When looking at window shutters in Los Altos Hills, CA, consider an advantage they can provide, in conjunction with other home modifications that can keep the interior of your home cool and comfortable, no matter how hot the weather is outside.
In the summer time, you may find that some of the rooms in your house feel hot and uncomfortable. You may be tempted to crank the air conditioning down to get cool air flowing into the rooms. However, before you touch the thermostat, which can cost hundreds of extra dollars per year in energy costs, consider some easy ways that you can make the interior of your home cooler and more comfortable.
One way to make rooms in a home less stuffy is to switch from incandescent lighting to LED lighting. Electric lighting is a major heat producer in homes. Incandescent and halogen light bulbs give off much more heat than LED light bulbs. If enough incandescent and/or halogen light bulbs are switched on, the temperature of a room can rise significantly. LED light bulbs are an energy efficient alternative. Because they use less electricity, they generate a fraction of the heat that incandescent or halogen light bulbs produce. So not only will LED light bulbs keep your rooms cooler, but they will also lower your energy costs.
Another way to keep the rooms of your home cooler is to have Hunter Douglas faux wood plantation window shutters installed. Plantation window shutters let you control how much light and how much heat from the outside is allowed into rooms. When plantation window shutters are closed, they create an energy efficient insulation system for each window that keeps heat out and cold interior air in.
The benefits of plantation window shutters extend beyond keeping a comfortable temperature inside your home. Plantation window shutters are durable so that last longer than many other window treatments. Plantation window shutters also have a look that fits in with any decorating style or theme that you may have throughout your home. With plantation window shutters, you can effectively increase the insulation around every window in your home, no matter what time of year it is or what the temperature outside is.
Another simple change in your home, in addition to the ones we’ve already discussed, is to keep all the interior doors open. For a house to be as cool as it can possibly be, air flow must be at a maximum. Whether you are using central heat and air or a system of open windows and fans, air must be able freely flow through the home to keep all the rooms at a comfortable temperature. If interior doors are closed, then the air flow is disrupted and rooms will get hotter because closed interior doors create pressure points that force cooler air outside the house.
If you’re using open windows and fans to create air flow throughout your home, you’ll get the best airflow if you open the upstairs windows on the downwind side of your house and the downstairs windows on the upwind side of your house. This creates a low-pressure air current that will pull fresh air in and vent out hot air.
On really hot days when you do have air conditioning on, you can get more cooling power by placing tower fans in front of all the air vents in the house. Set the thermostat to a couple of degrees cooler than the temperature outside. Place the fans in front of all the air vents and they will drop the cooled air from the air conditioner another 4°.
If you’d like to learn more about window shutters in Los Altos Hills, CA, you can speak with our experienced staff at Windows & Beyond, Inc. You can come to our showroom at 4020 Fabian Way, Palo Alto, CA 94303, or you can call us at (650) 938-8822 for a free in-home estimate.