Keep a Toasty Home This Winter with the Right Window Treatments

Discover the Energy Efficiency of Motorized Cellular Shades, Roller Shades, Drapes & Blinds

Stately windows throughout the home let in beautiful natural light, provide spacious views to the outdoors, and add style to our spaces. The downside? They also contribute to roughly 30% of a home’s heat loss, which is bad news during winter in Kansas City, MO.

With the right window treatments, paired with strategic operation, you can enjoy a toasty home this season without wreaking havoc on your heating system. Read below to learn the energy efficiency of four popular motorized shade solutions: cellular shades, roller shades, drapes, and blinds.

SEE ALSO: Are Motorized Blinds the Right Solution for You?

Cellular Shades

Cellular shades rank highest in energy efficiency due to their construction. The magic of cellular shades is in their specially engineered honeycomb shape, which traps cold air seeping indoors and creates a layer of insulation between the window and the room’s temperature.

Our team works with Hunter Douglas, which manufactures a variety of horizontal and vertical cellular honeycomb shades in many beautiful fabrics. When automated, your cellular shades offer even more energy savings by opening on sunny winter days to let in heat and closing as soon as your home drops below a certain temperature.

Roller Shades

Versatile motorized roller shades, like those offered by Powershades and QMotion, come in several fabrics and materials that range from sheer to blackout. While not as energy efficient as cellular shades, roller shades can still help lower your dependence on electric heating—especially when strategically operated.

During winter, roller shades with dark and heavy fabrics are ideal for windows that don’t face the sun, while roller shades with lighter fabrics are ideal for windows that do. You can also layer heavy roller shades with sheer roller shades to take advantage of the sun’s heat during the day while protecting your privacy, and then to insulate your home at night.

Drapes

Conventional draperies can reduce roughly 10% of heat loss from a warm room, though this number will vary depending on the material and the size of your windows. However, you can maximize the energy efficiency of your motorized drapes when you follow our advice below.

Draperies should be hung as close to your windows and ceiling as possible and fall onto a windowsill or floor. Seal your draperies at both sides and have them overlap in the center when closed—two draperies hung together create a tighter air space and improve insulation. For even more energy efficiency, layer your drapes on top of complementary roller shades (see the photo above).

Blinds

Unfortunately, motorized blinds don’t offer much heat control in the winter due to their slat openings. But that doesn’t mean these window treatments don’t offer any energy savings. In fact, motorized blinds are perfect for effortlessly managing glare, light, and solar heat gain in the summer.

When closed and lowered on a sunny window, highly reflective blinds can reduce heat gain. You can also adjust horizontal slat blinds to block and reflect direct sunlight onto a light-colored ceiling, which will diffuse the light without much heat or glare.

Selecting the right motorized window treatments for your home is only the beginning of improved energy savings—you must remember to strategically operate them during the day and night, too.

Roughly 75% of operable window coverings in homes remain in the same position every day. However, by taking advantage of scheduled scenes and whole-home control of your motorized window treatments from the convenience of a single device, adjusting your shades throughout the day and night is a piece of cake.

Learn more about the benefits of motorized window treatments for improved energy efficiency this winter and all year long by connecting with our team. We’ll help you decide which treatments are best for your home. Contact us here or send us a live chat below now. We look forward to assisting you!