Innovative Ways to Save Money on your Energy Bills this Winter – The Metro

Posted February 18, 2019 In: /

As featured in The Metro 13/2/2019

In a normal home that has not been insulated, 40% of heat is lost through the windows and doors, around 35% is lost through the walls and 25% through the roof.

Energy bills are one of the biggest outlays we have each month – but there are ways you can drastically cut yours, simply by better insulating your home.

Insulating Blinds

The new wave of blinds is a gamechanger when it comes to insulation. The white wooden slat blind has been the window covering of choice for years now – just look along your street for proof – but not only do wooden blinds not block out all light, they do nothing to keep the house warm.

A significant percentage of heat is lost through glass, particularly if it’s single glazing – and the areas around windows is always chilly during the winter.

Thick curtains help keep cold at bay – but if you prefer the look of blinds, it has historically meant suffering (and shivering) in silence.

New honeycomb blinds are here to change all that. Style Studio is one of a number of companies making heat-retaining blinds that dramatically prevent heat loss from rooms.

We tested their Hive blinds and they really do work: You can feel the cold air coming in when you open them.

The blinds’ design works as you’d expect – by trapping air in the little hexagonal compartments in the blinds.

The innovative honeycomb ‘cellular’ design of similar blinds has been found to retain 46% more heat inside a room than standard window coverings.

They are available in translucent or black out – and the black outs really do block out almost every shred of light.

In situ, the blinds look very neat – they have a low profile, they sit close to the window and are slimmer than you might expect (the close-ups on the websites make them look twice as large as they are in real life), the pleats are crisp and eat and the fabric finish of the blinds (there are dozens to choose from) gives them a real visual warmth.

Unlike many blackout blinds which are quite unattractive and need to be paired with pretty curtains, the Hive blinds look good on their own.

A fitter will come to your house with brochures to help you choose your colours, then return to fit them when they are made.

Style Studio also do an insulated Venetian blind – regular Venetians but coated with Thermostop, a coating applied to the concave side of the blinds that makes it three times more effective at stopping heat passing through, compared to regular blinds.

You tilt the slats inwards to minimise heat loss, and outwards in summer to keep heat out.

The Thermostop blinds come in a choice of colours and slat sizes.

Read more information here!

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