ᐅ Advantages and Disadvantages: External Venetian Blinds or Roller Shutters?

Zaba12 schrieb:
The color selection becomes problematic if you don’t use aluminum roller shutters, because then the only color option for external venetian blinds, if you want everything to match, is white-aluminum.

My window installer said that aluminum shutters are three times more expensive than conventional roller shutters, but then you can also have RAL7016, DB703, or grey-aluminum.

We paid €500 (about $540) to color-match 4 plastic roller shutters (~12m² (130 sq ft)) to the external venetian blinds (RAL 7016). Matching the blinds to the standard color of the roller shutters was significantly more expensive.

Zaba12 schrieb:
For the summer, I can really only recommend external venetian blinds on the ground floor with south or west orientation, unless you want to live like a roasting oven (exaggerated).

Absolutely. In summer, when the slats are in a horizontal position, you get a full view with a lot of light but no direct sunlight entering the house. Even though I would have preferred otherwise, our floor plan and plot layout make external venetian blinds essential, otherwise it would often be very dark inside.

Even better is natural shading in summer through appropriate architectural design.

boxandroof schrieb:
We paid 500€ to color-match 4 plastic roller blinds (~12m² (130 sq ft)) to the gray aluminum shutters (RAL 7016). Matching the shutters to the standard roller blind color was significantly more expensive.

Absolutely. In summer, when the slats are positioned horizontally, a lot of light enters with a clear view, but no direct sunlight hits the interior. Although I would have preferred not to, our floor plan and plot require shutters; otherwise, it would often be very dark inside.

Natural shading through appropriate architectural design is definitely more effective in summer.

For us, there would have been 14 color matches. The standard gray of the roller shutters doesn’t need to be matched to the white aluminum of the shutters anymore. I have seen this myself in the window manufacturer’s samples and at my right neighbor’s place.

But if you choose RAL7016, there’s no other way.

We have exterior venetian blinds facing southwest, including adjacent corner windows, and the other rooms have roller shutters (bedroom, bathroom, etc.).

The venetian blinds are connected to a wind sensor, which activates at wind force 7. This happens 1-2 times a year. We even had an electrician come out because we thought it was broken. But no, a regular storm doesn’t reach wind force 7.

There have been tests showing that the blinds hold up fine even up to wind force 10. Officially, the limit is wind force 7. However, this applies to flat slats with cords. We have special guides (not the glued-on kind, which I find unattractive; rather, it looks like the blinds are installed within the reveal) and S-shaped slats. This setup is quite solid and provides enough darkness for a living room.

The S-shaped slats can be adjusted to direct indirect light onto the ceiling. This doesn’t cause any heat buildup, but it keeps the room nicely bright.

Definitely more expensive, but also much better for living spaces. And in a new build, you really have to be careful about overheating due to the required insulation. This isn’t just a summer issue.

Shutters only provide burglary protection to the extent that they create an additional noise when entering. Otherwise, there are disillusioning videos online about shutters. They are just made of plastic or soft aluminum, and the tongue and groove do not even withstand the tensile stress when the shutter is frozen. ...we have experienced it all...so not the burglary itself but half-destroyed shutters.

Zaba12 schrieb:

My window installer said that aluminum roller shutters are three times more expensive than conventional shutters, but you can then get RAL7016, DB703, or gray-aluminum colors.

That’s simply not true...
For 4 doors and 1 wide window, we paid an additional 400€ (net) for aluminum roller shutters compared to plastic ones. In total.

We have Venetian blinds with Z-shaped slats everywhere... apart from the fact that the Z-shaped slats are significantly more stable than regular slats, we would never choose anything else again. Even with full sunlight from the south and west, the rooms remain comfortably temperate, and the children’s rooms or the entire house are far from dark...