Window Coverings

Automate, Save & Relax

Home windows—even dual or triple glazed ones—leak more energy than a comparatively-sized section of well-insulated wall… typically much more. They lose inside heat when it’s cold outside, and let heat into the home during hot weather.

While occupying a room during daylight hours, we usually want to enjoy the natural light and the outdoor view that a room provides. Then, when evening comes, we typically want the privacy of closed drapes and shades. So, we put up with moderate heat loss (or gain) from the windows.

But when windows let in direct sunlight during the cold months, they can provide added heat—in the form of solar gain. Homes with passive solar heating take advantage of this principle: capturing daily solar gain in the cold months, but keep it out when the outside temperature is too warm. See Capturing Solar Energy.

Insulated thermal shades and drapes can further reduce heat loss in the winter, and heat gain in summer. Of course, shades or drapes are also important for privacy.

But opening and closing a houseful of drapes and shades two or more times a day—by hand—is tedious, repetitive work. This is where automated motorized window coverings come to the rescue. In addition to optimizing thermal efficiency—by maximizing thermal gain when desired, and minimizing it when it is a nuisance—remotely controlled window coverings are also a great convenience.

Enhancing Home Security and Convenience with Automated Window Shades

Plus, add an app to you smartphone or tablet, and you can adjust automated shades from wherever you are—across the room or around the globe. You can even have your smart home expert program them to automatically open at sunrise and close at sunset, according to pre-set weather or temperature conditions, or when solar gain exceeds thermal loss—whatever you prefer.

How about programming the shades to open and shut while you’re on vacation (coordinated with changes in lighting patterns, of course) to deter burglars by making it appear that someone is at home?

Depending on your local climate and energy rates, automated window coverings can make a lot of sense—both financially and conservation-wise. They’ll save money on heating and air conditioning bills—enough, in some areas, to pay back the initial investment in automated window coverings in just a few years.