If you are in a sunny part of the country, even if only just during part of the year, you can increase the comfort of your home and lower your cooling bills, your rooms will be more comfortable and you’ll be more energy efficient to keep your home’s interior at a reasonable temperature.

There are a number of different approaches that you can take to improve the shading on your windows including . We will cover just these three. When shopping for various products check to see if they indicate the shading coefficient (SC) of the product. The SC is based upon of the percentage of solar heat that is let through by the item compared with a regular glass pane of standard thickness. SC is a number between 0 and 1. The lower the SC the better.

Solar screens are a cheap and very effective way to reduce the amount of heat coming into your home through the windows. Solar screens consist of an aluminum frame with nylon fabric stretched over it. You can either purchase them or make them yourself. If you purchase them they will usually cost less than $75 for each window. Or you can buy the components, and assemble and install them yourself for less than $20 for each installation. Solar screens are installed on the exterior of the windows. Solar screens do a good job of blocking solar heat but have the disadvantage of reducing the view. If you want to retain an obstructed view from the windows, you might consider another window treatment option.

Similar to the familiar heat blocking window films in cars, reflective films can block as much as 70% of incoming heat while only reducing light transmission by around 30%. They have the added benefit of keeping heat inside the house in the wintertime. The films are not easy to apply, so you will most likely want a professional to do this for you. Make sure that you hire someone you can trust. Do your research and check with their references.

Another good way to block the sun’s heat is the use of roller shades. They are easy to install and they roll up when not in use. Modern roller shades can preserve views while reflecting heat. They can be put on the interior or exterior of the home, but if installed on the exterior, they need to be protected from the elements. Windows with large overhangs such as wide eaves are good windows for exterior roller shades. If your south facing have large overhangs, consider putting the roller shades on the bottom of the window. Large overhangs are good at protecting the upper part of the windows so you’ll need the most shading at the lower section of the window. By putting the roller shades at the bottom, you can pull them up to the height needed to shade the lower part of the window, leaving a good view from the top of the window.

With these low cost techniques, you can dramatically cool down your south and west facing rooms, which takes some of the strain off of your air conditioner. When you combine that with a the use of a digital programmable thermostat, window treatments can make a favorable impact on your cooling costs. .

The opinion expressed in this article is the opinion of the writer. For another view on real estate topics, here is another slant on the subject.