Window Treatments Can Be A Justifiable Luxury
Lower your energy bills and protect your home furnishings with style
By Jennaver Brown
You have wanted to put the final touch on your home’s décor and tie it all together with coordinating window treatments, but you aren’t sure that you can justify the expense. Consider then, that the properly designed window treatment can not only add beauty and style to your home but also work to significantly reduce your home maintenance costs over time. A well engineered plan to dress your windows in the right shutters, silks, sheers or shades will increase your home’s energy efficiency throughout the year and protect your furniture and flooring investments from the permanent damage caused by direct sunlight.
With approximately 44 percent of your utility bill attributed to heating and cooling, energy-efficient window treatments can translate into measurable year-round savings. Many energy experts recommend adding more efficient window coverings rather than going to the expense of replacing the windows. Use of window treatments to control drafts and heat loss dates back hundreds of years to those heavy velvet puddled draperies found in the castles of Europe. Your local window treatment professional can introduce you to the most energy-efficient products available today.
A product’s R-Value is a measurement of its ability to keep heat in and cold out. The higher the R-Value, the better that product is at retaining indoor warmth. A phenomenal new product designed to increase R-Value is the Hunter Douglas Architella™ cellular shade. This product features an innovative twist that provides more depth of color at the window and an R-Value of 4.5 in addition to your current window system. Incredibly, this figure is more than 7 times greater than the R-Value provided by a common 2” faux wood blind making it a better choice for long-term energy savings. Another elegant and time-tested solution for the reduction of heat loss at the window is the selection of classic shutter systems which offer an average R-Value of 2.5 and provide you with multiple levels of privacy and light control.
A product’s Summer U-Value is a measurement of its ability to reflect heat. For example, a window treatment that reduces incoming heat by 70 percent, has a summer U-Value of .30. The lower the U-Value, the more effective it is in reflecting heat away from your home. To reduce heat gain, select a low U-Value treatment with white or light colored backing and install it an inch or two from the glass to create an air pocket. Non-reflected heat that builds up in the pocket during the day will dissipate through the glass at night when the temperature outside cools. Not surprisingly, you will find that shutters and cellular shades can provide the low U-Values you need to lower your electric bill.
Put your window treatments to work saving you money by employing them in the business of ultra-violet control and asset protection. Ultraviolet light entering your home as sunlight will quickly fade, weaken and destroy your furniture, flooring, upholstery and artwork. Sheers are multi-talented in that they can reduce this incoming ultra-violet light by 65% or more while reducing glare, preserving outdoor visibility, adding beauty, and providing you with daytime privacy.
Hunter Douglas has revolutionized the use of sheers by integrating them into beautiful horizontal and vertical products such as the versatile cordless Duolite® shade and the popular Silhouette® and Luminette® shades designed to block 88% of incoming UV rays. An ever increasing variety of stunning sheer fabrics are now available on the market with affordable price points for custom made products. ADO has developed a clever method of adding sheers to your “not-so-pretty” vertical blinds. The Ado-Wrap® allows you to wrap your existing vertical blind in a custom sheer thus providing you with the benefits of a sheer during the day and a vertical blind at night.
If you would like to justify the expense of luxurious custom window treatments in your home, work with an experienced window treatment professional to select hard-working window treatments that can meet all of your design requirements. You shouldn’t be afraid to invest in window treatments that look magnificent in your home if they are designed to reduce your home maintenance costs.
Jennaver Brown is the owner of Eye on Design and a certified Window Treatment Consultant as recognized by the Window Coverings Association of America. Together, she and her husband Gordon offer more than 17 years of professional expertise in their field. Customers will find Eye on Design to be a full-service window fashions showroom featuring a beautiful Hunter Douglas Gallery™ and a tremendous line of custom fabrics. Offering the best national brands, competitive prices, and superlative service, Eye on Design brings individual lifestyle, personality and budget together with the right product. Located at 309 E. Main Street in Belleville; 618-257-9750; eod4u.com.