Summer Breeze in Sarasota, Florida!

Happy Summer everyone! 

I am overdue for posting my Blog/Newsletter because I was finishing up some Spring projects, including repainting and rescreening our lanai before the Summer humidity hit. We had the screen company remove all the screens and metal except the support posts and scheduled the new cage and screens for one week later. Then we completely emptied everything so we could pressure wash and paint. Painting a ceiling is fun…not!

Once we finished all of that, we had the new cage and screens installed and opted for what is called ‘picture window’ screens. This means no horizontal metal to interrupt our view of the lake, so we have been sitting on our butts a lot enjoying the fruits of our labor.  That’s my excuse for skipping a newsletter last month! While lounging in the breeze, jalousie windows popped into my head since those were common in Florida before air conditioning.  This also relates to the Newsletter I wrote awhile back about the history of air conditioning in Florida. Along those lines, I recently sold a home to a client in Bradenton that included FPL’s “Net Metering” and I had a chance to learn more about that system. So our topic for this month is about languishing in the breeze and when it gets too hot and humid that it sends you inside, a new program to save energy and dollars on your A/C bill!

So what are jalousie windows you may ask? According to Wikipedia, jalousie is the French word for jealousy. It originated in 18th century France from the Italian word geloso, which means jealous, or screen, as in to screen something from view. Supposedly because of their slatted louvres, jalousie windows protect the interior of the house from jealous peering eyes – permitting one to see without being seen.

Jalousie windows maximize natural ventilation by allowing airflow through the entire window area. Historically made only of wooden slats or glass panes, they are well suited to mild-winter climates. With mass production they became very common throughout homes in mid-20th-century Florida, Hawaii, southern California, the deep South, and Latin America. In cooler regions they were rapidly adopted to porches and sunrooms. They were also widely used in mobile homes during the 1950s and 1960s before most manufacturers began switching to sliding and sash windows in subsequent decades. It’s also called a louvered window, and this style consists of horizontal panels, either made of glass, plastic, metal, wood or other window material that sits on a track on the window’s frame.  The operator uses a crank or knob to open and close these horizontal panels, letting in plenty of air. Picture the panels similar to a windowed version of Venetian blinds and its slats, and there you have it: jalousie windows.

The jalousie window first made its debut in the early 1900s. It was originally patented in 1901, but it had a slow start to catch on.  Sometime in the late 1960s, jalousie windows had begun popping up on homes, especially in the south. With the style’s horizontal panels that opened a home up to a passing breeze, these windows were perfect for letting the air-flow inside to cool off or to substitute for the lack of air conditioning during hot summers. Both my wife and I grew up in Sarasota in homes that had no AC and we had jalousie windows all around.

The jalousie window didn’t just hit its stride in the 60s in the southern states.  In the colder parts of the United States, you would see jalousie windows on enclosed porches, gazebos, and sunrooms across the Midwest and Northern U.S.  Jalousie windows also struck luck in the realm of mobile homes. Mobile homes and trailers, strapped with limited space and most with no air conditioning, found that they can benefit from space-saving, ventilating jalousie windows. Almost a decade later, homeowners started to turn away from the jalousie window style.  By the time the 1970s hit, the majority of American homes had air conditioning.  

As much as we may enjoy the natural breeze outside in Florida, the time comes when the humidity smacks us in the face and we retreat inside to air conditioning…and the increase in the electric bill. But there is a way to lower that bill. Net metering allows FPL (Florida Power and Light) customers who connect approved, renewable generation systems such as solar panels to the electric grid, to buy and sell electricity to FPL. When you generate electricity from your solar array for your home or business, it reduces the amount of energy you purchase from FPL, and in turn, lowers your monthly electric bills. If your system produces more energy than you need, the excess power is sold back to FPL’s grid. That amount of energy is deducted from your monthly bill or credited toward a future bill in the same calendar year. In my clients case, the solar array is creating a reduction of 80% off his monthly bill. Not bad! Click here to learn more! 

I'm headed to the lanai with a cold drink in my hand...hope you are enjoying a summer breeze of your own!