We all know the importance of protecting our skin from the sun’s damaging UV rays. But have you thought about what the sun could be doing to your valuable art, furniture, and flooring?
The right window treatments not only protect your home interiors from UV damage but also improve energy efficiency, create ambiance, and increase your home’s market value.
How Sunlight and UV Rays Affect Your Home
Even on cloudy days, sunlight can fade and deteriorate your fabrics, carpets, hardwood floors, and artwork. It can bleach and dry out wood furniture, breaking down the stain, paint finishes, and joint sealants.
The sun’s energy deteriorates your furniture in three ways, which each contribute roughly equally:
- ultraviolet light
- visible light
- heat
The bigger your windows, the faster your home interior will age from sunlight. This is especially important to think about upfront if you’re moving from a home with smaller windows into a new space with high ceilings and matching large windows.
While you might remember a little fading near windows in the past, you might be shocked how much faster your home will age when your new windows are two or three times larger.
Window Treatments to Protect from Sunlight
Rooms that get a lot of sunlight need window treatments that block UV rays and regulate room temperature.
Solar shades, honeycomb cellular shades, sheer shades blackout shades, and window films are all effective. Let’s take a look at each!
Solar Shades
Solar shades block UV rays while offering varying levels of visibility. When you buy a solar shade, you can control the visibility by choosing the tightness of the shade’s weave – your shade’s openness.
- A higher openness like 10% will let in 10% of light.
- A lower openness like 3% will let in 3% of the light.
- The most popular openness factor is 5%.
Solar shade are a type of roller shades, so they have a clean, modern look as they drop down and rise up.
Hunter Douglas Designer Solar Shades offer various openness factors, colors and textures to match most any decor.
Cellular Shades
Honeycomb cellular shades are excellent for light control and energy efficiency. Their design adds a layer of insulation, which keeps your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Hunter Douglas offers two great honeycomb designs:
- Duette® Honeycomb Shades, a normal honeycomb design
- Duette Architella® Honeycomb Shades, a honeycomb-within-a-honeycomb structure that provides superior insulation and energy savings
While many shades block light for insulation, honeycomb shades go a step further. They trap air in their cells. This creates a barrier that helps maintain a consistent indoor temperature.
If your energy bill gets high in the hot summer months, dense honeycomb shades can potentially pay for themselves over time.
Sheer Shades
If you want to balance light and privacy, sheer window coverings can give you moderate UV protection.
These are not the strongest option if you’re looking for maximum furniture protection or insulation, but they give you a nice soft look, ample light, and moderate sunlight protection.
One of our favorites are the Hunter Douglas Silhouette® Sheer Shades. These can block up to 88% of UV rays even when the vanes are open, allowing natural light to filter in while protecting your furnishings.
Room-Darkening Shades
Room-darkening shades (sometimes called “blackout” shades) are ideal for rooms with high sun exposure. They block almost all light, providing excellent UV protection and creating a completely dark environment when needed. This makes them perfect for bedrooms and media rooms.
You can also combine sheer shades with blackout shades on the same window, giving you the best of both worlds.
Window Film
Window film is most commonly used to darken windows in cars, but can also work well in both home and commercial windows.
Unlike shades and blinds, window film directly adheres to the glass, reducing UV rays and glare while allowing natural light to filter through. It also provides privacy without obstructing your view.
Window film can enhance your home’s energy efficiency by blocking out heat in the summer and retaining warmth in the winter. It’s relatively affordable compared to other window coverings and works well on large, fixed panes.
Unlike shades, window film is semi-permanent. Over time, it can be costly to remove, especially if left on for several months, as it may leave adhesive residue. It also doesn’t offer the flexibility of raising or lowering like shades or blinds do, which means you can’t change the level of light entering your home throughout the day.
Pairing window film with shades, such as honeycomb or solar shades, can maximize energy efficiency and light control. The film provides a base layer of UV protection while the shades add insulation and additional light-filtering options.
Options for Enhancing Your Shades
All of the shades we’ve discussed are easy to maintain and automate.
Regular dusting and occasional spot cleaning with mild soap are usually enough to keep them looking their best. They’re also compatible with cordless, motorized systems that can be automated for convenience and efficiency.
Maximize UV Protection and Energy Savings with Automation
If you want to give your home the best protection and save the most on energy, automated shades are an excellent choice.
Ideally, you should close your shades whenever you leave your home, whether it’s for an hour or an entire day. Even short periods of direct sunlight can cause UV damage and heat buildup inside your home.
With smart automation, you can easily create a custom “Away” scene that closes all the shades in your home with just one button. You can program this based on your daily schedule or trigger it manually before you leave.
Using the one-button option adds a layer of convenience, ensuring your interior stays protected whether you’re gone for a quick errand or a longer outing.
Protect and Enhance Your Home
Investing in the right window treatments is essential to protect your Idaho home’s interiors from fading and provide insulation against our harsh temperatures.
Besides keeping your interior looking new and saving money on your energy bill, the right treatments can make your home more comfortable and beautiful.
Are you ready to find the perfect solution for your windows?
Contact us today to schedule a design consultation and discover how our range of UV-blocking window treatments can transform your home.
