Benefits
- High insulation and light reflection values can be achieved because of its honeycomb structure and range of opacities, keeping the room cool in the summer, yet warm in the winter
- Cords that are visible in regular pleated fabrics are hidden inside the pleat cell giving a solid crisp appearance when the blind is in the extended position
- Cut heat loss in winter and increase your home's cosy comfort asDuette slows the escape of warm air
- Save money on utilities and save the natural resources used to generate energy
- Save your interior fabrics, furnishings and woods from fading and deterioration
Fabric/Construction
Available in 25mm pleat size, there are many colours, textures and options to choose from. You can choose from various degrees of translucency, offering you filtering of the natural light, or complete blocking of the sun. Most light filtering Duette fabrics are made with spun 100% polyester. Most have a white neutral backing with many textures and colours on the front. The cells are fused together to prevent separation. For blackout fabrics, most are made with a milar foil or a tri laminate coating to prevent light from passing through. Again, white or grey is added to the back. Cell construction is important for this product. Some of the less expensive cellular fabrics (not offered by Thomas Sanderson) have separation problems where the material will come apart at the cell.
Hardware
Duette fits neatly into the Thomas Sanderson TecNeat hardware, available as manual tensioned, ball chain and motorised operation.
R-value
Building materials are assigned an R-value according to the product's ability to resist heat movement. The higher the R-value the better it insulates your home. Most windows have an R-value of 0.9 to 3.0 and can be responsible for 40 to 70 percent of heat or cold transfer for an entire home.
Window frames
Window frames are typically metal, wood or PVC-U. The R-value of a metal frame can be 5 to 20 percent lower than a wood or PVC-U frame window. A single layer of uncovered window glass has an R-value of 1.75. Advances in glass coatings and assembly methods are improving the energy performance of new windows but a window's age, quality of construction, and the condition of sashes, weather stripping and caulking will impact how much air infiltrates or escapes your home.
In the winter
Heat is naturally drawn to cold surfaces such as glass windows. Duette’s energy efficient honeycomb construction actually traps the cold air, decreasing the intensity of the temperature as it enters the room; this in turn helps minimize the amount of heat that's drawn toward your windows. Using layers such as the cellular construction of Duette at your windows can increase R-value by 1 to nearly 5 points. In extreme climates, that could save more money than you would spend to install windows with higher energy efficiency.
Shading coefficient
When heat is intense outdoors, solar gain is a consideration and energy talk turns to a product's shading coefficient (SC). The SC measures effectiveness at blocking solar heat. The lower the number, the better the product is at preventing heat gain.
- Double-pane window (no window covering) = approx .89 SC
- Single-pane window (no window covering) = approx 1.0 SC
- Thomas Sanderson Duette Blinds range from .21 (reduces heat gain by 79%) to .61 (reduces heat gain by 39%)