When you’re thinking about having window shutters installed in Mountain View, CA, you may wonder how energy efficient they are. You may be like many other homeowners who like the classic style and coziness that window shutters offer, but if they don’t have the energy efficiency you’re looking for in window treatments, then they may not be the best option.
Energy efficiency in your home is one of your greatest concerns. As energy costs rise each year, you may find that you’re allocating even more of your home’s budget to paying for power. Therefore, you, like most other homeowners, are doing everything you can to make your home energy efficient.
You may have had all your appliances upgraded with energy efficient replacements. You may have recently had all the windows in your home replaced with windows that better insulate your home.
You may have added extra insulation to your home and had all your doors weatherproofed to ensure that you could be comfortable all year long without your HVAC system running continuously to maintain a constant temperature inside.
Because much of a home’s energy loss occurs through doors and windows (approximately 30% of the energy your home loses is through your windows), window coverings can help boost your home’s energy efficiency so that your home uses less power and you pay less for power consumption.
Window shutters do a great job of providing an extra layer of insulation for the windows in your home. That’s because window shutters are installed inside the frames of windows. This naturally creates a seal on the windows that prevents energy loss. In addition, window shutters are constructed so that they do a good job at resisting heat transfer.
When you’re thinking about having window shutters installed, be sure to take note of their R-Value. The higher a window shutter’s R-Value is, the better it will resist heat transfer and provide good insulation for a window.
Typically, homeowners associate R-Values with windows and doors. However, most window treatments have R-Values too. R-Value measures how much a material slows down heat movement from one side to the other side (heat transfer). Most window shutters have a good R-Value (from 3 – 6).
Different types of window shutters provide different levels of insulation and energy efficiency. While all window shutters offer energy efficient, there are some that provide more energy efficiency than others do.
Faux wood window shutters are one of the best choices for high energy efficient. Faux wood is a material that looks like wood but is made of PVC or vinyl. Faux wood window shutters have a hollow core within their frames. This hollow core creates an air pocket that makes the window shutter more resistant to heat transfer.
Faux wood window shutters, however, are not as sturdy as wood window shutters (which have a solid core in their frames). Faux wood window shutters are very durable, but they cannot be used on very large windows.
So, if you have, for example, bay windows or pictures windows in your home, you will definitely want to have wood window shutters installed on them or you want to choose wood core faux wood window shutters.
Wood core faux wood window shutters are made from faux wood, but the core of the frame is solid instead of hollow. This gives the frame the stability and sturdiness it needs for these window shutters to be installed on larger windows.
If you’d like to learn more about window shutters in Mountain View, CA, you can speak with our experienced staff at Windows & Beyond, Inc.