Saving money while setting the temperature and atmosphere in your home is made much easier by installing automated shades. Here’s what they will allow you to do:

Go Eco-Friendly

In October 2010 Bridgewater, New Jersey unveiled a new $23.9 million green municipal complex. This was one of the first LEED certified municipal buildings in the state. One of its main features happens to be automated shades that go up and down depending on the position of the sun, which allows rooms to gather and retain heat throughout the day.

Innovation can be just as easy for your home. In New York, New Jersey and other areas where energy costs are sky high, using automated shades saves the burn on electricity sources and on your wallet.

The time for going green without spending much green is here. Automated shades can save so much energy by keeping your dependence on artificial light to a minimum. You won’t need to keep the light on as much if you can just flip the shades open from wherever you are. On the other hand, there’s no need to crank up the heater right away if the shades are down and less cold air came into the house.

Automated shades save the earth too. Sustainable fabrics made from organic, non-PVC (polyvinyl chloride) materials are available and so are solar shades if you want to keep a view of the outside from being obstructed. Solar shades also help to minimize glare on computers and TV screens cause by sunlight, so you can enjoy your electronics even more!

Control Hot & Cold

With home automation you can set your shades to open and close along with the sunlight each day. Select how much sun your house gets, day by day. Take control of your home’s climate with automated shades.

During those cold New Jersey winter months a great way to lower your heating bill is to allow sunlight in during the daytime hours and shut the shades in the evening, allowing your home to soak up the warmth and keep in it for you when you return home. This is called harvesting the daylight.

On the other hand, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have been getting a lot warmer during the dog days of summer. And everyone hates to look at their electric bill after hot summer months. Your family, your pets, your living spaces (including your home theater) and everyone who visits home will be a lot more comfortable if the heat stays out.

With home automation, dimming the lights will reduce heat but more importantly automating your shades saves your air conditioning costs whenever the need comes up. How many days does the weather seem to change up instantly, going from thunderstorms and cool breezes to hot and sunny afternoons (or vice versa).

Automating your shades is the perfect solution, as from any location you can control the set times that your shades open and shut. Temperature sensors are another option that can be installed along with automated shades, allowing you to add or decrease sunlight to raise or lower the temperature. Studies say this can help to reduce heating and cooling costs anywhere from 30 to 50 percent.

Have Convenience and Safety

If you’re in a rush to get to work or pick up the kids, you have no time to think about everything on the home checklist. Ever step outside and forget to check if all the windows were closed, doors were shut, valuables were put away, etc? If your shades are automated this can easily help protect your home.

Thieves in the tri-state area look for easy homes to target, and with the shades open they can peer in and see if someone is home or if there’s anything valuable in the house. They can be tempted on the spot with something in sight. With automation it’s never too late to decide to keep the shades shut. No one will be able to see if you’ve left a watch, cell phone, laptop or other enticing item in plain view from outside. Simply push the button and your shades can go down, keeping the potential for a burglary down as well.

Automated shades can protect your home in more ways than one. This would also provide the benefit of preserving your household items from overexposure to sunlight, which can cause discoloration on some wood furniture or cause plastics to overheat and melt. Even living things can benefit greatly. Plants and flowers can soak in just as much sunlight as they need; not too much and not too little, if you have control over the settings of your shades