ᐅ Exterior venetian blinds – which manufacturer? What are the differences?

Hello!
We need external sun protection for our protruding bay window, which is made entirely of glass, to prevent heat from entering the house. All other windows already have electric roller shutters, but the bay window was left out, so this is where most of the heat gets in. (We just bought the house.)
I already have quotes from companies. The prices are mostly around 5500 euros. (3 sides, 360 cm (142 inches), 220 cm (87 inches), and 300 cm (118 inches), height about 240 cm (94 inches))
Since I don’t know much about the technology, I wonder if there are differences between Venetian blinds (also called blinds or louvered shutters)? Is one manufacturer better than another? Most companies offer Warema or Roma products. Which one is better?

All current quotes include remote control systems, but since we need to connect to electricity anyway, we don’t want a remote control feature.

I read something about CDL slats with Roma. Do these types of slats make more sense? In the quotes, the standard 80 mm (3 inches) slats were always specified.

Maybe you can give me some advice?

Thank you very much!

From what I've heard so far, Warema is considered to be of higher quality than Roma. As I said, this is just hearsay.

Warema also seems to charge a premium for their brand name. We requested quotes for both Warema and Flexalum and decided to go with the latter, as their prices were about the same. Flexalum is part of Hunter Douglas, which is the largest global supplier of sun protection and window blinds. I seem to recall reading that Warema sources their slat profiles from Hunter Douglas as well.

Our blinds, including motors and installation for the entire house (19 units, including sizes like 316x275cm (124x108 inches), 310x275cm (122x108 inches), 280x275cm (110x108 inches), 290x120cm (114x47 inches), and (3x167)x275cm ((3x66)x108 inches)) cost just over 8,000 (currency omitted). The slats are 88mm (3.5 inches) wide and will be made without hemmed edges. The large-sized units cost roughly 550€ each including tax. We have deliberately chosen slats without hems to go with cable guides, but we also asked for quotes on side-guided blackout slats, which were about 70€ to 100€ more per unit including tax, depending on the size.

Maybe this helps you estimate your own quote – to me, it seems rather high for just three windows.

After comparing several options, we decided on Schlotterer roller shutters with the Retrolux slats. We liked them best because they keep the heat out while still allowing a pleasant and surprisingly large amount of daylight into the rooms.

The price for 19 units (3m x 2.5m (10ft x 8ft 2in), 2m x 2.5m (6ft 6in x 8ft 2in), some 2m x 1.4m (6ft 6in x 4ft 7in), and many 1.5m x 1.4m (4ft 11in x 4ft 7in)) is around €10,000 with side rail guidance.

Does your bay window already have a roller shutter box installed? If not, you’ll need a surface-mounted version, which, as far as I know, is more expensive. In our case, we paid the mason for the roller shutter box.

ruppsn schrieb:
We intentionally use non-hemmed slats combined with cable guides, but we also requested offers for side-guided blackout slats, which were roughly €70 to €100 gross more per unit, depending on the size.

Was price the only reason you chose cable guides, or were there other factors?

cybergnom schrieb:
Was price the only reason you chose cable guidance, or were there other factors?

Hi! Actually, price was not the reason, but rather a pleasant coincidence [emoji4]
Cable guidance appears more delicate to us and therefore looks lighter and airier, which fits the house better (a matter of taste, of course). Side guidance is said to offer more stability in wind, but when wind does get inside, the (usually hemmed) slats tend to bend more quickly. Cable guidance is more flexible, gives way more, and can better compensate for wind loads. Depending on exposure, however, this can sometimes lead to rattling (slats hitting against the window). We talked to some clients of our architect to see if this was an issue for them. Most said it wasn’t a problem and that they would make the same choice again. In addition, with strong wind, unhemmed slats are more likely to twist rather than bend—that means they might hang slightly crooked but won’t be damaged. A quick shake and they’re fine again. Hemmed slats, on the other hand, are more prone to permanent, irreparable bends when overloaded. In that case, replacement is probably the only option. Another important point: Our windows go all the way up to the ceiling, and the blinds’ housing is recessed into the façade. The considerably smaller package height of the unhemmed slats suits us well here.
As you may notice, many of my comments are speculative or based on assumptions. I’ll only be able to say if it was a good choice once the house is built and occupied [emoji4]
A quick note about side guidance: There are either surface-mounted rails or concealed (embeddable) rails. The latter would have been my choice because they look subjectively more aesthetic. However, that makes the façade installer’s work more difficult, as they have to plaster the outer window reveal. It’s significantly more effort, which will likely also affect the budget.

This just goes to show how extremely different personal experiences and recommendations can be.
A friend of mine also has cable-guided venetian blinds, but after less than two years, he’s already getting rid of them and replacing them with roller blinds. What annoyed him the most was that the venetian blinds had to be rolled up at the slightest gust of wind; otherwise, they would constantly get tangled and had to be untangled manually.

The sellers also advised us to use side guide rails because of the wind issues. Of course, that means more sales for them, but I can understand the recommendation.

It also depends on the design, of course, but we wanted to exclude that from the start. Now, according to the manufacturer’s specs at least, we have “wind resistance” up to 70 km/h (44 mph).

And our plasterer is a mate of mine, so he shouldn’t be making a fuss.

Whether it was actually the right choice, we’ll only find out in about six months when the house is finished.

Good morning everyone,

I would like to revive this thread because I need your expertise and a price estimate before approaching our window supplier regarding the issue of external blinds.

Current situation:
We have quotes for windows with roller shutters. All windows are supposed to have electric roller shutters. Currently, on the garden side (completely south-facing), there is a lift-and-slide door measuring 3m x 2.33m (10ft x 7ft 8in) and next to it a fixed (divided) window of the same size, 3m x 2.33m (10ft x 7ft 8in). The quote for these two openings, including motorized roller shutters (roller shutter slats made of aluminum) is €2160 gross.

Since I don’t want to keep the shutters closed all summer, I thought about switching to external venetian blinds (raffstores) for these two openings.

Desired situation:
External venetian blinds with a good price-to-performance ratio!

- Manufacturer? Price-to-performance is important because my budget, although not started yet, is getting smaller
- Cassette blinds (mounted in front of the window)? Is this the cheaper option with side guides? At least, I like this option
- Aluminum slats. They don’t have to match the cassette color exactly
- Cassette preferably in the color of the window frames
- Uncurled or curled edges? I don’t need Z-shaped slats. It’s only the living room after all
- A sun sensor wouldn’t matter, but a wind sensor—I'm not sure??? It’s quite windy here; we are building exposed on a hill
- In total, the area would be about 14m² (150ft²)
- Did I forget anything?

Do you have a rough price estimate for me? @ruppsen, as a “neighbor,” you should know the local price per m² (square meter) in our area, right?