The winter months are here in Melbourne and homeowners spend most of their time indoors to stay warm and cozy. So, make sure your home is doing its job of keeping you warm and cozy during the winter. The rising cost of energy has prompted Melbourne homeowners to look for other ways to keep their homes warm without spending more. Installing plantation shutters is one way to do that. In this guide, you will discover ways that plantation shutters can keep your home warm.
How Plantation Shutters Insulate Your Home in Winter
There are four ways that a plantation shutter in Melbourne is effective in keeping your home insulated during winter.
Choose Insulating Materials
Plantation shutters come in various styles and materials. The right material can help offer insulating properties to your home as it provides a physical barrier against air drafts that could reduce heat loss inside your home and allow cold air to come into your interior space.
Solid materials, such as wood and PVC, are the best materials to provide insulation. Aside from keeping your home warm, these materials are also ideal for summer because they keep the interior temperature of your home down.
Custom Fit Avoid Drafts
Plantation shutters are installations with bespoke designs. This means that each plantation shutter style and installation is specifically tailored to your windows. This personalised approach to designing plantation shutters to fit your windows promotes better insulation for your home. It acts as an additional layer of protection from the excess cold to maintain an ideal temperature.
Perfectly fitting shutters ensure you have a physical barrier between the window and the cold air outside.
Control Over Sunlight
Another reason why plantation shutters are ideal for winterising your home is the opportunity to control how much sunlight enters your home. You can open or close the louvres, depending on your desired results.
Opening the louvres allows some rays of sunlight to enter your home to provide heat during extra cold days. Or you can also keep them tightly shut when you don’t want any sunlight or cold exterior air to enter your home.
Take advantage of this unique feature of a plantation shutter to maximise its benefits during winter. It is also a great opportunity to remind you about considering the louvre size when choosing to install plantation shutters. Louvres are the individual slats that make up the shutters, which you can open or close through a mechanism, affecting the amount of light and air that penetrates your home through the window.
Should You Install New Windows or Plantation Shutters?
Most Melbourne homeowners have two options available if they want to winterise their home. The first option is to get new windows or install plantation shutters. The choice is clear – installing plantation shutters is more cost-effective and beneficial in keeping your home warm.
Depending on where you’re located in Melbourne, installing new windows can cost up to $30,000! While new windows might have extra benefits, like enhancing the value of your home, it’s still a big upfront cost that you have to deal with as you head into the winter.
On the other hand, installing plantation shutters is more cost-efficient and practical. You won’t have to shell out a lot of money for new windows and you can also boost your home value over time. The one advantage that plantation shutters have over new windows is that they are versatile; plantation shutters make your home suitable for any season. But a new window replacement might only benefit you during the winter season.
Aside from the cost, the lead time is another important consideration. It takes a much longer time to install new windows than it is to install plantation shutters. Replacing your windows could take up to 10 weeks, depending on how many new windows you want installed. But installing plantation shutters could only take up to 4-6 weeks for the same set of windows.
It is crucial to consider the additional requirements and permits you will need to secure when undergoing window replacements. You won’t have to go through that same process with plantation shutters.
Other Ways to Winterise Your Home
Plantation shutters offer the best insulation results to your home during winter. However, there are other options available if you want to update your window coverings to beat the cold.
You can try a combination of window coverings to provide an extra layer of insulation to your home interior. Blackout curtains are one example. They are made of thick, heavy and premium fabrics that block cold air from your home, which means your heating system has to work less to maintain the ideal temperature to keep you warm. You can also choose from various styles and colours of blackout curtains to enhance the value of the interior style of your home. Like plantation shutters, they are easily customisable and enhance the functionality within your home.
Aside from blackout curtains, look for curtains and drapes that are known for their insulating benefits. Some have magnetic strips sewn onto the edges to help attach them to the window frame and minimise the space where air can enter into your home and cause a drop in temperature. This design creates an effective barrier to cold air that is similar to the effect of installing plantation shutters.
Trying out a combination of window coverings can greatly benefit your ability to maintain a warm home throughout winter. If possible, choose window treatments that allow personalisation to boost insulation in your home, especially if you have large windows or windows that require a unique fit.
The Bottom Line
As winter takes over in Melbourne, it’s time to prepare your home for the colder temperature. Investing in the best upgrades to keep your home warm can go a long way in ensuring you can beat the cold.
Plantation shutters are a practical investment since they can insulate your home by preventing heat loss and cold air drafts. In addition, they add a warm and cozy atmosphere to your home. The aesthetic and functional values make it the ideal upgrade for your home to combat any weather conditions and seasons.
