Ways for your Window Treatments to Save You Money in Wilmington NC

When you see your energy bill this summer you start thinking of how to cut down the heat coming in the house.  You may not think of your window treatments when considering ways to cut down on the energy bill and help keep the house cool on these hot Wilmington NC days. Do you realize that 50% of a home’s heating and cooling energy exits through windows?  The summer heat can travel inside your home from your roof and walls. There are affordable ways to reduce the heat coming in through your windows. You can not completely block the heat on these hot days in Southeastern North Carolina.  However it is possible to keep on a budget and cut it down considerably on energy bills with your window treatments.  There are a few materials that can restrict a percentage of the heat from entering your home on the market today.  Insulation is measured in R-Value. R- Value is the measurement of the insulation's ability to resist heat traveling through it and relates to the ability of a material to reflect light and heat out of the home. Therefore the higher the R-Value the better the material is going to insulate your home. Window treatments with a higher R-Value can reduce heat loss up to 50% and save you money.

     There are quite a few different affordable window treatments to use out on the market. Hunter Douglas makes products with a range of R-Values and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient rating so you can meet both your design and energy efficient needs on a budget. For example, a bare double glazed window has up to a 3.5 R-Value. Choosing a triple cell honeycomb shade by Hunter Douglas with Panache opaque fabric brings the R-Value up to 7.86, which can reduce heat loss significantly.  There are treatments for your windows such as hardwood shutters, composite shutters and wood & faux wood blinds that have R-Values ranging between 2.77 and 3.17 this is quite a difference when you are sitting in the house on a hot Wilmington NC day.  Some new faux wood shutters have an R-Value of 6.01, this is accomplished by a seal on the edge of the shutter and the frame which acts as a barrier there by increasing the R-value.  Actually, last year the government gave you a tax credit if you used a window treatment that could reach an R-value of 6.00 or better.  Vertical blinds, aluminum blinds and sliding panels have R-Values ranging from 3.87 to 3.94. When shopping for your window treatments go to someone who can tell you the R-Value of the product’s true insulation ability.  Be sure to do your own research.