Steps to Warm your Winters with Insulating Shades
When welcoming the beauty of winter, the chilly charms are easier to appreciate when a home is cozy and comfortable. So, taking steps this year to ready your home for the colder temperatures of winter by identifying and guarding against areas in the home that allow cold to come in is essential. The best plans for readying your home for the winter have layers of protection bult in. In a home, the cold weather enters through weak spots like windows. Windows can account for up to 30 percent of unwanted energy transfer, decreasing a home’s overall energy efficiency drastically. So, insulating shades–along with foundational upgrades and finishing elements–can be crucial steps toward improving energy efficiency for warm and welcoming interiors this winter. Add layers of insulating protection to your home with our three-step plan to cozy, comfortable homes.
Layers of Insulation
1. Step One: Start with the Window
Since windows themselves can be the culprit for major energy loss in a home, plans to address that vulnerability should start with the window itself. Inspect the window frame and make sure there are no gaps or issues with window integrity. Look into upgrading any single-paned glass in your home to double-paned windows for built in insulation. There are also options for tinted window films that can help insulate glass panes and absorb solar heat.
2. Step Two: Use Insulating Window Coverings
The second step in creating layers of insulation is choosing window treatments that are especially suited to the task. In the Hunter Douglas collection of window fashions, there are several styles of insulating shades that use a cellular construction to improve energy efficiency. The cellular construction traps air that, in turn, acts as an insulating layer held in place over the window by the shade itself. The extra layer of insulation blocks unregulated energy transfer making dwellings more energy efficient on a whole.
- Duette® Honeycomb Shades: This classic honeycomb shade by Hunter Douglas was the first of its kind designed to be optimal for energy efficiency all year long. This means that your home stays cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
- Sonnette® Cellular Roller Shades: Cellular shades that function with the graceful ease of roller shades hiding a dual layer fabric design that creates cellular hollows for stylish insulating shades.
- Solera® Soft Shades: A hybrid style that pulls from the fabric-forward style of Roman shades and enhances the design with cellular construction for insulating shades with the sophistication of Roman shades and the energy efficiency of honeycomb shades.
3. Step Three: Build Protection with Layers
If a single word reverberates when it comes to insulating windows, it is layering. Start by fortifying layer one (the window), then add a second layer of insulation with a window covering, and lastly, add a final layer (a second window treatment to amplify insulation to its utmost). Design Studio™ Side Panels & Drapery can pair with honeycomb shades, cellular roller shades, or soft Roman shades for a multi-dimensional window fashion. Lined drapery is another excellent insulator, and when combined with an underlayer it enhances energy efficiency and creates eye-catching window treatments.
Conclusion
Learn more about protecting your home with insulating shades that layer on the comfort by contacting SunGard Window Fashions. Learn from the experts how Hunter Douglas window treatments can be an important part of creating insulated interiors that are more comfortable and more energy efficient. The insightful team at SunGard Window Fashions is ready to help you find the best style of insulating shade that will protect your home and harmonize with your household's existing decor. Request a consultation or visit the showroom located near Peoria, Illinois. SunGard Window Fashions serves the greater Peoria area.