My husband and I bought our green home at the very tail end of 2014. The floor plan fit our lifestyle, and the large number of windows allowed a ton of natural light to pour into the house, keeping it very bright and lively. The cats love warming up by sitting in the sunny windows.
Solar screens help you save on your energy bills!
The only problem was, the sun coming in through the windows made it uncomfortable to be near the windows! Downstairs, we couldn’t use half the sitting areas because the sun was too intense. The guest room heated up to uncomfortable levels. The upstairs game room was too bright when the sun was setting to use half the space.
Dan White’s Screens and Things to the rescue! After a quick and efficient window wash by Gwyndows, we installed the 90% UV blocking solar screens on all our west-facing windows, and they made a huge difference all around. As opposed to a solar film, the screens block the sun’s heat and UV rays before they even hit the window. The natural light in our home is not affected and still incredibly bright, but the fierce sunlight is no longer a problem. The guest room stays cooler, the sitting areas are now pleasant, and the AC isn’t working as hard in the summer.
Cats are the only ones who don’t appreciate solar screens.
In the photos, the solar screen was installed on the left, west-facing window. While our cats probably preferred the direct sunlight beaming in through the windows, we certainly prefer having a more habitable room. Not to mention significantly lower energy bills now that our AC doesn’t have to work overtime cooling this big room.
The return on investment for the cost of the screens may be a couple of years, but the usability of the space is well worth it. Installing solar screens was easily one of the most subtle yet dramatic home improvements we’ve ever made.