My neighbor in Phoenix swore by shade cloth over the windows, I thought she was overreacting

After my second summer paying $310 electric bills in a row, I finally put up the 80% shade cloth she recommended on my west-facing windows and my AC barely kicks on now. Anyone else get stuck ignoring good desert advice because it sounds too simple?

2 comments

2 Comments

wendy_lee483d agoOG Member

Honestly, I found the opposite, the shade cloth just trapped heat against my windows and made my place feel like a greenhouse at night. Maybe it works for some, but I had to take mine down after a week.

mark_green3d ago

Ugh, that sucks @wendy_lee48! I had the same problem at first, but what finally worked for me was putting the shade cloth a few inches away from the glass instead of right on it. That gap made a huge difference for the heat.