While we're on the subject of solar

[OpenD]

The big advantage over window tints and films is that you can take them down to let more light, and solar heat in the winter.

[JERiv]

Anyone know how expensive it is to put up solar screens? Or can recommend a reputable company that installs them?

Thanks!

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by JERiv

Anyone know how expensive it is to put up solar screens? Or can recommend a reputable company that installs them?

Thanks!

I used Dan White's in SW Austin: Dan White's Screens & Things - Home

They will custom make and install them. As I mentioned upthread, it was about $1200 for a several windows and french doors, but that was a couple of years ago.

[G Grasshopper]

Our house had solar screens throughout when we bought it. I had the windows in the rear changed to regular, half screens because these windows are shaded, and I just couldn't see out the windows well enough. I am an avid bird watcher, and if an interesting bird flies into my yard while I am having breakfast, I want to be able to grab the binocs and see it clearly. The solar screens made binocular viewing very frustrating. I did, however, leave the full coverage solar screens on the front windows (where they increase privacy) and side windows, where they are helpful in fending off the sun.

I also used Screens & Things, as above, to replace the back screens and one solar screen that was missing. They were fast, efficient, and reasonable.

[JERiv]

I'm not sure if people don't use them because it lowers curb appeal if put in front, or if it's because they don't even know they exist.

Anyway, thanks for replies.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by JERiv

Hi guys, bringing this one back up from the depths of the city data archives!

Do you guys think this is the most efficient way to block heat from the house? I never knew about these until this weekend, when a neighbor mentioned them.

Any real drawbacks to the screens?

Also, are there better alternatives out there? I did recently install some thermal curtains in one room (they work great!), but those block all light.

Thanks!

I am an architect, who started out my education as an engineering major with an emphasis on energy conservation measures for buildings.

Every surface on your house can conduct heat into your house.

First make sure that your doors and windows seal fairly well so when the wind blows, it isn't blowing in one side of your house and out the other, removing the cooled or heated air.

If your house is well sealed, then adding insulation is the first thing you should do to keep heat out of your house. Extra attic insulation can do a lot to reduce heat build up through one of the largest exterior surface areas your house has, your roof.

If you have an old house with little or no insulation in the exterior walls, consider having insulation blown into those spaces. Contractors can cut a small opening into the top and bottom of each wall cavity and blow it full of insulation, requiring only minor patching of the walls. Otherwise its usually not cost effective to add insulation to exterior walls unless you have large rooms and can afford to give up some interior space to add another insulating wall along the interior surface of each room.

Also one of the most cost effective things you can do is have your ducts checked to make sure you don't have duct leaks, leaking your air conditioned air into the attic space. See this thread which I reposted to my City-Data Blog http://www.city-data.com/blogs/blog3...ac-system.html

Typical duct leakage is 25% in an older home. That is 25% of your energy and dollars being lost to duct leaks. The typical grey flexible ducts installed in the 1970's is now becoming brittle and easy to crack, resulting in significant leakage in those homes.

Shade your East, West and South facing windows with shade trees or solar screens. East and West is most critical as the sun is lower in the sky when it rises and sets and will heat up those sides the most. Shading overhangs can be effective on the South side if deep enough to shade the window most of the day.

If you already have shade trees or an overhang shading those windows, you don't need solar screens. If you do not have shade trees then it is worthwhile to add solar screens, but also plant a tree that will shade not just that window but that side of the house and part of the roof. It will take a few years for the tree to grow but it will pay you back many times over on the amount of energy it will save you, in addition to providing a better microclimate where your lawn and other plants can grow without getting burned and parched during our hot summers. Trees around the house also slow down the wind movements, which reduces heat loss curing colder weather.

Planting trees also reduces the amount of watering you need to do to keep your yard green. If you have areas of the yard that consistently burn and you can't water them enough in summer, plant trees and/or shrubs to shade that area and you won't need to water it as much.

Back to Solar Screens: Solar screens are a very effective way to shade windows that get a lot of sun exposure. I have them on the East and West sides of my house where I do not have a tree big enough to shade the windows, but I have planted trees that will eventually do so. Solar screens come in different densities, depending on how much of the view you are willing to block.

I do not have solar screens on the south side of my house where I have trees shading them or a deep overhang from the roof. The only time the sun shines in those windows is winter when it is welcome to warm the house.

I do not have solar screens on the North side of my house as the overhangs there are deep enough that the sun never shines in the windows, so no need.

Insulating glass windows are a good investment if you need to replace your old leaky windows. But they are a fairly small area of the total exterior surface of your house so could take 8 years for the energy savings to break even on the extra cost.