Windows do a lot of good for your home, from adding light and natural ventilation to increasing the beauty of a room. But with all that good comes some inconvenience: They can easily become holes in your home’s thermal envelope. If you want to cut down on the heating and cooling energy loss caused by windows, consider some of these window treatments in your Yuma-area home:
- Curtains. Available in all sorts of designs and construction, curtains can be light enough to diffuse the light coming in or heavy enough to block it altogether. Curtains with a bright or reflective coating on one side can deflect sunlight outward, preventing solar heat gain, and insulated curtains can keep the summer heat — or the winter chill — out.
- Awnings. Whether you install these to shade one window or an entire side of your home, awnings can cut down solar heat gain by more than half on the south- and west-facing walls of your home.
- Reflective films. Once applied to your windows, these films serve to deflect the heat of the sun in the same way that bright paints will keep your home cooler. They’re best used in places like Yuma with long cooling seasons and mild winters — they’ll reflect the heat of the sun during the winter months, too.
- Blinds. While these may not be exciting, blinds can be surprisingly versatile. For example, horizontal blinds can block out sunlight, or they can be angled to reflect sunlight upward onto a light-colored ceiling. This gives you a pleasantly diffuse natural light, while preserving your privacy and cutting down on the direct sunlight’s heat.
- Mesh window screens. A dark mesh can also diffuse the light of the sun, cutting down on solar heat gain while allowing you to enjoy natural wind ventilation during the cooler months of the year.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can save energy using inexpensive window treatments, call us up at Hansberger Refrigeration and Electric Company! We’re happy to help our Yuma neighbors keep cool and cut costs.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Yuma, Arizona about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about window treatments and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 928-723-3183.
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