In short, the answer is yes. Blinds, draperies, and window treatments are an effective method for cutting heating and cooling bills, regulating the temperature of your home, and enhancing its overall appearance.
Closed blinds serve to deflect the sun (and so, heat) before it gets into the room, which reduces unwanted solar gain and helps to keep your home cooler in turn.
Smart Home Cooling Tips. Close your blinds and curtains. Keeping your blinds closed during the day will reflect a surprising amount of heat radiating in through windows, especially during the time of day when the sun's rays shine directly on your home.
When blinds are closed with the slats turned up and the rounded side facing out, the heat is directed towards the ceiling, which helps keep the room cooler. This is the ideal position for blinds in the hotter months.
Dr Lindsay Browning, psychologist and sleep expert at bed retailer And So To Bed agrees that it's best to keep windows closed where you can. “Generally, when it is really hot outside it is a good idea to keep windows closed during the daytime, as you don't want the hot external air to come into the house warming it up.
Sunshine streams in through the window, and the gap in between the window and blinds captures the heat, producing a greenhouse effect. In the winter, this is a desirable effect, and in the summer, when you want it to be cooler in your home, all you have to do is raise the blinds to leave the window uncovered.
The rule you should go by is whether it is hotter outside than inside. If the temperature is higher outside than it is inside, you should keep your windows and curtains closed. This will shut the heat out, and help to keep your home cool.
Close your blinds
By blocking the sun's light from your space, you won't only keep cool during the heatwave, you'll also be able to enjoy the style of your space to its greatest extent! Whether you select a Roman blind or a roller blind, a well-made window covering will help block out the heat this summer.
Generally, if your house is decently insulated, keep the windows and blinds closed when the sun is shining. Open the windows in the evening and at night. More specifically, keep the windows closed when the outside temperature is hotter than it is inside, and open the windows when it's cooler outside than inside.
The trick is to use the right type of window shades to block the heat and to install them as close to the glass as possible to get the maximum benefit. For insulation purposes, cellular or honeycomb shades are the most effective. The honeycomb shape helps to trap air, reducing your solar heat gain.
Additionally, those bacteria that were kept in the dark were also more closely related to respiratory diseases than those that stayed alive even with exposure to sunlight. So not only are you benefiting from the vitamin D that comes from the sun, but it could also be saving you from respiratory disease as well.
Keep blinds open during the day. Not only will this practice save you some money on energy bills during the winter, but it can also keep you and your family healthier. Read on to find out how sunlight can kill harmful bacteria present in the dust in your rooms.
Window blinds—vertical (Venetian blinds) or horizontal slat-type (louvered-type)—are effective at reducing summer heat gain and reducing glare, while providing good daylight indoors.
Light-coloured blinds, particularly white are the best choice for keeping your home cool in summer. Dark coloured blinds, especially black blinds, can have the opposite effect. They'll do their job in terms of privacy and light control, but the dark colour will attract the sun and could potentially add to overheating.
Open windows on opposite sides of a room or building
If there's not much of a breeze, then you can use fans to help: use one fan by a shaded window pulling in cooler air from outside; use another fan on the sunny side to push hot air out of your home.
Good quality, lined curtains and blinds can make a real difference in keeping your home warm over the colder autumn and winter months.
There could be various reasons why some people leave their curtains or blinds open at night. Firstly, some people may prefer the natural light coming in through their windows to wake them up in the morning. They may also want to enjoy the view of the outside, such as the stars or the moon.
Sleeping with the window open could inadvertently trigger allergies, asthma or potentially cause illness in someone with an already-weakened immune system. But for most people, it's relatively risk free. Aim to keep your bedroom around 65 degrees with 65 percent humidity.
In warmer months, three-quarters of the sunlight that shines through standard, double-pane windows enters the house to become heat. Adding window treatments, fixing broken and leaky windows, and choosing new, Low-E glass window panes designed to reduce heat gain can keep you comfortable with less wasted power.
Gilbert adds that residents can paint their roof a reflective white to help block out sunlight, while Wright suggests people invest in a heat pump or air conditioner to help with additional cooling. Improving insulation in ceilings, attics, crawl spaces and even walls, will also reduce heat, according to Gilbert.
Yes. Emergency management agencies specifically recommend using “aluminum foil-covered cardboard” between windows and drapes to reflect heat back outside.
The fastest way to add cold air to your home is with an A/C unit. If you don't already have central air, then look into window units and portable air conditioners. These compact appliances are more cost-effective and also do a great job chilling the air.