Reduce Heating Bills

The following tips are to help save on those heating bills without giving your home a major renovation:

• Weatherize – First, test your home for air tightness. The U.S. Department of Energy recommends lighting an incense stick on a windy day and holding it next to your windows, doors, electrical boxes, plumbing fixtures and other places where there is a possible air path to the outside. If the smoke travels horizontally, you have located an air leak. Seal up these holes, weather-strip doors and insulate attic floors. And, when the fireplace is not in use, keep the damper closed tightly.
• Insulate – Don’t just insulate your attic. The Department of Energy calculates that 10 to 25 percent of a heating bill goes out the window, literally. Insulation is measured in R-values and the higher the R-value, the better a window resists the transfer of heat. A single layer of uncovered window glass has an R-value of about 1, while a typical double-glazed window (two panes of glass or with a storm window) has an R-value of around 2. By selecting an energy-efficient window treatment, you can increase the R-value one to four points.
  Honeycomb shades with three layers of honeycomb pleats more than double the energy efficiency of a double-glazed window and nearly quadruple the efficiency of a single pane of glass with a very high insulating R-value of 4.8 (on double-glazed windows).
• Improve and maintain your mechanical systems – Make sure your gas or oil furnace is serviced and cleaned at least once a year and change or clean furnace filters often during heating season. Also, clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters and radiators as needed.
  And, replace your thermostat with a programmable one that allows you to set temperatures at different times of the day. Turning the heat down from 72 to 65 degrees for at least eight hours a day can reduce heating bills by 10 percent. Setting the thermostat all the way up only increases your heating costs.
• Watch Your Windows – For the rare sunny day, open your shades to help heat the house with the sun, but be sure to close them at night. Also, keep the windows on the south side of your house clean to ensure maximum solar gain.
• Landscape – Let Mother Nature work for you. Trees that lose their leaves in the fall permit winter sunlight to reach and warm your house. Plant deciduous trees on the south and east sides of your home. Stop chilling winter winds by planting evergreen trees and shrubs on the north and west sides.

Oh what we would do for a little peace and quiet. There is noise everywhere we go. Our streets traffic roars, machinery drones, planes zoom overhead and pedestrians scream at one another and into their cell phones to be heard above it all. According to the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, a national non-profit organization with extensive online noise-related resources, (www.nonoise.org), “Noise is among the most pervasive pollutants today…Noise negatively affects human health and well-being. Problems related to noise include hearing loss, stress, high blood pressure, sleep loss, distraction and lost productivity, and a general reduction in the quality of life and opportunities for tranquility.”

More than ever we yearn for our homes to be peaceful sanctuaries but too often noise from the outside intrudes on even our most personal spaces. Not only are our cities noisier than ever, but also, our suburbs, where even large houses are being built closer to their neighbors.

Custom window coverings can help. Window coverings provide great style for your windows and are engineered to improve the quality of life at home by providing privacy, climate and noise control. In fact window coverings are rated for sound absorption and are custom-made to your window’s specific sizes for maximum light and privacy control as well as sound absorption.

Honeycomb shades have especially high sound absorption ratings with several fabric styles absorbing 55 and 60 percent of reflected sound. Honeycomb shades are an ideal option for large windows, especially for bedrooms and media rooms where sound and light control are high priorities.

Most of the popular sheer shadings that softly diffuse light through two sheer fabric layers and curved fabric vanes absorb 30 percent of reflected sound. This window covering also has the unique ability to diffuse light and protect against the sun’s harmful UV rays, while still revealing the view out the window.

For those who prefer a window covering with the timeless beauty of a Roman shade, its room-darkening fabrics absorb 60 percent of reflected sound.

There are many other types of window coverings that offer privacy, style, and sound absorption at all levels. Ask your window covering expert, which window covering product would work best for your home.

Window coverings can make a difference in bringing peace and quiet to a home!

When deciding on window treatments, color and style should not be the only thoughts that cross a consumer’s mind.  Child safety should also be a major factor.  Each year children are injured or die in tragic accidents after being strangled in window blind cords.  In order to prevent these tragedies window treatment manufacturers have responded to safety concerns with many innovative solutions and new products.  Below is a brief description of the many products and options available to keep your children and pets safe.

Plantation Shutters
Plantation shutters are a growing trend that will keep your window treatments child-proof.  Shutters come in a variety of materials; vinyl, polywood, and wood.  Each of these materials offers quality construction that will add depth, beauty, and safety to your home.

Motorization
Another way to eliminate cord hazards:  Motorize your window treatments.  This option is a battery operated remote control system that allows you to raise and lower shades at the touch of a button.  In addition to their safety advantages, these battery-powered shades are especially helpful on high windows that are out of reach.  This option is available with pleated shades, honeycomb shades, roller shades, roman shades, and sheer shadings.

Cordless Option
The cordless option is available with faux wood blinds, wood blinds, mini blinds, pleated shades, and honeycomb shades.  All you need to raise a blind is the touch of a hand.  A hidden control system keeps the shade or blind in a constant state of balance.  Simply touch the bottom rail to raise and lower.  The products that offer this option also have enhanced safety, convenience, and complete light control.  Ease of operation is a benefit for every member of the family.

Break-Thru® Safety Tassel
The safety tassel is designed to break open under pressure should a child or pet become entangled in the cord loop.  It is standard feature on all Hunter Douglas horizontal blinds.

Safety Wand
Vertical blinds outfitted with a safety wand eliminate looped pull cords completely, replacing them with a wand that remains safely out of a toddler’s reach.  Vertical blinds also add energy efficiency, privacy, and UV protection for furnishings.

So when you are deciding on your next window treatment purchase, please keep these child-proof window treatments in mind.