The Right Blind and Shades For Windows

Any homeowner has many factors to juggle for safety, energy savings, convenience, and personal style, including landscaping. On the house itself, not only should furniture make a home pop, but the doors and windows can be stylish, trendy, and energy-efficient, and with certain options, very convenient, too. Window treatments can vary, but the higher-end ones involve the likes of motorized blinds, motorized window shades, and automated window blinds. Installing these features does not have to be a hassle or overly expensive. In fact, they can boost a house’s energy efficiency, and thus save money, and can be easy to install and operate for years to come. What are the advantages of these motorized blinds and shades?

Efficiency and Windows

Aside from the rare underground, disaster-proof house, every home has many windows in it, and these features can be a major asset or liability for the building and its temperature and energy usage. After all, the Natural Resources Defense Council believes that windows and doors together account for about one third of a home’s total thermal loss, so good quality window covers can curb this inefficiency once installed. On the topic of savings, the Attachments Energy Rating Council (AERC) stated that window attachments will improve a house’s window performance and save up to 13% of the yearly energy use. Window treatments can save a lot of money, in summary, and control a home’s interior climate better. And many homeowners seem to realize this, given how in spring 2016, around 31 million people in the United States live in a household where someone bought drapes, blinds, and other window treatments within the last year. And in winter, in particular, drapes can cut a room’s thermal loss by 10%. So, what wort of window treatments are best for a home?

Window Treatments of All Kinds

Motorized window treatments are a convenient and stylish option for homeowners with the budget for such window treatments, and in fact, convenience is the #1 reason why people switched to motorized window treatments, according to Angie’s List. Motorization of window treatments can come in a variety of styles for each homeowner’s personal preferences.

One option is to use a wand of ion lithium batteries, which are resistant to the sun’s constant warmth, and these wands can be installed above, beside, or behind the blinds framework. The main drawback is that batteries have to be replaced every year, but in the meantime, they do not require power cords, so they can be used for a window that does not have easy reach to a power socket.

Solar powered blinds are another option. These systems are very easy to install, not even requiring a professional’s help, and a small solar panel will collect sunlight and power rechargeable batteries for the entire treatment system. Every year or two, the batteries will wear out, and the blinds will slow down. At that time, the battery will have to be replaced.

Hardwired window treatment systems can be installed with a professional’s help, and plugged into the home’s power supply. They will never need a battery change, and they are powerful, so heavy blinds work best with this type.

As for controlling the blinds, a remote control is one option, controlling the blinds for one room or the blinds of the entire house. Other routes include wall switches that operate like light switches, or sun sensors, which raise and lower a window treatment system based on the sunlight’s strength and therefore, the room’s temperature. This option can help regulate the energy used for the heating and cooling systems of the house. Programmable timers allow a homeowner to customize when the blinds open and close during the day.