ᐅ Exterior blinds for shading during summer

Oraclefile schrieb:

Hello everyone,
who here has exterior blinds, and what has your experience been like? Our living room will face south, so I’m naturally concerned about heat protection in the summer. We are now considering using exterior blinds as a shading solution instead of roller shutters.

I can recommend venetian blinds, also known as exterior blinds, though of course there are many different opinions and it also depends on personal preference. For each aspect, you will hear and read pros and cons.
On the south side, I would absolutely insist on installing exterior venetian blinds. In our old house, we had large window fronts and deliberately installed nothing during construction, similar to what you see in the Netherlands—everything open and visible. We liked that, but in summer both the heat and the glaring sunlight are an issue. Furniture can fade, etc.
The continuously adjustable slats allow you to set them exactly as needed, which I found very comfortable.

Oraclefile schrieb:

How sensitive are these to wind with windows about one meter (3 feet) wide?

At a width of 1 meter (3 feet), that’s generally never a problem. Of course, any installed element can eventually cause issues somehow, but exterior venetian blinds are installed millions of times, so I wouldn’t worry much about that.

Oraclefile schrieb:

What about security against break-ins?

Of course, they don’t provide classic burglary protection against someone determined to break into YOUR house. Such a person would overcome other obstacles as well if your home is specifically targeted.
In my opinion, however, for the typical burglar, this kind of protection does help, as most break-ins are carried out by people who only have a screwdriver in their pocket. It also means extra time and/or noise, which burglars generally want to avoid.

Oraclefile schrieb:

Do they offer much better sun protection than roller shutters while still allowing an unobstructed view of the garden?

Both block the sun from entering. With roller shutters, you can achieve complete blackout (for example, in bedrooms), whereas with venetian blinds you can adjust the light and the view as you like.

We also have external venetian blinds on the ground floor in the south and west, and we really like them. In our home, even on a frosty and sunny day in January, the living room quickly reaches 26-27°C (79-81°F) without any shading.

However, for burglary protection, it is the windows that are responsible, not roller blinds, external venetian blinds, or similar.

saralina87 schrieb:

I bet that @motorradsilke and @ypg can help you with that.

No... haha... we have roller shutters, which nowadays even stay up in the evenings and at night.
They are mainly used in the south-facing bedroom.

We installed external venetian blinds throughout the entire house except in the master bedroom and the two children’s rooms. In the bedrooms, we wanted roller shutters. I would definitely do it the same way again.
Everything else has already been mentioned.

Every option has its pros and cons. Venetian blinds can be really annoying; they are extremely slow and, as a result, always remain fully closed at the houses I see in the neighborhood. They also rattle loudly when it's a bit windy. The appearance isn’t great either. On top of that, they are hard to keep clean.

But alternatives are limited. Roller blinds are not ideal either; in summer, they would make it too dark. Shutters are great, but they don’t fit the look of modern houses.

The best solution is to design the architecture and garden in a way that you can avoid using such shading systems altogether. 🙂

Hello,

Over the course of our many moves, we have tried everything.

• Nothing at all—not an option. No sun protection, no darkening. We installed interior blinds and/or inside-mounted tension blinds, which was annoying.
• Roller shutters, somewhat digital—either fully open or closed. When closed, very good darkening and heat insulation, but no outside view.
• Exterior blinds are perfect for us. They don’t darken as much, but depending on the setting, they provide good visibility and sun protection.

In our current construction project on the beautiful Baltic Sea coast, our builder advised against exterior blinds due to potential wind issues. He doesn’t want to offer them himself. However, we still want them. In our current rental apartment on the third floor, with sometimes very strong wind, we’ve had no problems and no rattling. In our previous apartment, we had roller shutters that rattled badly. I think it depends on quality. In my opinion, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and they also look nicer.

Regards, Olli