solar cooling

solar cooling

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Saving money on the cost of cooling our homes can be a challenge when hot, sunny days increase our dependence on air conditioning. According to Consumer Reports, "Americans spend more than $22 billion a year...to cool their homes with air conditioning" (July 2008). Lessening our desire to rely only on our energy cooling system is possible with the easy and cost efficient addition of solar window shades, also known as sun shades, to our windows and doors.

Solar shades are very different from typical window shades and offer many positive benefits that well exceed only lowering home cooling costs. Sun shades are constructed using a specially designed, breathable fabric that allows light and air to filter through. Sun shades are not black-out shades, but they do lower the total amount of direct sunlight that passes through a home's windows, patio doors, and sliding glass doors. Unlike interior window shades, solar shades are installed on the outside of a home's windows or doors. This prevents up to 75% of sunlight from penetrating the window and lowers the amount of heat that gets through. Solar shades can lower the temperature by up to 25%, making the inside of your home delightful and comfortable, even on the hottest summer days.

Sun shades not only make our homes cooler, thereby they save us money on air conditioning costs, and they protect our indoor drapes, curtains, and furniture from the harmful effects of the sun's ultra-violet (UV) rays. Over time, UV rays will discolor, fade, and crack the various materials we keep in our homes. Fabrics, furniture, upholstery, carpets, paintings, and more are destroyed by exposure to sunlight. Damage increases over time, too, so the more sun exposure our home interiors experience, the more our belongings will suffer the consequences. The specialized fabric in solar shades can block up to 90% of the sun's UV rays and protect our interior spaces.

In addition to being breathable and able to block significant amounts of UV rays, sun shades are a cinch to care for; they are weather resistant, mildew resistant, and can be quickly cleaned with warm water and a mild detergent. Sun shades offer the benefit of privacy, as well. The breathable fabric allows us to see out of the windows and doors, but neighbors and passers-by are unable to see into the home.

Saving money on air conditioning costs would be reason enough to install solar window shades on our homes, but the additional benefits described here -- protection of interior furnishings from UV rays, easy maintenance, and privacy -- make sun shades an even more attractive home improvement option.

Trey Collier is owner of BackyardCity.com, North America's finest Outdoor Casual Living Store, designed and created to help fashion outdoor living spaces. Since 2001, BackyardCity.com has offered internet customers quality outdoor living products, including Outdoor Solar Shades and Sun Shades, at very reasonable prices.

Heating and cooling with solar energy. All year long.