Save On HVAC Costs By Using Your Home's Draperies And Blinds Correctly

Many home builders today take great care to angle homes on their property in such a way that the future homeowners can take advantage of the environment and local weather patterns to help naturally warm and cool the home. By learning to use the sun and wind to your advantage by selectively opening and closing windows and their coverings, you can greatly reduce your home's heating and cooling costs over the course of a year.

Here is how to better utilize your home's blinds and draperies to cool and heat your home in each season:

The Fall Season

The fall season brings temperatures that are colder at night and yet often still very warm during the day. Opening all of your windows in the evening will drastically cool your home down and allow you to close all of the blinds and draperies in the morning to contain the cool air and keep the warm sun out. This will keep you from having to run your air conditioner later in the afternoon when it really heats up outside.

On cooler days, you should open all of the window coverings on the sunny side of your home. This will let in light and heat from the sun and will lower your need to run your home's furnace. When the sunshine stops hitting the window panes, then you should close the draperies to retain the heat that has been generated, otherwise it will be lost to the outdoors as the glass cools in the evening.

The Winter Season

While you may be tempted to close your home's window coverings in the fall and not open them again until spring, this isn't going to help lower your winter heating costs, and it will lead to a nasty mass of cobwebs that you will have to vacuum as well. Instead, open your blinds in the winter when the sun is shining on the glass. The sun will help keep your mood elevated from the extra light, and the sunshine will help warm your home's interior. When the sun is not shining, then close your blinds to keep the heat indoors.

The Spring Season

Just as with the fall season, spring brings with variable temperatures that often have large swings between the day and night. You can use this to your advantage by opening your draperies in the evening when the window glass is cool. This will help to release the hot air from inside of your home and cool it down.

If your home is chilly in the morning from a low-temperature night, then you should open the draperies along the side of your home where the sun is shining in the morning. As the sun rotates in the afternoon, close the draperies in the shade and open those on the other side of the house to take advantage of the sun.

The Summer Season

Finally, the best thing you can do to keep your home cool in the summer is to install some black-out type style draperies. The blackout draperies keep the sun from getting past the glass of your windows and heating the interior of your home. Keep the draperies closed during the day and open them in the evening once the sun has set and the glass has had time to cool. For more information, talk to a professional like House Of Drapery.

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