Which blinds are best to keep heat out?

Running the air conditioner in Summer does have a nice feel to it, but running it non-stop during Adelaide’s heatwaves won’t feel as nice when you receive your quarterly energy bill!

Fortunately, the clever use of blinds, awnings, shutters or curtains can help keep your house cool and your energy bills in check.  

Your choice of indoor or outdoor window coverings, can reduce heat gain by up to 80%, and as an added bonus, in the cooler months can reduce heat loss in Winter too!

Awnings

Our external canvas awnings can reduce heat gains by up to 65% on rooms that are facing South, and up to 75% on any windows facing West.  When choosing colours, a lighter colour will reflect the sunlight more and makes for a sensible choice.  Darker fabrics will reduce glare, but will absorb the heat rather than deflect it.  Having sufficient Air Flow ( ventilation) between the awning and the window is important to reduce any heat gain on your windows and will offer a great solution at keeping your home cooler in the warmer months.  A wide range of coloured, striped or patterned heavy duty canvas is available to suit your tastes or home styling. Our primary preference is for a striped awning which alternate a lighter and darker single colour together. 

Blinds

A wide selection of blinds will work wonderfully well at reducing heat gains in Summer. 

Roller Blinds are slightly more effective than verticals as they enable a solid sheet of fabric across the window and heavier blockout fabrics will offer slightly better thermal performance. Choosing a dual day-night fabric is a popular choice for both blocking the sun and obtaining excellent privacy at night.

When it comes to venetians, aluminium venetians are good at reflecting the sun and won’t tend to warp like Timber if exposed to direct sunlight but when completely closed can reflect around 45% of heat from entering a room.

Insulated Cellular Shades, whilst they tend to be more expensive are possibly the most effective internal blind option as they contain air pockets in honeycomb sections which act as insulators that will reduce the conduction of heat through the window. In the middle of Summer, it’s reported that tightly installed cellular shades can reduce unwanted solar heat by up to 80% !

Curtains are great at reducing heat gain but the choice of fabric type, colour, how close they are hung to the window and whether or not they fall all the way to the floor will determine how effective they are. Also keep in mind that if you're closing curtains during the day, you may need to switch your lights on to compensate for the natural light that would normally fill the room.

Interior plantation shutters that are custom fit, are excellent insulators due to their thickness and their ability to deflect the suns rays.  Fitting snugly, and made from thick durable materials, they stop the heat exchange between the hot air penetrating the windows and the cooler air already in the room.They add sophistication and can be manufactured with either basswood or composite materials like faux wood, wrapped in PVC or polymer which is more resistant to moisture.   ( think plantation shutters in wet areas ! )  

External Roller Shutters are tremendously effective and offer a wide range of benefits for both keeping your home cooler in Summer and warmer in Winter as they contain great thermal insulation properties.  Completely closed, they will also provide 100% light blockout which will also protect your home furnishings from sun fade. Nowadays, they can actually look quite good because they can be colour matched to your façade.

With what we’ve mentioned in this article, just bear in mind that once the sun’s rays have penetrated your windows, the heat is already on the inside so no window covering will offer a 100% protection. 

Depending on your homes exposition, window and room size,  a combination of blinds and motorised roller shutters would be the most effective solution at beating the heat this Summer, but that might not be within everyone’s taste or budget.

Keeping your household comfortable and lowering those pesky and often exorbitant energy bills is important but you may nevertheless still need to run your air conditioner on those stinking hot days! 

Talk to the team at Mr Blinds today about what will best suit your home and budget!