How to Cut Home Energy Costs and Make A Home More Comfortable with Solar Exterior Window Shades

With the summer heat pounding down on us and the sun's rays scorching us, what do we do? Crank up the air conditioner? Move to Alaska? Of course, we all want to be comfortable, but isn't there another way than the air conditioner?

Jacksonville, FL (PRWEB) April 23, 2006 -- American Homes use up about 1/3 of the country's energy supply, polluting the environment and running up our expenses. However, if we cut our energy consumption by just 10 percent, we could not build 27 new power plants a year, according to Jodi Beebe, energy analyst for the Utility Consumers' Action Network, a nonprofit group in San Diego.

With the summer heat pounding down on us and the sun's rays scorching us, what do we do? Crank up the air conditioner? Move to Alaska? Burn up the earth's resources to stay cool? Of course, we all want to be comfortable, but isn't there another way than the air conditioner?

Australia is famous for its extreme weather, with searing heat during the day, while at night temperatures can plunge below zero. A large company in Australia - Gale Pacific - has developed a fabric known as Coolaroo fabric, and window shades made out of the fabric that can be mounted to the exterior of your home, which help keep the sun's rays and heat out of your home during the sunny months.

Coolaroo window shades come in a several different sizes, and are easily mounted to your exterior window, or can also be used on your porch or patio to make your porch and patio useable throughout the day (why not turn off the a/c, open the windows, and spend the evening on the patio?). In addition, Coolaroo fabric blocks up to 92% of the sun's harmful UV rays, and is easy to clean and maintain.

Fortunately, Coolaroo fabric is not a black-out shade, as who wants to shut out the world and live in isolation? Filtered light will come into your house still, and you can see out, although you cannot see into the house during the day (the side with the least light can see the side with the most light).

Perhaps some will learn to live without a/c, and others will move to Alaska. The smart ones will plant trees to provide shade for the house. Until the trees get big enough though, the window shades seem like a decent idea to cover the window in style and save a few bucks a month (or should we say save a few lumps of coal or a little nuclear waste?).

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http://www.outdoordecor.com/shades-umbrellas/coolaroo-window-sun-shades.asp [Shades on OutdoorDecor]

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