Until we learned that they could save up to 24% in cooling energy in your space.
How does it do this? By automatically lowering shades when your space gets too hot and sunny from direct sun (something known as âsolar heat gainâ). By doing this, you rely less on your thermostat to cool your space.
The Department of Energy (DOE) reports that lowering your shades can reduce heat gain by about 45%, and thereby reduce energy spent on cooling. Blocking this âsolar radiationâ can make you feel 10-15 degrees (F) cooler. What this means is that, instead of having your thermostat use energy to cool your space, simply lower your shades to passively achieve your desired indoor temperature and improve your comfort level.
Just try it for yourself. Imaging yourself lying down in a park, directly under the sun - youâll feel all that solar heat. But if you lie under the shade of a tree, youâll feel significantly cooler - this is the same effect of having your shades automatically lower to cool your space!