Top 4 Benefits of Light-Filtering Window Treatments

What is the purpose of transparent window treatments?

Transparent or sheer shades are often called light-filtering or light-diffusing window treatments because they are made out of a material that allows light to filter into a room when completely closed. But not all light-filtering window treatments are see-through!

If you love to enjoy natural sunlight in your home without the drawbacks, light-filtering window treatments could be exactly what you need! Read on to learn about the top three benefits.

1. UV Light Protection

Ultraviolet (UV) light is a part of sunlight that causes furnishings to age and wear faster, weakening fibers and changing and fading colors.

Light-filtering window treatments should be seriously considered if you want to enjoy natural light in your home while extending the life of your furniture, wood floors, carpeting, beloved photographs, artwork, upholstery, drapes and other treasured items.

Learn about 3 light-filtering window treatment styles that block UV rays:Adding UV Protection to Well-Lit Spaces.

2. Energy Efficiency

Lower your energy bill with light-filtering window treatments that reduce your need for artificial light or provide the energy saving benefits of Insulation or Solar Heat Control.

Daylighting
Light-filtering window treatments diffuse sunlight, softening it and drawing it deeper into a room. Daylighting saves energy by reducing the need for artificial light during the day.

Learn more: The Best Window Treatments for Daylighting

Solar Heat Control
Keep your home cool this summer! Window treatments that provide solar heat control reflect sunlight rather than absorbing it, which prevents sunlight from adding heat to a room. With less heat added to the room, less power from the air conditioner is required to maintain comfortable temperatures.

Insulation
Insulating window treatments prevent the heat in your home from escaping through windows during the winter, and prevent heat from the sun from entering your home during the summer. While Solar Heat Control is more effective at keeping your home cool on hot days, they are unable to provide benefits in the winter and summer like window treatments that provide insulation.

Some of Hunter Douglas’ most popular light-filtering window treatments are made of honeycomb material. The cellular shapes of Duette® Honeycomb Shades trap air within each honeycomb cell, providing the energy saving benefits of insulation in any season.

Motorization
For additional energy savings, add Hunter Douglas’ PowerView® motorized operating system. PowerView® enables homeowners to program an automated open and close schedule based on the positioning of the sun throughout the day. PowerView® motorization can enable the sun to add heat to the home during winter, and blocks out the sun to keep the home cool during summer, saving money on heat and air conditioning.

Hunter Douglas Models
Each window treatment style has unique features that make it more effective at providing specific forms of energy efficiency than others. For example, some of the most effective window treatments for solar heat control and insulation are made out of opaque materials that are not capable of daylighting.

Window treatments that provide the greatest benefits for daylighting while also providing moderate solar heat control and insulation include:

• Duette® Architella 3/4″ Batiste Semi-Sheer Honeycomb Shades
• Luminette® Privacy Sheers Translucent Vanes
• Luminette® Privacy Sheers Room-Darkening Vanes
• Nantucket™ Window Shadings Sunscreen Privacy Shadings
• Silhouette®/Nantucket™ Window Shadings Light-Dimming Vanes
• Silhouette®/Nantucket™ Window Shadings a Deux™ “Shadings”
• Silhouette® Window Shadings Duolite® Shadings
• Vignette® Modern Roman Shades Duolite® Shades

If you would like to discover a window treatment model with the perfect combination of style and energy savings for your home, schedule a FREE at-home consultation with a JC Licht Hunter Douglas window treatments expert.

Learn more:

• How to Lower Your Energy Bill with Window Treatments
  
• 3 Ways Energy Efficient Window Treatments can Save You Money

Hunter Douglas Luminette® Privacy Sheers. Fabric/Material: Originale™. Color: Linen Flirt. Opacity: Translucent.

3. Privacy and Light Control

Without light-filtering window treatments, your windows need to be wide open to take in the most sunlight, leaving your family vulnerable to passersby.

Light-filtering window treatments drive the sunlight that enters your windows further into your space, dispersing it more evenly and brightening it more completely without sacrificing privacy.

A transparent visual barrier is better than no barrier at all, and not all light-filtering window treatments are see-through! Some styles such as Silhouette®Window Shadings andProvenance®Woven Wood Shades even provide both light-filtering AND light-blocking functionality!

If you are interested in shades that…

• Filter or diffuse light
• Block UV rays
• Reduce glare

…while still providing…

• Room-darkening functionality
• Privacy protection

Hunter Douglas has a number of window treatment options that could work well for your home!

To learn more about window treatment styles, operating systems and add-ons that can support a range of privacy and light control preferences, check out our blog post,Choosing Shades that Let In the Most Light While Maintaining Privacy.

Hunter Douglas Silhouette®Window Shadings. Fabric/Material: India Silk. Color: Sparkling Water. Opacity: Translucent.

4. Glare Prevention

If you love to bask in the gentle glow of of natural light but hate squinting and guarding your eyes indoors, light-filtering window treatments can help!

Light-filtering window treatments diffuse light so that it is evenly dispersed across the room rather than concentrated in one area, eliminating harsh rays that make it difficult to read from a tablet or computer.


Hunter Douglas Nantucket™ Window Shadings. Fabric/Material: Sun Porch™. Color: Regatta White. Opacity: Translucent.

Are you convinced?

If light filtration is something you think you need for your next window treatment upgrade, your next best step is to schedule a FREE at-home consultation with a JC Licht window treatment expert.