window shutters Archives - Page 2 of 9

Keep Your Home Cool

August 15, 2022 by McNeill Palm Team

These tips, from checking your ducts to installing new motorized shutters on your home, can help you stay cool and comfortable in your house while maybe saving a little money on air conditioning.

Check Your Air Conditioner Ducts – Your AC unit can work hard all day long, but it won’t do a thing if your AC ducts are leaky. Misaligned, leaky, or otherwise damaged ducts can leak cool air and prevent it from getting where it needs to go. You can do small duct repairs yourself, but for bigger issues be sure to hire a professional.
Invest in New Doors – Just like windows, your doors can let out all your air-conditioned air if they’re old or leaky. Investing in new entry doors can go a long way towards cooling off your home and lowering your energy bill.
Install Window Shutters – Window shutters are very energy efficient as they help keep the cool air inside your home and the hot air outside. Plus, the US Department of Energy says that we lose up to 30% of what we spend on cooling through inefficient windows. That means if you you’re your windows more efficient by installing window shutters you can save 30% of your current energy costs.
Reinforce Your Insulation – Even the best insulation will degrade over time, causing leaks that suck out all the cool air in your home. Reinforcing your insulation where it has deteriorated can be a huge help when you’re trying to cool your home.
Change Your Filters – Air conditioners have filters that need to be changed, especially in the summer months when the AC is working overtime. Creating a regular filter replacement schedule can prolong the life of your AC unit and help keep your home cool.
Cook Outside – You know what ovens and stoves produce? Heat. Try cooking outside on the grill during the summer to avoid adding additional heat to your home. Plus, grilled foods are delicious.
Clean in and Around Your Air Conditioner – The areas in and around your AC need to be clean and clear in order for it to perform at an optimal level. Clear away weeds, vines and other debris from the area around your unit and be sure to clean inside the unit as well.
Close the Shutters – While sunlight is lovely, it can really heat a space. Try closing the shutters, curtains, blinds, or shades in rooms that aren’t in use to help prevent extra heat buildup from sunlight. Make it even easier to close your shutters or other window treatments by investing in motorized shutters!
Close Unused Vents – You can close off the air conditioning vents in unused rooms in order to help direct the cool air into rooms that are used. You should also close the AC vents in your basement as basements are already cool enough without the extra cool air.
Use Ceiling Fans – Though ceiling fans don’t actually change the temperature of a room, they help us feel cooler. Moving air feels cooler against our skin than stagnant air, plus the circulation helps move the hot air up to the ceiling and the cool air down towards you.

We are here for you if you want more tips or information on motorized shutters.

Do it Yourself Motorized Shutter Ideas

June 24, 2022April 18, 2022 by McNeill Palm Team

Adding motorized shutters to your home is a great way to boost energy efficiency, style, value, and function. But did you know that there are also ways you can use shutters besides the classic window treatment?

There are tons of ways to use old window shutters beyond their standard service as window treatments. If you’re replacing the shutters on your home with new ones, don’t be so quick to throw them away. Looking for inspiration for your window shutters? Check out this list of fun, simple and stylish DIY shutter projects:

Mock Windows – Sometimes rooms don’t have any windows or not enough windows to your liking. You can create the look of more windows with shutters. Mount outside mount shutters on the exterior of the home to make the illusion that the shutter is covering up a window. This is great for creating symmetry on the outside of a home. You can also mount a shutter on the inside of the home and then put up a poster or some artwork with outdoor scenery on it to create the illusion of a window on the inside of a room.
Cabinet Doors – Custom cabinets are gorgeous and fun, but they can be expensive. Instead of buying new custom cabinets, just repurpose your shades. Solid, raised panel shutters look a lot like classic cabinet doors, while louvered plantation shutters are perfect for a cottage-style kitchen with some country flair.
Barn Doors – Modern farmhouse style is all the range right now. Get a piece of the chic farm life action by using your old shutters as barn doors in your home. Like real barn doors, barn door shutters slide back and forth on a track for a rustic yet functional way to divide a room, close a closet or any other way you would use a sliding interior door. You can use the shutters without the frames and mount them to a barn door style tracking system or a top and bottom track system like those used on sliding patio doors.
Closet Doors – Closets hide away all that stuff that you don’t want anyone to see, but that doesn’t mean that the closets themselves can’t be stylish. You can cover a linen closet, bedroom closet, or any kind of open storage space with plantation shutters. The shutters give you the privacy you need to cover up the closet, the style you want to make the room look unique, and the function you desire to make it easy to open and close the closet quickly and easily. You can also control how much the slats are open or closed for more or less visibility into the space.

If you’re ready to install new shutters in order to free up your old ones, we are here to help. We offer a range of motorized shutter services. These are just a few of the many, many ways you can repurpose old shutters in your home, so call us today to get new shutters.

Motorized Shutters for Doors

March 15, 2021 by McNeill Palm Team

Motorized shutters are an excellent choice for any home, offering style, energy efficiency, convenience, and high function, that’s why many homeowners use motorized shutters on their windows. But did you ever think that you would use shutters on doors? You can!

Why would you want to use motorized shutters on doors and windows? Good question. The answer is that having shutters on your windows and doors gives your home a stylish, cohesive flair that seamlessly blends each room and style for one chic look, not to mention the ultimate convenience that motorization provides.

Motorized shutters are a great option for almost any door in your home, especially since they can easily be custom-made and fitted to a wide range of door types. From French doors and sliding doors to narrow door windows, there are tons of ways you can incorporate shutters into your home’s door design. Here is a small portion of some of the applications of motorized shutters for doors:

Narrow Door Windows – Lots of entry doors, whether they’re front or side doors, have tall, narrow windows on either side. Shutters are a superb choice for covering these windows. They can be installed on the windows by your door just like they would be installed on any other window. Once mounted, shutters by an entry door allow you to move the louvres up and down to let in more or less light as you desire. They also make it easy for you to get in natural light without having to worry about losing privacy.
French Doors – Window shutters work very well on any kind of French door that has large glass windows. Shutters are generally mounted to French doors directly over the glass to eliminate the banging sound that commonly comes with having blinds on French doors. Also, shutters won’t get caught in the door, unlike curtains. And shutter also offer benefits in function, too. For example, shutter louvres can be adjusted to let in different amounts of light as needed. Have French doors with uniquely shaped windows? No worries! Just order custom shutters.
Sliding Glass Doors – You can definitely order custom shutters for a sliding glass door. Shutters work very well on sliding glass doors because they offer a much more stylish alternative to old fashioned and clunky vertical blinds. They’re usually mounted to fit as bypass shutter units, meaning the various parts of the shutter can be moved back and forth along a track. However, you can also install shutters on a sliding glass door in a bifold arrangement in which the units are mounted on a hinge and move across a single track.

McNeill Palm is here to help if you want to learn more about using shutters on doors and motorized shutters in general. We have years of experience in the motorized shutter industry and would be more than happy to put our experience to good use making your home the best it can be. Stop by and visit our showroom or give us a call today for more information.