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Housing - Renovation: More marginal stuff: blinds

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    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2012
     
    Just thinking about window coverings in the kitchen. I'm sure that heavy curtains are the best form of window covering from an energy-saving point of view (just an assumption, not researched) but don't really like them (in general) and especially not for kitchens. We have glazed doors and a window and also some velux in our kitchen (lots of natural light).

    Have people come across a pleated blind called Duette? It's essentially a double-layer (triple-layer in the architella model) that traps air and supposedly has some insulating qualities as a result. Worth getting? For the Velux, Velux do also do a thermal blind, but it works on an foil principle, so is essentially a black-out blind - duette can have some translucency (depending on colour) and can be used on velux-type windows.

    http://www.luxaflex.co.uk/products/indoor/duette-shades/#product

    http://www.veluxblindsdirect.co.uk/energy-blinds
    • CommentAuthortony
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2012
     
    Blinds to keep the sun out should go on the outside.

    To keep heat in anything that stops ir will do.

    I find 3g works well on its own, use the external blinds as curtains in out lounge.
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2012
     
    •  
      CommentAuthorDamonHD
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2012
     
    You can get solar reflective blinds: not particularly heavy (nor expensive) but work very well in our experience.

    Rgds

    Damon
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2012
     
    I can't make head or tail of that. I see the data showing that a blind (in this case Wilkinsons Thermal Roller Blind) is as good as an extra layer of glazing. Fine by me (I'm not considering triple glazing anyway, so it's a moot point). But does that data tell us the relative merits of 'any window covering' vs. thermal roller blind (thermal backing providing insulation) vs. double-layer pleated blind (air as insulation)?

    One claim (30% reduction in energy use!) I've seen for Architella blinds (the triple-layer ones) seems very improbable:

    http://www.designerblinds.com/CSTips/CSTips_304.htm
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2012 edited
     
    Are solar reflective blinds effectively black out blinds? That is, there seems to me some inherent advantages to being able to reduce heat loss without excluding all the light.
    • CommentAuthordjh
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2012
     
    Posted By: JTGreenThat is, there seems to me some inherent advantages to being able to reduce heat loss without excluding all the light.

    That's called a low-E window.
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2012
     
    Obviously I meant some inherent advantages *in a blind* to having some light filter through - not everyone wants black out blinds in every room in the house.
    • CommentAuthorRobinB
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2012
     
    We have Duoshade from blinds2go - similar principle to duette but with a foiled inner layer. I like them. A big plus for me is that they (and duette) take up very little space when they are up - unlike our wooden ones*.

    They've been doing a good job keeping the heat OUT of the kitchen this week. I'd been told the Duette where discontinued - I liked the filtered light too. The foiled inner on our blinds blocks that.

    * As an aside, I fixed the wooden ones outside the recess about 6" above the window so that when the blind is up it just covers the top edge of the window. It bugs me to have a wall U value say 0.15, insert a window of say 1.5 and then block the light with curtains or blinds that don't pull right back.
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2012
     
    Lots of people seem to be doing the Duette - the manufactuers make it for Luxaflex (plenty of suppliers under that brand name) and a more limited range for Sunway. The Duoshade seem to combine technologies (foil and double-pleat) so thanks for that.
    •  
      CommentAuthorDamonHD
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2012
     
    Our blinds are mainly slivered blackout blinds hung behind curtains: I think that I have the brand/stockist of some of ours if you want them.

    It's fairly easy for us to let a little light in if required, eg we don't draw curtains full shut or leave another set in same room partly drawn or push the blackout blind to one side behind the rest of the curtains to make that part translucent. It's not binary in practice.

    Rgds

    Damon
    •  
      CommentAuthorDamonHD
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2012
     
    BTW, for the kitchen we use white alu Venetian blinds which lets us go from pretty-well blackout to deflected upwards onto the ceiling to fully open very easily. Also really helps with overheating, though as our kitchen faces east that's less of an issue than some other rooms.

    Rgds

    Damon
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2012
     
    I think I've been so fixated on heat loss that I hadn't given thought to avoiding overheating. In practice, not sure it's a huge issue in our kitchen (north-west facing). All the other rooms will have the pre-refurb (roman) blinds go back up, they were sadly not purchased with much thought to either heat loss or gain.
    • CommentAuthorjamesw
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2012
     
    I put up Luxaflex Duette blackout blinds over our large sash windows about 4 or 5 months ago. I was attracted by the good performance of honeycomb blinds in an English Heritage report on insulating sash windows, which I'm sure has been mentioned here before:
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/professional/research/buildings/energy-efficiency/thermal-performance-of-traditional-windows/

    I've been very pleased with the blinds. I have no data on their thermal performance in my property, and I can't say I've particularly noticed a difference (already have old secondary glazing over single-glazed sashes, but will probably move to double-glazed sashes in order to get rid of the secondary glazing). But the look is good - as mentioned already, they fold out of the way very neatly, so letting in plenty of light when up, with the result that it feels much lighter and airier than with curtains or other sorts of blinds.

    Although there seem to be a few retailers on the web, it seemed to me that most if not all (including the ones I used, www.flamingoblinds.co.uk) led back to a single company based in Potters Bar. I visited their showroom to make sure the fixings would be suitable before buying.

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