Top 5 Most Energy Efficient Shades

1. Hunter Doulgas Duette Room Darkening Honeycomb Shades – These cellular shades have the highest AERC (Attachments Energy Rating Council) rating of any shade on the market. Warm climates have a maximum rating of 50, and the Duette Architella Calpyso and Duette Architella Reception each score a 48. While all honeycomb room darkening fabrics have a special blackout liner, the Duette fabrics have two layers of blackout liner.
2. Hunter Douglas Applause Room Darkening Honeycomb Shades – The Legends and Vintage Applause room darkening fabrics score a 46 in the AERC rankings – just a tad below Duette’s most energy efficient fabrics. The Applause fabrics provide a blackout liner within the energy efficient cellular pleats.
3. Hunter Douglas Duette Light Filtering Fabrics – Despite not having the blackout liner, the Duette light filtering fabrics are still very energy efficient, with the top fabrics scoring a 42 in the AERC rankings. Unlike the blackout honeycomb shades, the light filtering shades still allow light to shine through the shade.
4. Hunter Douglas Applause Light Filtering Fabrics – The most energy efficient fabrics in Hunter Douglas’ light filtering Applause line score a 36 in the AERC rankings – lower than their Duette counterparts, but still a serviceable energy efficient product that allows light to penetrate the shade.
5. Hunter Douglas Vignette Roman Shades – Unlike the honeycomb shades, roman shades are not graded on the AERC scale. But a Vignette with either an attached room darkening liner, or an independent blackout liner, will provide much energy efficiency in a decorative standout product.

Earn Tax Credits for the Honeycomb Shades

The federal government is currently offering an energy efficiency federal tax credit for Hunter Douglas and Alta honeycomb shades. All blackout and room-darkening fabrics qualify for the tax credit, and certain non-blackout fabrics also qualify. Customers receive a 30 percent tax credit up to $1,200. Visit A Shade Above Window Fashions to learn more.