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The thing what people think of with the word window decoration, is controlling sunlight and daylight. However, today window decoration needs to do more than this. During the Covid-19 period a lot of people discovered that their home was a safe haven and window coverings played a huge part in this. Because of this, consumers have started to look for window coverings that are beautiful, functional and help to save energy. In this blog we will explain the science behind our energy saving window fabrics and smart technology Motionblinds.
1. Reflective fabrics - These fabrics have a special white or silver backing, which is designed to reflect sunlight and heat.
2. Honeycomb fabrics - These fabrics have a similar properties, but in addition to blocking sunlight, the fabric acts as an insulating blanket for the window by trapping air in the 'tubes'of the fabric. Choose the black-out version and get even more light and heat control.
To explain how these energy saving fabrics contribute to thermal comfort we need to dive into the technical details.
What exactly is light? Sunlight is radiation from the sun, which is expressed as energy and heat. Only visual light can be seen with the human eye, but the complete solar Spectrum (s) consist of ultraviolet (uv), visible light (v) and near infrared light.
The diagram explains how a fabric deals with incoming light in different ways.A fabric can reflect (R), transmit (T) and absorb (A) the incoming sunlight.Together the sum of these three values is always 100%.These solar spectrum values are most used when talking about these RTA values
Looking more in-depth at thermal comfort, all energy that is transmitted (T) gets absorbed and turns into heat.All absorbed (A) energy is already heat.Both create thermal discomfort and create the need to cool a room down by for instance air-conditioning units, which is an energy consuming process.Consequently, keeping heat out of a room also helps in terms of energy savings.
A black-out fabric is perfect for blocking incoming light. This is because the black-out fabric does not transmit any light and therefore can only absorb and reflect. When the black-out fabric has a white or a silver-coloured backing, most incoming sunlight will get reflected. When speaking in numbers, both white and silver backings of black-out fabrics can reflect up to 80% of the incoming sunlight. Which means that a lot of potential incoming heat will get reflected away.
With windows losing about 30% of heat and coolness in homes and buildings, it is a no-brainer that everyone is looking for energy saving window coverings for every window in every building across the globe. But how? The answer is not to just to get an energy saving fabric with insulating properties or reflective backings. The ultimate answer is to combine these energy efficient fabrics with Motionblinds smart technology. It’s the smartest way to lower your energy costs – and even more importantly – it will help the planet by reducing CO² emissions.
With Motionblinds you can feel safe in the knowledge that your smart home devices will talk each other. For example, the smart thermostat and smart weather station will chat to your smart Motionblinds when the temperature inside your house drops under 19 degrees or rises above 20 degrees and the smart shades will close themselves to keep the warmth in or heat out.
Want to know more about our energy saving collection? View entire collection.