Energy Analysis

Sensational Seams has launched a new program to help Durham Region homeowners substantially reduce their heating and cooling bills. The program, called Interior Design Energy Analysis, measures the efficiency of home components ranging from window treatments to wall coverings. Click here to see how you can conserve energy and save money.

Stop throwing money out the window! While windows make up only 10% of your home’s exterior, they allow approximately 50% of your home’s heating and cooling energy to pour through them. Carefully selected window treatments can reduce heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer, thereby reducing heating and cooling costs.

R-value is a measure of a product’s ability to resist heat flow, which is especially important in the cold winter months. The higher the R-value, the more insulation a product provides and the better it is at reducing heat loss.

Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) is the amount of solar heat that passes through a window, where 0=none and 1=all. The lower a product’s SHGC, the less solar heat it transmits, which can help a home stay cooler in the hot summer months.

Harmful UV rays from the sun can damage furnishings, floors and fine art. Most Hunter Douglas products have fabric options that can also filter out 99% of these harmful rays when in the closed position. Many Hunter Douglas window fashions, including Silhouette window shadings and Luminette Privacy sheers, filter out as much as 86% of harmful UV rays in the open-vane position.

Hunter Douglas makes products with a range of R-values and SHGC ratings so you can meet both your design and energy efficiency needs.

Window Blinds – Window blinds and louvered shutters are most effective at reducing summer heat gain. They allow you to control light and ventilation. When completely closed and lowered a sunny window, highly reflective blinds can reduce heat gain by around 45%. They can also be adjusted to block and reflect direct sunlight onto a light-coloured ceiling, diffusing the light while deflecting the heat and glare.

Window Shades – Window shades can be one of the simplest and most effective window treatments for saving energy. Lowering shades on sunlit windows in the summer reduces heat gain. Shades on south-facing windows should be raised in the winter during the day, and lowered at night.

Cellular Shades – Hunter Douglas Duette Architella shades have a patented honeycomb-within-a-honeycomb construction which forms three air pockets for superior insulation between the window and the room. The very best insulation is provided by opaque fabrics which incorporate a metalized Mylar inner cell. And because the inner cell bears the weight of the shade, the outer pleats are always crisp and even. With four layers of fabric, colours are rich and true. Plus, versatile honeycomb shades offer many design and operating options for light and privacy control.

Window Draperies – A drapery’s ability to reduce heat loss and gain depends on several factors, including fabric type and colour. Draperies can reduce heat gains by up to 33%, and their pleats and folds have been found to lose heat through convection.  When drawn during cold weather, draperies can reduce heat loss from a warm room by up to 10%. Specific installation methods, such as hanging draperies close to the window, installing a cornice, and overlapping drapes at the centre, may reduce heat loss by up to 25%.