Window Treatments That Can Lower Your Energy Bills

When you decorate your space, it can feel like you’re performing a constant, intricate balancing act between your desired aesthetic and a practical degree of livability. Sometimes that balance is a stressful one, but there’s one area where it doesn’t have to be: window treatments. Lower your energy bills, boost your aesthetic appeal and bring your space together into a cohesive whole with the perfect window treatments.

Which Window Treatments Can Help Lower Energy Bills?

If flimsy curtains and rickety miniblinds are what come to mind when you think window treatments, it’s time for a refresher course. Not only can modern window treatments bring a crucial polish and refinement to your overall design, some can help you lower your energy costs.

Sunlight blazing unchecked into a room is a particularly serious concern during the hottest months of the year, when this UV light intrusion ratchets up the thermometer in your home. Trapped sunlight equals trapped heat, which means more work to cool the room.

Low-end miniblinds simply aren’t up to the task of offsetting your energy use in any practical capacity. Other options, however, can have a substantial difference on your energy consumption, its expense and the overall feel of your design.

That drafty room everyone avoids when the temperature outdoors drops below a certain level? You may be able to reclaim it completely for the price of new blinds, shutters or shades. The room so hot and so bright in the afternoon that it becomes unbearable? There is a diverse range of flexible, effective and visually interesting window treatments available in today’s market to help you maximize the comfort and utility of every space in your home.

Shades, Shutters, and Blinds, Oh My! What Kind of Window Treatments Do I Need?

Choosing window treatments can be one of the more overwhelming aspects of room design, from a big-picture perspective. There are four primary categories, to begin with: curtains, shades, blinds and shutters. Each of those categories is home to dozens of different sub-categories, finish options and design possibilities. Focusing too much on the options you could choose is easily overwhelming, so it’s often better to “rule out” than “rule in” your options.

Some factors will make those decisions for you, as not all windows are ideally suited to all treatments and not all treatments can have a noticeable effect on energy usage and costs. Other factors to your space, your room design and your aesthetic tastes will further rule things out until you’re left with a more manageable set of options from which to choose.

Insulating, UV-blocking or other features are things to look for when selecting window treatments with an eye toward lowering energy costs. Insulated options not only help you keep outside temperatures from affecting your home’s interior, they can also help to insulate against noise pollution.

Change your mind too often to commit to a semi-permanent option? That doesn’t have to be a concern with newer-to-market options that allow easy modification whenever the desire to decorate strikes, or strikes again.

Not sure how to bring everything together to cap off a beautiful room design while boosting energy efficiency and cost savings? Our experts are standing by to help you navigate the process, so you find a window treatment that truly makes you excited to integrate into your room. Schedule a free consultation to find out more about energy-efficient window treatments as beautiful as they are functional.