Your choice of window coverings can play a key role in making your home more energy efficient. Research indicates that up to 30% of total heat loss from your home1 occurs through uncovered windows. The right covering can provide an effective thermal layer, naturally keeping your rooms cooler in summer and warmer in the winter—reducing the need to use electricity or other methods to control your home.
So, which is the best option for energy efficiency? Are shutters or blinds more effective? The simple answer is that it all depends on the nature of the room, how you use it, and the degree to which you want light and air to flow into the space. Here’s a quick overview of the features and benefits of each option:
Shutters are a great way to control the amount of natural light and air that flows into your home. As they are completely adjustable— and can be configured in a way that’s right for each window in your home—they allow you to fully control the solar energy entering your windows and doors.
Luxaflex® PolySatin® Plantation Shutters are a particularly ideal choice when it comes to energy efficiency. Their cellular construction creates a layer of energy-saving insulation as it traps air within a distinct pocket. Coupled with polyresin's low conductivity, they greatly reduce heat exchange. PolySatin® Shutters reflect inbound solar rays back to the outside during summer, but can be opened to allow the warming sun into your home in winter thereby reducing air-conditioning costs. These shutters can also reduce heat flux by 20-58%2 depending on the degree of air exchange between the window and the shutter panel, saving on your cooling costs.
As well as helping you maintain your interior temperature, shutters can also play an important role in helping you protect your furnishings and fittings from the sun’s harmful rays. By breaking up light as it enters your home, this can assist with keeping your furnishings from fading over time.
We offer a wide range of Luxaflex® SoftShades, all of which provide a degree of thermal control for your interiors:
Luxaflex® Duette® Shades are one of the most energy efficient and durable window coverings on the market, and have been specially designed for thermal control. They have a unique honeycomb 'cell' structure which traps air and acts as an insulation barrier for windows.
The Luxaflex® Duette® Architella® range takes this a step further—with a unique honeycomb-within-a-honeycomb cell construction which creates four fabric layers and three insulating pockets of air. These smart air pockets can reduce your home's heating costs by up to 43%3.
Luxaflex® Silhouette® Shadings offer a more subtle way to control the flow of light. Their signature S-Vanes can help you transform harsh sunlight into gentle, diffused glow. While they offer less thermal control than Duette Shades, these are also made to filter harsh UV rays to protect your furnishings from damage.
If you would like to find out more about how to keep your interiors cool with Luxaflex® awnings this summer, drop by a Luxaflex® showroom and speak with one of our expert consultants.
1 Based on information from NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating System). Visit www.nabers.com.au for more information.
2 Independent test show that Luxaflex PolySatin Shutters can reduce "heat flux" by 20-58% depending on the degree of air exchange between the window and the shutter panel.
3 Savings are based on the installation of fully-recessed, reveal-mounted Duette Architella Shades with 20mm blockout fabric in an average home in Sydney, compared with the House Energy Rating standard of Holland Blinds from AccuRate, in that home. These calculations have been modelled by an independent third party. Savings will vary based on the window type and installation.
