The most energy-efficient window coverings for a Michigan home

If you’ve ever felt a chill standing near a window in January, or heard the air conditioner grinding through a July afternoon, your window coverings may be the culprit: up to 30% of a home’s heating and cooling energy can escape through uncovered or inefficient windows.

Why Duette® Architella® is the one we recommend

For insulation with style intact, Duette® Architella® honeycomb shades are hard to beat. Their cell-within-a-cell construction creates three insulating air pockets at the glass, trapping air and holding indoor temperatures steady — warmer rooms in winter, cooler in summer, and an HVAC system that doesn’t work as hard. Architella® shades have also qualified for federal energy tax credits, which shortens the payback on an already sensible purchase.

Automation makes good shades better

Insulation only works when the shades are in the right position, and that’s what PowerView® Automation guarantees. Schedule shades to drop through the heat of the afternoon and open to the morning sun’s free warmth — no lifting a finger. PowerView® works with Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit and Control4, so it fits whatever already runs your house.

The drapery layer

Lined draperies from our own Ann Arbor workroom add a second layer of insulation over the shade — and a layer of warmth you can see. Hunter Douglas now makes a motorized drapery rod that joins the rest of your PowerView® setup, so even the curtains can keep the schedule. Paired with Architella® underneath, it’s the highest-performing window a Michigan house can wear.

Why it matters who installs it

Esquire is a Hunter Douglas Authorized Service Center — design, measure, installation and aftercare all live under one roof, thirty miles around each of our showrooms. We’ve been at this since Norm Barron opened the store in 1952, three generations ago.

Come feel the difference at the Ann Arbor or Plymouth showroom — hold an Architella® cell up to the light, run a PowerView® scene, and a designer will map which of your windows are bleeding the most heat. The consultation is free, and the measure comes to you once the plan is set.