A few years ago, our air conditioner was out during the summer.  We had to wait a couple of days for the HVAC contractor to make it to our house.  With two small kids and a drafty older home, it was imperative that we keep the home as cool as possible.  Plus, I get really cranky when I’m too hot.  In order to keep the house as cool as possible, we kept the blinds and curtains closed 24/7.  This kept the temperature in our under-insulated house tolerable.  This tactic is especially important if your older house has single paned windows.  Double paned windows provide a much better insulation factor which prevents heat transfer from the outside into your home.  

However, even with double paned windows, heat is transferred from the outside to the inside.  Shades and window blinds reflect heat out of the house and also provide another layer of insulation around your windows.  

This is a time tested strategy for reducing the heat in your home.  My family and I visited a local museum last summer where there was a reconstructed frontier log cabin.  My daughter was curious why there were few windows in the cabin.  The handful of windows that were in the cabin all had tight-fitting shutters that kept the heat out.

So, keep those blinds and shades drawn during the summer to reduce the heat.  Only open the ones you need to provide light in the rooms you use the most.

Photo credit:  sumeja