Energy-Efficient Window Dressings

windows energy efficiency

When you’re looking for ways to be more environmentally friendly in your own home, or even just cut costs, one of the first places you should be looking is at your energy bill. It’s no big secret that the better-insulated your home is, the less energy you will have you use to heat it in the winter and keep it cool in the summer. This is good for your environment and good for your pocketbook.

A lot of people delay improving their home’s insulation, because they worry it will be a really big job. However, as with all big jobs, breaking it down into steps will make it less daunting, and a great first step is to change your window dressing.

Choosing more energy-efficient curtains or blinds might not sound like something that will make a big difference, but, actually, your windows are one of the key areas in your home where heat loss occurs.

Cellular or honeycomb blinds have spaces of trapped air within them that create an insulating layer that is extremely effective at retarding the transfer of heat. Transparent versions of these blinds, which only block UV light so that it is still possible to benefit from the insulating properties of these blinds whilst letting light into your home, can also be bought. The efficiency of these blinds can be increased further by adding side tracks to the blinds, which pull the blinds tight against the window, reducing the gaps through which heat can be transferred.

Choosing window dressings made from more solid dressings such as wooden shutters can be even more efficient than blinds; however, they will let less light in. One solution is to choose wooden shutters with adjustable slats which can be opened when more light is required.

Changing your window dressing is a quick and cheaper way to improve your home’s energy efficiency; once this is taken care of, you can move on to improving your loft and wall insulation, where the biggest differences can be made.

Window shutters via shuttersock

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