How To Use Window Blinds To Reduce Energy Costs

Budgets are tight and winter is on the way, which means increased heating bills. Everyone has heard about eliminating leaks around windows and doors, craw spaces, under eaves and any place there is a break in the integrity of your home's exterior surface. What you may not be aware of is the effectiveness of window blinds to help you reduce your energy costs this winter. In the same way, you can reduce your summer cooling bills by applying the opposite strategies.

Window shades and window blinds can be used to create a buffer zone between your window glass and your home's interior that acts as a passive insulator, reducing your heating and cooling bills significantly. Following these basic suggestions can turn your expensive winter heat sink into a cozy winter hideaway and your summer hot box into a cool, comfortable sanctuary.

Take Advantage Of The Sun's Heat In Winter

Sunlight provides heat, even in the middle of winter. Leaving your windows closed, but opening your drapes, window shades and window blinds can allow the sun's heat to be absorbed by your furniture, flooring and carpeting. This heat is then released into the rooms of your home at no cost to you. Darker carpets and darker furnishings will absorb more of the sun's heat than lighter colors, so you may wish to strategically place dark throw rugs near your windows that receive sunlight during the day.

If you notice, when opening your drapes, window shades or window blinds, that the air closest to the window is warmer than that of the rest of the room, you can benefit by opening your window treatments earlier in the day. If, however, you notice significantly colder air, you may have a leak somewhere around your window frame that requires your attention to repair.

Turn Away The Summer Heat With Window Treatments

In the summer, use your heaviest window treatments to block the day's hottest sunlight from entering your home, reducing its ability to heat your home. Drapes, window shades and window blinds that have a light, reflective color on the exterior and a darker color on the inside will increase the cooling effectiveness of window treatments in the summer by reflecting more light away from your home and creating a dimmer, cooler environment within your home.

During the cooler evening and night time hours, open your window treatments and your windows to allow the cooler air to circulate through your home without paying for air-conditioning. By timing the opening and closing of your windows and window treatments throughout the summer, you can greatly reduce your cooling expense while still keeping your home at a comfortable temperature.

Window shades and window blinds can provide you with a cost effective means to reducing your energy costs within the home by blocking out heat from the summer sun and maintaining a constant, more comfortable temperature in the winter months with only minimal effort and expense on your part.

Which Window Blinds To Choose?

You would be excused for thinking that keeping the light out of your eyes in the morning is pretty simple. But with housing designs becoming more and more abstract, curtains are slowly being replaced by their more versatile and contemporary cousins, window blinds.

Roof windows in particular have become more popular in modern-day housing, owing to an increase in loft conversions and three story townhouses. These presented a unique problem for the traditional curtains or venetian blinds that had been used to shut out the light or dark for many, many years. Fortunately, Danish company Velux pioneered a new style of window that accommodates more sophisticated blinds and allowed window technology to develop.

One of Velux's most popular types of blind, the blackout window blind, goes a long way to ensuring that those with a roof window in their bedroom experience a full and uninterrupted night's sleep. Their electronic shutter system cuts out any light and prevents the blaze of the sunrise scorching your eyes and filling your room with light at six in the morning.

While Velux's many blind designs, which include venetian, roller and pleated models, tend to be the wise choice for a skylight, there are a variety of other window blinds available for more orthodox windows. The roller blind is still a popular choice for vertical windows, and is available in a vast array of materials and colours to suit any home or business premises. They are easy to use and to clean and offer excellent window coverage in order to block out sunlight.

Roman blinds are also an option for those looking to dress their windowsills with a more elegant blind. The roman design is enormously adaptable and open to personalisation as it can essentially be fashioned from standard curtain fabric. This allows homeowners to tailor a design to suit the particular room that the window blind will sit in, making it a feature rather than an eyesore.

Another option is venetian blinds, which are made up of parallel slats that pivot in order to let in, or block out, certain amounts of light. Alternatively, they can be rolled up completely to open up the window to the room. This is a good idea for rooms where the homeowner hopes to control the amount of light that enters the room, allowing for subtle changes to the ambience of building. Wooden venetian blinds are especially popular in homes as they provide a touch of class in conjunction with both shading and warmth.

Vertical, woodweave and pleated blinds offer similar alternatives, so rest assured there are plenty of options when you are deciding how to dress your windows.

Blackout Window Blinds Are Good For Day Time Sleep

If you are having trouble sleeping during day if you are working the graveyard shift, then blackout window blinds would be a good option. And you many types and designs of blackout window blinds to choose from. New window blinds look so incredible. Roof windows and skylights can really bring the best of what your home has to offer.

The blackout window blinds you can find in this section are a fashionable and cheap way of getting the protection you need while giving the room a nice look. This type of blind uses a aluminum side channels that the blinds run in up and down. This stops sunlight from entering the room around the edges like what happens with normal window blinds and curtains. For instance, blackout blinds are great to use in nurseries. If you have a window in your shower, they are the perfect privacy curtain. What do your windows face?

Hence, by installing blackout blinds in the bathroom, you are protecting those inside the house from prying eyes. Lined with Mylar, a fabric that acts as a light barrier, these shades rejects 100% of both visible light and UV rays. Blackout curtains are mobile and can be installed and reinstalled as many times as it is necessary. While it might be cheaper to put a light blocking film over your windows, this film is generally not easy to move around. Installing window blinds can be fun! However, the first and foremost thing to keep in mind is the obvious difference between the skylight window blinds and the normal window blinds. What about Dim Blinds?

