Most new homes today are being built with at least one patio door which opens out onto a deck or patio. These doors can be sliding glass doors, French doors, or even have one stationary pane and one door which opens. Whatever they are, they have a large expanse of glass on them which can be instrumental in letting cold in and heat out during the winter months. To keep this from happening, then, it’s necessary to find insulated drapes.
If you live in the south where it’s warm, the only reason to have drapes at all is for privacy or decoration. If you live in the north, though, and are suffering from the high cost of heating your home, they can just be one more thing to cost you money. If you’ve been through this you know that heat escaping through a patio door can add hundreds of dollars to your heating bill each year.
Insulated patio door drapes are the solution for this very big problem. They will help keep the heat in your house where it belongs. In addition, many utility companies will pay you a rebate for adding this type of insulation to your house. Insulated drapes are also beneficial in keeping the sun and the heat out of your home during the summer.
When choosing your insulated drapes, you’ll want to pick a thick, heavy fabric which will insulate more than something thinner. You can find drapes with great fabrics in a variety of styles and colors to enhance the décor of your room. Insulated drapes cost less than lined draperies just because they are unlined. Rubber is the ideal coating for the back of the drapes, because air can’t penetrate it.
Although insulated drapes can be an excellent choice, there are still some drawbacks to using them that you need to be aware of. For starters, because they don’t breathe, insulated drapes will cause more mold and mildew to form on your windows than regular lined drapes will. You will need to open doors and windows whenever possible in order to clean the mold off of them.
Insulated drapes also don’t have the longevity that other drapes do. The backing on them deteriorates quite quickly in direct sunlight, and it isn’t unusual for a pair of drapes to go bad within only three years of hanging on your door. By buying high quality drapes and taking good care of them, they can last up to 15 years. Cleaning them is a problem, though, because most dry cleaners will only do so if you take responsibility if the drapes fall apart.
It isn’t advisable to wash your insulated drapes yourself, although it can be done. They tend to shrink in washing and stretch if you hang them to dry. It’s also impossible to dry them in an electric dryer, because if they get hot, the rubber backings will stick together. If you try to pull them apart, part of the backing will pull away rendering the drapes ineffective for completely insulating a door.
It’s up to you to decide if insulated patio door drapes are right for you. By weighing the pros and cons, you’ll be able to make a more informed decision.
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