Exterior Conservatory Sun Blinds
If you have a conservatory or are thinking about getting a conservatory then you will at some point find you will need some kind of shelter from the sun.
Conservatories are a great addition to your home, they give you extra space and the thought of sitting down with a cup of tea, reading a magazine and occasionally gazing out into the garden seem ideal.
Unfortunately, in reality a conservatory can quickly become and uncomfortable hot stuffy room that is unbearable to sit in and damages any furniture, electrical equipment etc by the power of the sun.
So what are the solutions? Well conservatory blinds are very good but these can be a bit pointless - I mean, why bother to go to the expense of building a conservatory to allow you to sit in and view your garden if you are going to block 0ut the view by installing blinds! you may as well be sitting in a garage!
There are come really good conservatory solutions out there and fortunately I can provide a pretty decent review on them as I work for a company that sells specifically these conservatory products. I can tell you that in the 10 years this company has been selling the conservatory blinds we have not had a single complaint about the effectiveness of them. In fact, a money back guarantee is offered if they do not do the job it is promise.
The type of conservatory blind I am referring to is called an external conservatory blinds. As the name suggests the blind sits up on the roof of the conservatory. The blinds can be manually operated but generally people choose to go for the electric models. I must say, if I ever had a conservatory I would certainly opt for the unit with a motor.
So basically this conservatory blind sits in a tidy little cassette sat on your conservatory roof. You would not even know it was on there. When the sun comes out you press your handy remote control and out comes the blind.
The cover the extends from the conservatory blind cassette is a type of fabric but it’s not just any fabric. It has very special properties. Small holes in the fabric let light through but the special properties of the fabric actually repels the heat. As soon as this blind is out you will notice the temperature in the room immediately drop.
Being the nature of the conservatory blind, even if you roof is not made of transparent material such as glass the conservatory blind will still prevent the heat getting to the roof so you can still benefit from it.
The only complication is when you do not have a rectangular conservatory. Odd triangles such as seen on the Edwardian or Victorian styles or conservatories can prevent problems. I have actually seen panels of the fabric be made up to a frame and fixed to the conservatory roof. These are permanent fixtures and of course do not retract.
These blinds are not the cheapest of items. They range from about £1500 right the way up to thousands of pounds. you can have a small blind that has a width of say 2 metres and projects out 4 metres or a massive 15 metre wide blind that extends however much you require.
Buying a quality conservatory blind makes an unusable room comfortable and fully usable so it is a worthwhile investment
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Hi there,
I agree with what the blogger is saying. Conservatories are great, but without shade, in the summer they can become unbearable.
However, I would just like to throw a couple of solutions into the discussion, a couple of which my company sells online, one of which we don’t. I’d be interested to hear whether anyone has any views on these products, as well.
Perfect Fit Blinds for Conservatories and Windows:
*Louvolite’s Perfect Fit are “no-drill” blinds which are fitted within the frame on the interior of UPVC conservatories.
*They are held in place by brackets which slide in between the beading and the glass. The blind itself simply snap fits to the brackets.
*So there is no need to riddle your new conservatory with drill holes and screws - which can sometimes invalidate the warranty by the way!
*For conservatory windows and normal windows, they’re a doddle to fit - a DIYer could do it with ease.
*For conservatory roofs, it’s a professional job, because of the angles involved. So an accredited installer is a must.
*Roofs are only available as pleated blinds. But Perfect Fit for windows and conservatory sides is available as venetian, pleated, and very soon, roller blinds.
*Perfect Fit Pleated blinds can be installed so they pull up from the bottom of the window, as well as from the top.
*Perfect Fit Venetian can be tilted to filter the sun, but not the view.
Window Film:
Whilst Perfect Fit is a great solution for your conservatory roof simply because it’s “no-drill”, it still has one draw back… Flies! As with all roof blinds, flies get in between the glass and the blind and frazzle. Whilst Perfect Fit Roof is easier to take down and clean than all other roof systems, it’s still a bit of a pain.
I often suggest that customers cover the sides of their conservatory with Perfect Fit, but cover the roof with window film.
Window Film is a tinted, reflective, adhesive plastic film which when applied to the inside of your roof looks neat, clean and does a great job of shading your conservatory.
Spring-loaded Cassette Roller Flyscreens:
One last thing…! You can keep the flies out AND let the fresh cooling air in! Spring loaded Roller insect screens fit around the opening of any conservatory window or door. They’re like a roller blind, but with mesh instead of fabric. The roller is housed in a spring loaded roller cassette and that’s where it stays for most of the year, discretely rolled away. But when you open your window or door, the mesh screen can be pulled down to stop flies or other nasties buzzing in and spoiling your peace! Guide rails on the left and right keep the mesh in place and create an insect proof seal. The cassette and guides come in white, brown or bronze to suit your conservatory frame. The mesh comes in grey and when pulled over the window allows you to see out into your beautiful garden.
I hope you find this useful!
February 21st, 2008 at 10:38 amTim
I agree with you, its almost a joke to even install conservatory blinds if you are going to block the view, but the sun if it is too bright can cause a problem too.
Having motorized blinds can be a pain in the butt if they ever get jammed up, but these are probably going to be the best for this scenario.
Jasons last blog post..Bamboo Vertical Blinds
July 8th, 2008 at 9:31 pmOh the horror of exterior blinds (just kidding). I purchased one for my brother and the first thing that made me think twice was the price. But since he’s a good brother i got it for him anyway…lol. The only problem was the installation. We had to do some minor “reconstruction” to make it fit properly.
July 12th, 2008 at 7:35 pm