If you want more options, then roman shades or wood blinds with route less slats are great alternatives. This lining can be found in hardware stores and other retail stores. As compared to curtains, window blinds are multipurpose. The awning skylight window blinds are very different than other blinds. The polished aluminum header which contains the actual blind can now be slotted into place.

This typically happens when the glue wasn't treated right or the heating process was at the wrong temperature. Alternatively, you can even shop for them through the internet. The blackout blinds are made using aluminum sidings and cartridges. This are sometimes a bit more expensive than the plastic or vinyl types window blinds.

Room darkening window blinds as some people would call it are also good for your security and enhancement of your house look and feel. So blackout window blinds are not only for daytime sleeping or nap but there are numerous other benefits you can get from it. The blackout window blinds are indeed fast becoming to be very popular and more designs and colors are getting into the market.

Discount Window Blinds - Major Points To Consider

Discount window blinds are gaining popularity again these days. After all, who would not want great-looking blinds that come at a cheap price but are both functional and decorative without being a burden to your wallet. The best thing about them is that you can get them from a lot of different places.

You can start your search in online blinds and shades shops. Many stores that sell blinds and shades have regular sale schedules for specific holidays or to help dispose of old stock. You can also get discounted models from auction or classified ads sites. Actual retailers or users who may want to dispose of their window blinds may sell them on online shops for much less than their original price.

Shopping for discounted blinds can be a whole lot of fun. This is especially because you get to spend less. Then again, it can also be a challenging task. The first thought that should come to your mind is other possible reasons for the discount price. Besides letting go of old stock, some sellers may sell low for different reasons. To make sure that you get only the best at a discount, you should have a couple of considerations in mind.

Reliable Merchants - Popular companies that sell blinds and shades can always be trusted to sell authentic, defect-free items. This is why it makes a lot of sense to head off to popular shops first to look for bargains. Many of these bargain items from trusted names are still sold with full guarantees and warranties.

Items on Sale - Some discount window blinds may be on sale simply because they are yesterdays favorite. This may not sit well with you if you are after the trendiest and most modern designs. There is still a solution though if you do not want to pass up on a very good bargain. You can still make do with an old fashioned design as long as your room theme fits with it. You can opt for an old but classic room theme and pair it with old and cheap blinds.

Checking the Product - Many blinds sold in auctions and classified ad sites are not perfect. They might be sold at a discount precisely because they have some minor defect. Before you consider buying slightly used discount blinds, find out first if there are any defects that are difficult to hide or repair. You can ask an online seller some questions before buying.

Old Blinds - Some discount blinds may be sold cheap because they are not energy efficient. You should know though that outdated blinds like these will cost you more in the long run. Modern blinds come with energy efficient features that will help diffuse light, limit heat transfer and block harmful ultraviolet rays. In other words, modern blinds reduce your need for air conditioning and artificial lighting. A good bargain should still come with these helpful modern features.

Discount window blinds are everywhere so you will never run out of options when you need to shop for some. Your only challenge is to look for cheap blinds that have good quality.

Window Blinds As A Home Improvement Rather Than A Design Expense

There are two different ways in which to view the purchase and installation of quality window blinds. Some consumers considering a major window blinds purchase see them strictly as a design expense. They see it as a monetary waste they should avoid at all costs. This group of consumers are missing the point and doing themselves a bit of a disservice at the same time. Knowledgeable consumers are aware that window blinds are not strictly a design expense. They are more of a valued home improvement.

Everyone knows that curb appeal sells a home. Agents who are looking to increase the curb appeal in homes for sale often look to upgrading or installing window blinds first before any other potential value increasers. Homeowners who don't recognize the importance of window blinds are missing a fairly quick and easy way to make a drastic difference in the eyes of potential buyers. They add value to the home.

Most people accept that window blinds are necessary. They fill basic functions in the home: light control and/or blocking and privacy. The wide variety of products available on the market ensure that regardless of size and placement...there is a product available for every situation. There are varying degrees of light control available from full light blocking to products that purposefully funnel natural light.

The general consumer group doesn't question that there are basic needs to be filled and that the window blinds fill these needs. Window blinds have been doing their job for years. But they do so much more than the basics in today's market. They offer advantages to homeowners that can be had through no other product.

Window blinds offer the advantage of additional curb appeal. They make a huge difference to potential home buyers. Due to the added value to the home they should be considered a home improvement; they add substantially to the home. The added value far outpaces the cost of purchase/installation. And energy savings offer an entirely different advantage.

Energy savings products are flooding the market currently. The green movement has left many consumers interested in decreasing their carbon footprint and the sluggish economy has left many consumers looking for ways to decrease their monthly expenditures. Installation of certain types of energy savings window blinds can decrease homeowners' monthly utilities bill by hundreds of dollars. Window blinds are a home improvement that offers distinct advantages in the additional curb appeal and the lowered cost for utilities after the installation of energy saving products. With all the options available out there on the real estate market...making the right choices when it comes to your next "home improvement" is vitally important! Start with window blinds...it's hard to go wrong.