Keeping It Cool

About a year ago my family decided to redo the outside of our house, in the process we discovered our window screens were badly in need of repair. While looking into repairing the screens, we considered not just replacing the old ones, but installing solar screens. Solar screens help reduce the amount of energy a house uses by lessening the amount of heat that enters a house through the window. Everything we read about the solar screens said they were well worth it, so we decide to go ahead and install them. On the upper story of our house we have windows facing east and west, on these windows we installed a heavy grade of the screen, while on the lower story we installed a lesser grade, since these windows receive less sunlight. We could still view our back patio and flower bed out front, but the house was considerably cooler.


We found this installment to be very beneficial, the City of Austin gives rebates for home improvements that improve energy efficiency, solar screens included. We also saw about a 15% decrease in our energy bill. The upstairs office which could be sweltering on a summer afternoon, was no longer unbearable to walk into if we left the off air conditioning while we were downstairs and the front room facing the east was now pleasant in the mornings. Not only were we able to cut our coast with the solar screens and keep the house cooler, but we also reduced the amount of energy we consume, in turn lessening our impact on the environment.


Stay eco-friendly guys
-Rapier