Choosing the Most Energy-Efficient Window Treatments for Your Home

Explore the Insulation of Motorized Drapes, Blinds and Shades

The windows throughout your home let in refreshing natural light, provide spacious views of the outdoors, and enhance the interior design of your spaces. However, they also contribute to roughly 30 percent of your home’s heating and cooling loss, which is bad news for your electricity bill.

With the right window coverings, paired with strategic operation, you can help keep an insulated home in Franklin, TN without wreaking havoc on your HVAC system. Read on to explore the energy efficiency of three popular window coverings: motorized drapes, motorized blinds, and motorized shades.

 

SEE ALSO: Are You Worried Motorized Shades Aren’t the Right Fit?
 

Motorized Drapes

The U.S. Department of Energy states that draperies can reduce about 10 percent of heat loss from a warm room, though this number will vary depending on the drapery material, color, and the size of your windows. Likewise, blackout draperies can reduce the amount of heat transferred via your windows by as much as 24 percent, keeping the rooms where they’re installed cooler in the summer.

During winter nights, it’s best to keep all drapes closed, including those that don’t receive sunlight during the day. In the summer, we suggest closing draperies during peak sunlight hours and keeping them closed at all times in rooms you don’t commonly use.

Drapes should be installed as close to your windows and ceilings as possible and should fall onto a windowsill or floor. For better insulation, seal your drapes at both sides and have them overlap in the center when closed. Two drapes hung together create a tighter air space and keep your home more insulated.

 

Motorized Blinds

Unfortunately, motorized blinds don’t offer much heat control in the winter because of their slat openings. However, this window treatment solution is great for managing glare, bright light, and solar heat gain during summer months.

When closed and lowered on a sun-facing window, highly reflective blinds can drastically reduce solar heat gain. We recommend closing east-facing blinds first thing in the morning and west-facing blinds before the full afternoon glare. You can also adjust horizontal slat blinds upwards to block and reflect sunlight onto a light-colored ceiling, which will diffuse the light without trapping in much heat or glare and allow you to take advantage of natural daylight.

 

Motorized Shades

Versatile motorized shades come in a variety of fabrics, materials, and designs. Let’s break down two popular types of motorized shades to examine their energy efficiency: motorized cellular shades and motorized roller shades.

 

Cellular Shades

Cellular shades rank highest in energy efficiency because of how they’re designed. The magic of cellular shades lies in their specially engineered honeycomb shape, which traps hot and cold air seeping indoors and creates a layer of insulation between the window and the room.

 

Roller Shades

Roller shades lift and lower from a roller bar fitted at the top of a window. While not as energy efficient as cellular shades, roller shades can still help reduce your dependence on electric heating and cooling—especially when strategically operated. You can even layer sheer and blackout shades together to take advantage of the sun’s heat during colder months and block solar heat when it gets too warm.

 
About 75 percent of adjustable window treatments in homes stay in the same position throughout the day and night. By taking advantage of customizable one-tap scenes and whole-home control of the motorized window treatments in your home, you can significantly reduce your dependence on your HVAC system—no matter the type of window treatments you have.

 
Find out more about the advantages of motorized window treatments for improved energy efficiency all year long by getting in touch with our team at Prodigy AV. We can recommend different styles, materials, colors, control options, and more for every space in your home.

 
Contact us today by calling (615) 261-9930, filling out our online contact form, or sending us a live chat below.