Time for insulation

Winter is upon us. That means you are probably needing to turn your heat on in the morning to take the edge off.  This may be a good time to consider improving your insulation to help lower your heating bill.  Time to think cellular – cellular shades that is.

Cellular shades, also known as honeycomb shades, are the champs of insulated window treatments. They provide this insulation because of their design – honeycomb-shaped air cells that ‘trap’ air.  It’s pretty ingenious really.  This simple layer of insulation on your windows is almost akin to putting a layer of fiberglass insulation on your windows (almost).

But cellular shades are also highly functional and attractive.  They come in a wide range of colors and opacities (how much light is transmitted through the fabric). So, you are aren’t blocking out the sun to get the insulation.  That is unless you want to block out the sun, because cellular shades with opaque fabrics make excellent blackout shades.  Because cellular shades come in several opacities (sheer, semi-opaque and opaque), you can use them for every room in your home – sheer cellular shades for lots of natural light – semi-opaque for greater light control and privacy – and opaque for room darkening.

Cellular shades are offered in single cell and double cell (2 air cells).  For maximum insulation, choose double cell cellular shades.  Additional options include top down/bottom up, cordless and motorized.

I realize that it may seem a little counter-intuitive to spend more money on insulating window treatments to save money on heating bills.  You mean I have to spend more money?  Where’s the savings?  Purchasing cellular shades is the similar to the idea of buying double-paned windows.  They cost more but, over time, they will save you money.  A quality cellular shade will last for years and years.

Last but not least, cellular shades’ insulating properties will also help save cooling costs in the summer.  As an alternative to cellular shades, you can also choose roman shades that can also provide insulation.

Insulated roman shades with tone on tone panels

Want the energy efficiency but don’t necessarily want cellular shades.  Take heart, there are numerous choices in roman shades you might want to know about it.  Read on.

In case you don’t know what a roman shade is, they are a type of fabric window shade.  Their looks range from casual to elegant.  Think of them as drapes with more functionality.  Roman shades come in two main styles:  flat fold and hobbled (or teardrop). When opened, the folds or hobbles collapse or fold upward. For a more casual look or simpler look consider the flat fold. For a fuller, more elegant look go with hobbled.

Energy efficiency is pretty important.  This is true in almost any climate.  Everybody wants to save energy and insulated window treatments are an important piece in a home’s overall insulation.  The long-standing champ in energy efficient shades has been cellular shades.  And, because many people’s awareness of window treatments is usually a little on the low end, I wanted to point that there are many roman shades that offer similar levels of insulation as cell shades.  So, you can get the rich fabrics style of roman shades without sacrificing energy efficiency.

One of the best lines is from Comfortex.  They make the Fusion line of insulated roman shades. They are made with a honeycomb cellular liner which does not affect the functionality of the shade.  There are numerous styles available so you can choose the style that best fits your own.  Don’t forget that you can also choose different light control options.  The Comfortex Fusion line is offered in semi-opaque and opaque fabrics.  The former is good for privacy and will allow some natural light. If you want room darkening roman shades, choose opaque fabrics.

If Comfortex isn’t your brand, but you still want to add insulation to your roman shade, consider adding a fabric liner.  This alone will add more insulation.

Lastly, as a final note about light control, if you want more natural light, choose sheer roman shades or semi-sheer roman shades.

Solar shades are a great window treatments choice for preserving your view and increasing energy efficiency.  But, there are few tricky pieces of information you will be confronted with when you go to buy them.  This article and short video will help.

Solar shades, which are also called solar screens are very popular window shades.  The solar screen material blocks UV rays, lowers solar heat gain all while preserving views.  This solar screen material is used on more than just solar shades.  You can find them on vertical blinds, often called solar vertical blinds and, solar panel track blinds. 

Solar shades, whether a shade, vertical blind or panel track blind, are a great way to add energy efficiency to your home.  By lowering solar heat gain, solar “window treatments” will help to lower cooling costs.  They are a very popular choice for windows with a view.  I always imagine a beach house with solar shades on all the beach facing windows – who would want to block that view?  Also, the material used on solar window treatments blocks UV rays.  This helps to prevent damage to your interior. 

Solar window treatments come in a variety of openness factors. This is the tricky part.  Whoever devised this rating system seemed to go out of his or her way to confuse people…  You’ll typically see openness factors between 3% to 14%.?  Confronted with these obtuse numbers, I would probably be scratching my head.  And, it’s important to know so you can make the right choice.  The simple way to think of these numbers is, the higher the number, the more light is transmitted through the fabric.  So, a 14% solar screen will transmit the most amount of light and, will provide the best ‘view-through.’ And, vice versa.

It is important to note the privacy implications of openness.  If you choose 14% openness to have the best view-through, please note that people on the outside will also have a clear view inside your home.  This is especially true when the outside light is dark (dusk, evening) and you have lights on inside your home – for people outside, it will be like watching the events of your room on television.

Basically, you’ll need to choose the appropriate openness factor that balances your needs for view through and privacy.  However, if privacy is a big issue for you solar shades may not be the right window treatment for you.  Because, even on the low end of the openness scale, privacy is not solar shades best attribute. In that case, you’d be better off considering the following privacy window treatments.