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Installing Some New Blinds

Every house in the United States today has some of the same basic hardware, from the windows and doors to a roof and a foundation. The style and arrangement may vary, but no house today is doorless or windowless. A homeowner will also invest in those pieces of hardware, since plain, worn out, or damaged windows or doors will at best look unattractive and at worst may cause some serious problems. A homeowner may contact local window replacement companies to fit in new and better windows to block air drafts and prevent forced entry, and the same is true of doors. But the job isn’t necessarily done with window replacement. A bare window may also disrupt the home’s climate control, or the use of the heating and air conditioning. Bare windows may thus leak money, often in the winter or summer, and bare windows also allow stranger to look into the house with impunity. For these reasons and more, a homeowner may want to invest in some professional blind installation, and brands such as Hunter Douglas and its peers can get the job done. A Hunter Douglas dealer may be right in a homeowner’s area, ready to help.

The Problems of Bare Windows

Why is it such an issue to have bare, unprotected windows in the house? Arguably, the single biggest problem with bare windows is that they disrupt the house’s climate control efforts. Most American houses have a heating and air conditioning utility, or HVAC, and at their most efficient, these systems use up around 50% of the home’s electricity. That is a lot, and if the system is being strained and overworked, then the costs run even higher. A house with thin or missing foam insulation in its walls or attic is bound to leak warm or cool air, but bare windows contribute to this problem too, drafty or not.

Bare windows in spring or in summer will allow a lot of hot sunlight to pour into a room, or several, and all that warm light will heat up the house in a hurry. This forces the air conditioner to keep turning back on to compensate for that disrupted temperature, and the whole time, that overworked air conditioner is costing the homeowner extra money on their electric bill. Something similar may happen in winter, since bare, one-pane glass windows easily allow warmth to escape through the windows, even if there are no air drafts. In this situation, the heater must keep turning back on to compensate.

Blinds and drapes can do more to improve a house. Bare windows allow strangers to see right into the rooms, and this is a problem if a criminally-inclined person spots expensive items inside such as jewelry or electronic devices. The house is practically advertising itself to burglars. Finally, bare windows are simply plain to look at, and many homeowners invest strongly in the aesthetics (as well as function) of their expensive houses. A bare window will look underwhelming. Thus, window blinds and screens can be installed when a homeowner contacts a Hunter Douglas dealer and its peers for help. Installing blinds can be both easy and quite beneficial.

Get Those Blinds Installed

If a homeowner doesn’t like how bare their windows are, they can look to a Hunter Douglas dealer, for example, to have some automatic shades or screens put onto their windows if so desired. The homeowner may get a references from their local hardware store’s staff, or look online with a query such as “Hunter Douglas dealers Boston MA” or “local Hunter Douglas dealers in San Diego CA.” This may show a few nearby locations.

Some homeowners may get automatic blinds and screens installed, which are powered with a battery or electrical cord and will slide the screens up or down based on a programmed schedule or level of sunlight. This means that, without the user’s input, the screens will lower to block hot, strong sunlight but go up during times of weaker sunlight. Other homeowners may simply install conventional, hand-operated blinds if they so choose, which may come in many colors and styles. Either way, blinds and screens can block hot sunlight (and thus ease strain on the air conditioner), and they prevent burglars from peeking inside to find items to steal.

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