We can all agree that saving money wherever possible is more important than ever. In the peak of harsh winter (and summer) temperatures, energy costs can make a big dent in our pocketbooks. Saving money on energy is possible by insulating your home.
Avoiding heat loss during the winter is vital to keeping energy costs low, (as is keeping cool air in during the summer). No matter the season, plantation shutters provide valuable insulation to maintain consistent indoor temperatures, blocking out harsh high and low outdoor temperatures, reducing how frequently your heating and cooling systems need to run.
Why Your Choice of Window Treatment is Important
Of course, we all think of window treatments as an important choice for privacy in the home. They provide comfort by allowing you to block out unwanted light from entering the room or keeping your pets calm by limiting how much they can snoop on what is going on outside.
But additionally, choosing the right window treatment can make a difference in keeping your home a comfortable temperature and saving you money in the long run. Windows account for over 30% of heat loss in the home. Even with your windows closed, leaving them exposed can cause your home’s temperature to rise and fall matching with the temperatures outside more quickly. This means your HVAC runs more frequently, and your bills rise.
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Do Plantation Shutters Insulate?
Yes! In fact, shutters are the most energy-efficient window treatment. There is less open space between your window and the window covering than there is with curtains or blinds.
Made to your precise custom measurements, our shutters fit snug inside your window recess or surrounding the entire window opening. Whereas, curtains flow freely loosely covering the window area, and blinds have gaps that allow draft to come through.
Shutters are also thicker than blinds, curtains or shades. The thicker, denser, and more solid your window treatments are, the more insulation they will provide.
Our shutters all come with frames which offer many benefits -
• Easier to install
• Keeps frame level despite possible variance in levelness of the window opening
• Can add a decorative border to the shutter
• Help keep the panels aligned and properly closed
Our light blocking frames also have a lip that extends behind the shutter panels to block any additional light seepage from between the shutter panels and the frame.
If your shutter has multiple panels, the right side will have a lip that overlaps the left to block any gap between the shutter panels where they meet in the middle.
Our shutters are designed with the slats overlapping, closing tight in the upwards direction for maximum light blockage and privacy, again limiting any gaps where air and light can bleed through.
All of these features also maximize insulating benefits as well.
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Which Shutters Insulate Best?
By choosing shutters as your window treatments, you already will have made the best choice for energy efficiency. But is there a style or material that works best?
Our wooden shutters are 100% solid hardwood – not hollow or composite – providing the most solid barrier against the outside elements. Choose our Natural Hardwood for the most style options including special shapes and stain colors or custom color matching. Or choose our Premium Hardwood for the fastest lead time to get your shutters up in time for the season.
For shutters near moisture, such as in kitchens or bathrooms, you may be looking for waterproof shutters. Our Aluminum Core Faux Wood is a solid polyvinyl with aluminum core and is a fully waterproof option that will also provide great insulation.
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Full Height shutters will insulate best, since they will cover the entire window opening.
Café style shutters leave the top of the window open, so they are not ideal for insulating purposes. If you want to sometimes keep the top of your shutters open to let in some light but keep some privacy and be able to close up the full window at night, you may opt for full height shutters with a mid-rail, or tier-on-tier style shutters.
Full solid raised panels will of course be the most insulating, as they do not have moving louvers and will offer the most light-blockage and noise reduction as well.
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There is no such thing as a bad choice when it comes to customizing shutters for energy efficiency. But if you are stuck as to what style to choose, how to measure, or how to start an order, our shutter experts are here to help.
Our goal, aside from saving you lots of money by guiding you through doing it yourself, is to ensure your vision is achieved and your installation is successful.