Beat the heat, close the Shutters !

The best way to deal with heat is to keep it out in the first place…

‘Volets’

Window shutters, the French ‘volets’,  provide insulation. It keeps the sun’s heat from penetrating the room and stops it from raising the temperature in your home.

So no, they do not only animate the landscape of the Provence by their bright and gorgeous colors 🙂
Some villages or neighborhoods even color-coordinate their shutters and some shutters age naturally, taking on a faded worn patina. I personally prefer those… The top selling paints here around Avignon are a ‘Provence Bleue’, and a Gray-Green called ‘Vert Provence’.

Did you know that shutters can actually prevent heat by up to 90% and provide your home with steady and comfortable temperature ? We didn’t, until now…

At night

The best thing you can do to let the cold air in, while maintaining the security of your home, is to install shutters. In the hot summer days like today, windows are opened and the shutters are closed, allowing air to circulate in the room. And in the winter shutters hold out the rain and the cold. So they are useful all year round!

Opening the windows at night to let the cool air inside is a good idea, but not without shutters. It puts you at risk for theft, burglaries, and other crimes. In fact, one of the biggest factors of household crimes is how easy to access the entry points in your home are, most especially the windows.

Create shade

A big tree in front of your house can provide shade, but not everyone can wait for years to plant, tend, and grow one. Instead, we installed shade cloths or solar sails to keep the front of the house cool and shaded. Solar sails, in particular, can be the ultimate sunshade and wind break for your home and they create a sort of cosiness. Eating or having your apéro under a cover creates a different and special ambiance. Some sort of cosiness I guess.

Beware that air conditioning can turn your warm days into the most expensive days of the year if you are not careful. For most people, running the airco is always an option and they accept a high utility bill as an unavoidable part of their lives. But it doesn’t have to be this way if you’re being a bit creative…

Environmental awareness

With today’s range of window treatments, such as shutters and lifestyle screens, you do not have to rely on air conditioning as much. Shutters will cool your home without increasing your energy bills or harming the environment. Yesss! We like this…a win-win situation!

Some more impressions

For the ones who have been following my blog or know me personally, know very well that I’ve been taking lots of pictures over the years and that I’m a big ‘shutter fan’. In the past mostly for their beauty but now that we experience the really hot days here, I understand more and more the ‘must-have’ factor of them.
To literally beat the heat… You can click here for some lovely ‘volets’, in all shapes, sizes and colors!

Till next time! 

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