Tips on how Cleaning your Dryer can Prevent Fire and Save Energy!

How to Clean the Dryer DoItYourself.com

Entrepreneur Magazine ranks Budget Blinds #1 Franchise!

We just received word from Entrepreneur®:

“Budget Blinds was recently ranked in Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500^®, the world’s first, best and most comprehensive franchise ranking. Recognized by entrepreneurs and franchisors as a top competitive tool of measurement, the Franchise 500^® places Budget Blinds among the top 150 franchises for its exceptional performance in areas including financial strength and stability, growth rate, and system size. Additionally, Budget Blinds topped the Window and Floor Coverings Category, which the company has done every year since 1996 when they were first ranked by the survey.”

A press release will be distributed, and announcements will be made on AboutStyle.com, Facebook (facebook.com/budgetblinds) and Twitter (@budgetblinds).  

CONGRATULATIONS, ONE AND ALL!

Faux Wrought Iron is a Creative and Stylish way to Decorate your Home!

Check out this blog from Faux Iron Solutions, it shows great ideas for using this product that looks just like Wrought Iron! http://www.fauxiron.com/blog/item/133-wrought-iron-design-is-a-fall-favorite?ref=nf

A Second Life for Unused Lump Charcoal | 10 Uses for Charcoal | Photos | Money Saving Ideas | This Old House

A Second Life for Unused Lump Charcoal 10 Uses for Charcoal Photos Money Saving Ideas This Old House

Budget Blinds Winter E-Newsletter

Check out our monthly newsletter by clicking on the link below!
http://www.budgetblinds.com/consumeremail/bb-winter-2010.html?utm_source=BBCorporate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=BB-ENewsletter&utm_content=2010-winter-eblast

Spotlight in the Howard Suamico Business and Professionals Bulletin

 Visit http://www.hsbpa.org/ and click on November 2010 Member News.  We are on Page 2 under Spotlight!

Click here to see us in the Howard Suamico Christmas parade!

If you'd like to see Budget Blinds in the Howard Suamico Christmas parade, click on the link below.  We are number 51, before Piggly Wiggly.  Happy Holidays!
http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/living_ii/living_merry/howard-suamico-christmas-parade-2010

Tips on how to save on your Energy bills this winter!

It’s that time of year again when homeowners turn on the heat in their homes and parents everywhere admonish children to close the door with the question, “Are you trying to heat the neighborhood?”

Depending on what’s covering your windows, closing your window treatments can reduce heat loss between 10-40 percent.  The US Department of Energy reports that windows can account for 10-25 percent of your home energy bill. Caulking and weatherstripping windows and installing storm windows are critical for conserving indoor heat and should be done.  After sealing leaks, homeowners should look to their window treatments as the next line of defense.

When you sit next to a bare window during winter, you feel colder.  What’s happening is the warmed indoor air is cooling next to the chilled window pane and circulating back into the room. To conserve heat and save on energy costs, you can slow this process by lowering your window treatments.

Not all window treatments are created equally when it comes to energy conservation. Insulation is measured by R-value, which indicates the material’s resistance to heat flow.  The higher the R- value a material has the greater the insulation. A bare, low-e, double-glazed window has a R-value around 3.5.  Adding a window treatment can improve that number by as little as 10 percent and as much as 50 percent.

Cellular shades are ideal insulators and provide the highest R-value of window coverings available.  Each cell traps warm air before it reaches the glass. The more cells, the better the insulation; but multiple cells reduce the amount of light that is filtered into the room, so it’s darker.