There is a better way...
Looking for ways to keep your house cooler this summer without turning it into a cave? Well, my fellow troglodytes look no further than solar screens.
During the heat of the summer, one of the ways I have traditionally mitigated the heat was to keep all my shades closed for as long as possible. This helps but it also left me feeling like I was some kind of cave dweller (hence: a troglodyte). Behold there is a better way – solar screens; these window shades, which are also called solar shades, are generally made from a synthetic mesh fabric that reduce passive solar heating, reduce glare and block harmful UV rays – all this while letting in muted light and preserving your views.
Solar screens come in a variety of openness factors so you can choose how much light you want to let in. This is usually expressed in percentages from 3% to 14%, a number which determines how much light can pass through the shade. Put another
Comfortex SilverScreen solar screens - very cool.
way, the lower the percentage the more light is blocked. For maximum cool, you want to choose from 3-7% openness ranges. The percentages in the middle range offer more balance between view-through and light/heat control. The percentages at the top end, from 10% to 14 % offer the greatest amount of view-through but the least amount of solar heat gain reduction.
A quick word to the wise, if you are interested in solar shades they are not the best choice for privacy! If you’re concerned about people seeing in your home, or a particular room, solar shades are not the right choice. Put simply, people can see into your home the same way you see out of it. That doesn’t preclude using solar screens in your home. Where privacy is an issue – and still keeping with the “staying cool” theme – there are a bunch of other window treatment choices that offer energy efficiency and privacy: thermal roman shades with an insulating liner, cellular shades, drapes with a thermal liner, and even plantation shutters.
When ordering solar screens, please keep in mind that for your shade to operate properly, the fabric may be up to 1 1/4″ narrower than the width ordered, creating a 5/8″ light gap on each side. To compensate, consider ordering an outside mounted shade i.e., the shade is not mounted within the window sill but over the top of the window.
With all that out of the way, allow me to suggest one very cool option – motorization. If budgets allow, solar screens can be motorized so that with the touch of a remote control button you can raise or lower the shade. Furthermore, one remote control can operate multiple shades. Mind you this is not the cheapest option in the world but if you have a home with lots of windows, there is something very efficient about this option.
Most of the top brands offer solar screens including, Hunter Douglas, Comfortex, Bali, Kirsch and Levolor. Happy decorating!
