October 18, 2012

Window Treatments Add Energy Efficiency to Your Home

We all know October is celebrated as National Energy Awareness Month. But this year, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) decided that it was time to go beyond awareness and encourage people to take action. So this year, the DOE requested the current Energy Awareness Month to rename to National Energy Action Month. As a result, President Barack Obama declared October Energy Action Month.

The certified window treatment professionals at Hirshfield’s are ready to help you turn your actions into results by helping you pick out the best, high efficiency window treatments for your home!

Window treatments as insulation
In the winter, as much as 40% of the heat that escapes a home flows through the windows. During the summer, heat from the sun’s rays coming through the windows can make it harder to keep a home cool. Energy-efficient window treatments can help decrease heat loss and heat gain, thereby reducing heating and cooling costs.

R-Value
R-value is a measure of a product’s ability to resist heat flow, which is especially important in the cool winter months. The higher the R-value number, the more insulation it provides and the better it is at reducing heat loss.

A bare, low-e double-glazed window has an R-value of about 3.5. Add a properly installed Duette® Architella™ 1 1/4″ honeycomb shade with Panache™ opaque fabric and the R-value peaks at 7.86, more than doubling the energy efficiency and reducing heat loss by over 50%.

minneapolis window treatments
Hunter Douglas Duette® Architella™ honeycomb shade

The most energy efficient treatments feature a honeycomb construction. The cells actually trap the hot or cold air, decreasing the intensity of the temperature as it enters the room. A honeycomb shade with a triple cell construction will increase the energy efficiency of a single pane of glass by five times and more than double the energy efficiency of a double-glazed window.

Solar Heat Gain Coefficient
The Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) is the amount of solar heat that passes through a window, where 0 = none and 1 = all. The lower a product’s SHGC, the less solar heat it transmits, which can help a home stay cooler in the warm summer months.

The SHGC of a bare, double-glazed window is 0.76, which means 76% of solar heat is transmitted through it. Add a Duette® Architella™ 11/4″ shade with Elan™ opaque fabric and the solar heat gain coefficient drops to 0.15 — only 15% of the solar heat is transmitted.

Filter Natural Light
UV exposure is not only harmful to skin, it can also damage furnishings, floors and fine art. Most Hunter Douglas products have fabric options that filter out 99% of these harmful rays in the closed position.

Many Hunter Douglas window fashions, including Silhouette® window shadings and Luminette® Privacy Sheers, filter out as much as 86% of harmful UV rays in the open-vane position.

Minneapolis window treatments
Hunter Douglas Luminette® Modern Draperies

Hirshfield’s is your local Minneapolis-St. Paul paint retailer. The paint experts at Hirshfield’s are here to help you with everything from window-treatments to paint colors. Hirshfield’s manufactures paint right here in Minneapolis.

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Customer Reviews

We’ve Served Countless Satisfied Customers Over Generations

I have come to rely on the staff at Hirshfield’s Design Resource for their fabulous customer service and variety of products. The service is always friendly, timely and professional.

As a designer, their advice on window treatments is forever appreciated, and they are always able to show me something new in the displays and samples. They provide quick and accurate estimates, measurements and suggestions when I am struggling with a budget. The final product and installation has been nothing but flawless on every project.

I truly value what they continue to bring to our design community!

Pamela Kilian
Simply Designed

Want to give a shout out to Madi. Madi took a pretty awful experience and made it right for us. We had ordered cordless blinds and over half of them did not work right or hang right. Madi helped us return all the blinds and reordered a new product for us which we are very happy with. Madi was persistent in helping us get the issues we experience resolved.

She is always so warm and friendly and definitely puts her customers first. Thanks Madi you are a gem! Also want to add that my overall experience with Hirshfield's in St. Cloud has been an excellent experience. They made things right and put their customers first!

Kim Kaluza

Greg is amazing! We have worked with him throughout the years on both existing homes and new builds and we could not be happier. One of the things I appreciate about Greg is that he gets us to really think about how we will use our space, not just now but in the future when the kids get older. This has honestly has saved us from making some pretty big design mistakes. Finding durable fabrics and pieces is important to us while we have a preschooler running around, yet on the other hand, our teens have a different use for the space.

He is able to make it all work together seamlessly by understanding the space and its function. He has a fresh and distinctive feel to his work and builds in a variety of styles. I HIGHLY recommend working with Greg out of the gate, you will not be sorry. I honestly don't know what we do without his help;)

Kim Strout
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