Insulated Window Shades

According to Webster's dictionary insulate means "made like an island". In other words, insulated window shades would be separate and of themselves. There could be no air or light passing through. So for the sake of this web site an insulated blind is one that allows no air or light through.

The reason I mention this is because the manufactures of wood blinds and shutters say in all thier advertisements that they insulate. That's a bunch of nonsense, pure spin and a marketing gimmick. Any material or construction that allows air or light through cannot be insulating.

As far as I know there are four types of insulated window shades. These four types are:

1. 12mm or better roller shades. These would be considered blackout window shades.They need to be mounted as close to the window as possible and the insulating shade material should roll off the back of the roll and be as close to the window frame as possible.

2. Quilted window shades. These are made of a front layer of decorative fabric, a back layer of insulated lining material and a center layer of a thermal material. The layers are quilted the same as a bed spread, edges finished and mounted on a track on the window casing. This allows no air or light to come through and keeps the cold out. These are used primarily in the coldest part of the country.

3. The third type of insulated window shades is the cell shade or honeycomb shade. This type takes advantage of the best insulating factor there is and that is a dead air space. In a single cell shade there is one dead air space, double cells have 2 dead air spaces and triple cell shades have 3 dead air spaces. A double cell shade usually only cost around 5% more than a single cell shade, so for your money you are farther ahead buying a double cell shade.You save money and stay cozy.

There a various styles of these cell shades,one such is the Duette Architella which is a cell inside of a cell. This shade in an opaque fabric offers up to 99% UV protection.

4. The fourth type of insulated window shades are insulated roman shades. A roman shade to be insulating needs to have a decorative face fabric, a heavy lining fabric and also if available a center layer of cotton felt interlining. An interlining is mostly reserved for local drapery workrooms who specialize in quality window treatments.

Like everything under the sun each of these products have thier good points and thier bad points which we get into much deeper in the articles and pages on this site. With that in mind we invite you to get a good cup of coffee or tea, settle into a chillin' mode and decide which insulated window shade would be best for your situation.