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Hunter Douglas Applause Shades | Blindfolds

Posted October 19, 2009 06:50 by Robert

Tags: shades, shgc, r-value, hunter douglas, applause

Today our Hunter Douglas cordless shades were installed by Richie Sher at Blindfolds and he did a great job. We chose cordless, room-darkening shades, coated to increase energy efficiency. The backing on these shades is white to help deflect heat transfer from sunlight. The shades are GreenGuard certified, which means they meet stringent indoor air quality guidelines.

Good shades can really contribute to keeping your house cool in summer and warm in winter, an effect measureable through the shade’s “R-value,” which rates resistance to heat flow. In a home during winter, R-values indicate the ability of walls, roofs and windows to keep heat inside. The higher the R-value, the more insulation a product provides (higher is better). A product’s “solar heat gain coefficient” (SHGC) is a measurement of its ability to reduce heat gain from the sun. For windows, the SHGC is the fraction of solar energy striking a window that actually passes through to heat the room. SHGC is expressed as a number between 0 (none) and 1 (all). The lower a window’s SHGS, the less solar energy it transmits (lower is better).

The Applause Shades give a combined R-value to low E glass (the most common type) of 5.78, adding 2.28 to the glass; the solar heat coefficient is .26. The shades also fit perfectly, look great, and it’s nice to not have to worry about cords with little kids in the house. 

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