How Do Window Shutters Help You Save Money in the Home?
Everyone is becoming increasingly concerned about rapidly escalating utility bills and it has become the prevalent challenge to save energy and money in your home. One of the solutions is plantation shutters.
The changing climate is producing colder, wetter, winters in the UK as well as average temperatures being much higher in summers, resulting in the need for more heating and air conditioning. It has been shown that around 25 – 30% of the energy used to heat and cool properties is disappearing through weaker points such as the window glass and frames.
Due to this heat loss / gain, in the past it has resulted in relying more on central heating systems, but with such inflated costs, people are looking for alternative solutions. Wooden window shutters add a solid layer in front of the windows, so just by installing incredibly beautiful shutters, you can see practical benefits both in light and temperature.
Keeping cool in the summer months
As well as providing a beautiful aesthetic and increasing the kerb appeal of any home, shutters are designed to keep your home cool. Heat from the sun (solar gain) passes through the glass in a window cannot be reflected back through and becomes trapped, leading to an infrared build up. This is more widely known as the ‘greenhouse effect’.
Glazing which is designed to keep heat in during the winter, cannot work the opposite way in the summer. Excellent materials that insulate a house well are not as ideal in the warmer months, as they don’t let the heat out.
One of the best solutions to this solar gain is to intercept the heat before it reaches the glass. Shutters work by blocking out the large majority of this solar gain, historically on the outside of a home, and now with stunning plantation style shutters just inside the space.
Used correctly, shutters or blinds will help keep your home cooler when it is warmer outside, adding insulation to the glass panels of the window, reducing utility bills both when it comes to heating or cooling the space.
The Benefits of Shutters and Blinds
All S:CRAFT shutters are made-to-measure to an exacting standard, using precise measurements ensuring a perfect fit to maximise their ability to save energy and money in your home. They will provide an extra barrier between the glass, exterior and interior of your home, keeping cold air out and warm air in through the winter.
Your windows and budget will help determine what style and material you choose, but the wide variety of benefits can also be factored in to how they will complete your living space. You might want to allow in as much as light possible, or privacy might be your main priority, the additional benefit of thermal insulation is a great factor that you can also take into account.
Other benefits include being able to open your windows wide while keeping the shutters closed, allowing fresh air in and those pesky bugs out; especially useful on sticky, humid nights. Shutters provide total control over privacy and light.
“Don’t just take our word for it, check out what our customers had to say when one of our stockists, ShuttersUp recently asked them if window shutters prevent heat loss in their home”
What Type of Plantation Shutters Should I Choose?
Choosing which type of shutters will be best for your home will depend very much on where you want to put them. Many people choose to have the whole house done at the same time, to maximise the savings that can be made in utility bills.
Others might choose to have one room done at a time. S:CRAFT offers a wide selection of different options, from our popular MDF range through to the sheer luxury of sustainably sourced hardwood. Easily found on our website, your local S:CRAFT stockist will be able to advise you on which material is the most energy efficient.
We currently offer these six main shutter ranges:
- Antigua – These prove very popular with customers. Made from polypropylene coated MDF, they are robust and perfect for high traffic areas, where they may be in constant use.
- Bermuda – These are made from a painted MDF frame and panels with dense thermoplastic louvres providing a fantastic finished when closed and a natural look.
- Cuba – With panels manufactured from a mix of sustainable hardwoods, coupled with a hardwearing MDF frame, the linear grain is very beautiful and perfect for painting.
- Java – Made from a high-grade ABS, these are our 100% waterproof shutters, so perfect for providing additional insulation for bathrooms, wet rooms and kitchens.
- Fiji – Ethically sourced hardwoods can be painted or stained, with these beautiful shutters able to be crafted into a variety of shapes and sizes. Meaning an energy efficient solution for stunning features such as arches, gable ends and portholes.
As you may expect, solid wood provides a better insulation material than ABS, as they have a low thermal conductivity. Solid panel wood shutters are therefore some of the most cost efficient for reducing bills, but all shutters will provide that essential extra layer between the glass and outside.
Any windows that are not properly insulated can benefit enormously from installing shutters. Single glazed windows that aren’t as effective will still gain an additional layer, providing the added benefit of thermal insulation, all while looking amazing and providing other practical benefits as well.
Are Unusually Shaped Windows Covered?
Bay, round, arched, octagons, ellipses – whatever the shape, your windows can still benefit from energy efficient window coverings such as shutters or blinds from S:CRAFT. As our shutters are designed to be thermally dynamic, a solid panel shutter could, for example, lead to a temperature difference of up to 10*c. That is around 5 computers’ worth of energy being saved on a daily basis!
Remember that if you are planning on having additional work carried out around your windows, tiling or plastering, then get this done before getting your shutters. Just the smallest of changes can result in your perfect made-to-measure products being slightly mis-measured, which will reduce their insulating qualities.
All of the shutters we supply are made to the highest standard and come with a manufacturer’s guarantee, as complete customer satisfaction is essential to us. Shutters help to keep you cool in the summer and warm in the winter, making them a key home addition that goes beyond simply looking stunning.
There is no doubt that interior wooden shutters will save both energy and money in your home, while also creating a very special window dressing that you can enjoy for years to come.
Look up a local S:CRAFT stockist in your area and book an appointment to discover our shutters today.
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