ᐅ Roller Shutters: Aluminum vs. Plastic

Created on: 1 Aug 2013 09:34
K
kaho674
Ask three experts and you get six opinions.
We want to install electric roller shutters. The building price includes shutters with plastic slats. Now we’ve heard that beyond a certain width, only aluminum is recommended because plastic slats can deform. But exactly what width is that? How much does heat affect this? Of course, the largest window areas face south.

The answers from the window installers confuse us more than they help. One says from 4 m² (43 sq ft) it has to be aluminum, another says up to 3 m (10 ft) wide and 4.5 m² (48 sq ft) plastic is still okay, and the next only uses aluminum because of the heat in the south. The manufacturer doesn’t provide any information at all – which I find really disappointing! It’s a total mess.

Aluminum is quite expensive and we don’t want to spend unnecessary money. But of course, it would be awful if the shutters deform in the sun. Our largest windows are 2100 mm (83 inches) high and 1650 mm (65 inches) wide. What would you choose?
sirhc18 Jan 2016 14:39
You mean pushing it up? How do you justify that? Both aluminum and plastic weigh almost nothing.
tomtom7918 Jan 2016 15:32
sirhc schrieb:
You mean pushing up? How do you justify that? Both aluminum and plastic weigh almost nothing.

Aluminum weighs 2.5 grams per cm3 (0.09 oz per in3), PVC only about half of that.

However, I also think it is harder to cut through an aluminum roller shutter than PVC.

Both can probably be pushed up only depending on the type of installed drive mechanism.
sirhc18 Jan 2016 15:46
So, electric roller shutters = anti-lift protection does not apply, right? Is this a common feature for drives, whether they offer anti-lift protection or not? The exact drive used is not specified in our quote, so I would need to follow up on that.
Weimy23 Jan 2016 10:59
Hello,
Roller shutters do not provide burglary protection. Both aluminum and plastic ones can be easily pulled out of their tracks. We will have an alarm system installed and have thoroughly researched burglary protection.
We are also getting aluminum roller shutters because I definitely wanted them in anthracite...
L
Legurit
23 Jan 2016 11:32
Yes, that’s what the building surveyor meant as well. Burglary protection just because of noise.
Is aluminum really more expensive? In our case, it was specified like that in the construction service description without being especially highlighted for marketing purposes.
Mycraft23 Jan 2016 11:43
Yes, aluminum is indeed more expensive... as is usually the case with metals. Even the manufacturing process alone is much more costly compared to PVC.