Helpful Tips

Improving energy efficiency in your home with: Finecraft custom blinds, shades, and shutters 

Bare windows are the leading cause of your home losing heating and cooling energy. Finecraft® window blinds are the absolute best in increasing your home’s energy efficiency and maintaining a comfortable living space. It’s estimated that without energy efficient window blinds, a home can lose between 30% and 40% of heating and cooling energy through its windows.

Improve energy efficiency

Finecraft® window blinds are the premier choice to help with your home’s energy efficiency. Finecraft® blinds provide insulation, allow you to control of the amount of heat coming into your home and the amount of cool air leaving your home in the warmer months.

Window Blind Insulation

Winter:

In winter, or if you live in a cool climate, window blinds help insulate the window, preventing heat from escaping.  

• Open your window treatments during the day so that heat from direct sunlight will warm your home. 
• On cloudy winter days, close your window treatments to add an insulating layer to your house that will keep warm air in. 
• At night, close your window treatments to add that insulating layer.

Summer (so your AC doesn't have to work as hard):

• During the day, close your window treatments to prevent the sunrays from heating up a room, keeping it cooler.
• At night, keep your window treatments closed to keep the cool air in.

What Finecraft® recommends

Honeycomb Shades

Finecraft® Honeycomb shades are the most insulating interior shades available anywhere. 

• They use a series of honeycomb like cell pockets to trap air around your windows, keeping your rooms warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  
• By opting for the day/night option on honeycomb shades you have the option of a blackout to keep the sun and heat out, or a sheer type of fabric to allow light in.

Roller and solar shades

Finecraft® roller and solar shades reduce heat gain in a room.

• Finecraft® solar shades have the added feature of also filtering the sunlight.
• Solar shades block a significant amount of heat from the outside, they are particularly energy efficient for summer and warmer climates, where these shades will keep your home cooler.

STOPPING the heat before it gets through your windows is the best way to keep your home cool with their exterior shades.

Shutters

Finecraft® interior shutters, whether wood or composite, the natural insulating properties of wood and composite along with the thick materials trap unwanted air between the glass and the covering, which helps insulate the room inside and reduce energy costs.

• In winter – Open shutter louvers so the sunrays can help warm up interiors or close them to keep cold air out.
• In summer – Close louvers to help keep warm air and the sunrays out, so a room stays cooler, reducing air conditioning costs.

By adding a mid-rail (or sometimes referred to as a divider rail) to your shutters you can close the louvres of one portion to block out sun and keep the other portion open to allow in light.

Fun Facts

To capitalize on the energy efficiency you get from shades, you need to raise and lower them as necessary, depending on the time of day and time of year.

But what if you’re not home or simply busy?

That’s where motorized SMART shades can really be a HUGE energy saver. With the Finecraft® SMART HUB automation, you can schedule your window treatments to move according to schedules you set. That way, they’ll be in the best positions to block heat loss when it’s cold or keep out harsh sunrays in the summer.