Hunter Douglas is the the best in the world at inventing new blinds, shades and shutters for our windows. And now that energy saving products are so important for our planet and our lives, Hunter Douglas is inventing new and improved blinds, shades and shutters that reduce our energy use: cleaning the air and saving our energy resources. And the best part? These new products make our homes nicer places to live by adding aesthetic beauty and light control.

Hunter Douglas invented a energy-saving shade as early as in the 1980′s. It was a honeycomb shade they called Duette. This type of shade is a magnificent insulator because air is trapped in the cells – preventing your home’s heat from escaping in the cold winter months and blocking the sun’s heat from entering your home during the hot summer months.

Hunter Douglas is always innovating, and as a result has brought many new and exciting new products to the market. These include the Luminette®, the Silhouette®, Vignette® Roman Shades, Pirouette® and many others. The latest Hunter Douglas innovation is a major improvement over the original honeycomb shade called the Duette Architella®. The Architella is different because it contains two honeycombs in one – a honeycomb shade inside a honeycomb shade. This new design creates more air pockets, and more insulation, which causes a major reduction in the amount of heat that is lost through your home’s windows.

No matter how good your windows, they will lose much more energy than your walls. For example, the typical double-pane window looses up to 15 times more energy than your roof or walls. So why should you care? Because this is a lot of money – up to fifty-percent of the energy your home consumes for heating or cooling is lost through the windows. The photo above shows heat flowing through your window as red (infrared photo). Note the difference in energy loss between the walls and windows. Adding window converings serves as insulation on your windows (plus the added benefits of beautifying the room, light control and privacy).

The infrared photo between the windows above shows how the uncovered window (left) looses much more energy than the covered window on the right. Energy loss means more expensive heating and cooling bills.
Hunter Douglas window treatments (blinds, shutters and shades reduce energy use in the following manner. 1) they lower the heat that goes through your windows (heat that goes out in the winter and comes in during the summer). 2) The Hunter Douglas window coverings enable control the sun’s rays; allowing direct sun in to heat your home during winter months, and stopping it from coming in during summer months to lower the air conditioning required. And 3) the Hunter Douglas blinds, shades and shutters soften and diffuse direct sunlight entering the home reducing the energy needed for artificial lighting.