Choosing The Best Plantation Shutters For A Desert Home

Homes in desert communities like Las Vegas have a difficult issue, namely keeping them cool in the summer.  Many who are not from this type of climate believe that Las Vegas is hot all year long, which is actually not true.  There are seasons in Nevada just like there are in other parts of the country, the exceptions being that it does not generally snow in the desert and gets extremely hot in the summer.  This means that homes in these types of communities must be built with the ability to withstand both extreme heat as well as significant cold, and this defense is going to boil down to a few key elements.  Naturally, the better insulated your home is the better you are going to be with regards to keeping both heat and cold in, but another aspect that few think about is that the window coverings in desert homes are just as important as the insulation to keep your cooling bills manageable.  A typical electric bill in the summer in Las Vegas can be three hundred dollars or more, due to the fact that the air conditioning units are running constantly to keep the home cool inside.  The units themselves are going to be more efficient if they are newer and if they are regularly serviced, but inside the home the window coverings themselves play a significant role in keeping bills lower.

People choose window coverings based upon what looks good, but many people do not understand that one type of window covering functions far better in this environment, and ultimately can pay for itself in electrical savings over time.  Plantation shutters are the best window coverings in Las Vegas, due to the fact that they can be adjusted to both allow sun in on moderate days as well as completely closed to provide a barrier against the heat on extremely hot days.  On the inside of your windows, the air can be heated up to as much as 150 degrees, and can raise the ambient temperatures in your rooms by dozens of degrees.  Through the use of plantation shutters, you can reduce the ambient temperatures in your rooms by more then 10 degrees at all times, ultimately making your air conditioners work less hard to cool the rooms and resulting in lower bills.  If you can cut 100 dollars off your monthly bills through the use of plantation shutters in your home, the shutters themselves will be paid for within about four years in an average house.  After this point, they continue to save money every month while looking good and improving the values of the home.

In hot climates where the sun is constantly beating on surfaces, plantation shutters made of poly or a wood blend tend to warp and crack.  This is why only basswood plantation shutters are recommended in these hot climates, as they will not warp or crack under even the most extreme heat.  Many people make the mistake of ordering the cheapest shutters they can find, but these will not age well over time and will probably need to be replaced.  Only install quality basswood shutters into desert homes.

For more information about shutters in Las Vegas, contact Onyx Vegas.  Onyx Vegas is the number one manufacturer and installer of top quality basswood shutters for desert communities, and will provide all the information necessary for you to make a good decision on shutters for your home.