{window treatments add energy efficiency to your home}

We all know October is celebrated as National Energy Awareness Month. But this year, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) decided that it was time to go beyond awareness and encourage people to take action. So this year, the DOE requested the current Energy Awareness Month to rename to National Energy Action Month. As a result, President Barack Obama declared October Energy Action Month.

The certified window treatment professionals at Hirshfield’s are ready to help you turn your actions into results by helping you pick out the best, high efficiency window treatments for your home!

Window treatments as insulation
In the winter, as much as 40% of the heat that escapes a home flows through the windows. During the summer, heat from the sun’s rays coming through the windows can make it harder to keep a home cool. Energy-efficient window treatments can help decrease heat loss and heat gain, thereby reducing heating and cooling costs.

R-Value
R-value is a measure of a product’s ability to resist heat flow, which is especially important in the cool winter months. The higher the R-value number, the more insulation it provides and the better it is at reducing heat loss.

A bare, low-e double-glazed window has an R-value of about 3.5. Add a properly installed Duette® Architella™ 1 1/4″ honeycomb shade with Panache™ opaque fabric and the R-value peaks at 7.86, more than doubling the energy efficiency and reducing heat loss by over 50%.

Hunter Douglas Duette® Architella™ honeycomb shade

The most energy efficient treatments feature a honeycomb construction. The cells actually trap the hot or cold air, decreasing the intensity of the temperature as it enters the room. A honeycomb shade with a triple cell construction will increase the energy efficiency of a single pane of glass by five times and more than double the energy efficiency of a double-glazed window.

Solar Heat Gain Coefficient
The Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) is the amount of solar heat that passes through a window, where 0 = none and 1 = all. The lower a product’s SHGC, the less solar heat it transmits, which can help a home stay cooler in the warm summer months.

The SHGC of a bare, double-glazed window is 0.76, which means 76% of solar heat is transmitted through it. Add a Duette® Architella™ 11/4″ shade with Elan™ opaque fabric and the solar heat gain coefficient drops to 0.15 — only 15% of the solar heat is transmitted.

Filter Natural Light
UV exposure is not only harmful to skin, it can also damage furnishings, floors and fine art. Most Hunter Douglas products have fabric options that filter out 99% of these harmful rays in the closed position.

Many Hunter Douglas window fashions, including Silhouette® window shadings and Luminette® Privacy Sheers, filter out as much as 86% of harmful UV rays in the open-vane position.

Hunter Douglas Luminette® Modern Draperies

Click here for Hunter Douglas sale information – going on now at your local Hirshfield’s!

Hirshfield’s is your local Minneapolis-St. Paul paint retailer. The paint experts at Hirshfield’s are here to help you with everything from window-treatments to paint colors. Hirshfield’s manufactures paint right here in Minneapolis.