryside look if the homeowner so chooses, and plastic blinds of different colors can accentuate a room or match the theme. Colors such as navy blue, earth tones, white, black, beige, or more can integrate easily into a room’s style, and the same is true of drapes, which may come in an even wider variety of colors. Drapes can lightly touch the floor for a clean, spacious look, or for a more extravagant look, they can be even longer and bunch up on the floor.
Some shutters and blinds are electronic systems, and they can be raised or lowered with remote controls. They will require power, however. Some have batteries that will need to be replaced every so often, while others connect directly into the home’s power grid, often by being plugged into a wall socket. For the latter case, choosing a window with proximity to a wall outlet is a must. Every so often, these blinds and shades will need to be replaced, as they may wear out, and if they have them, their electronic components may eventually wear out over the years. Drapes in particular may get frayed, faded, or torn based on activity such as kids playing or dogs or cats scratching or biting them. Further, drapes can be a fire hazard, so frayed electrical wires or open flames such as candles and fireplaces should be far away from them.
Whatever window treatment is chosen, getting the right blinds, shades, or drapes can complete a room’s aesthetic, ensure privacy, and control the loss of hot or cold air.
