ᐅ Roller shutters or blinds on the ground floor

Hello everyone,

We are currently wondering:

Should we install blinds or roller shutters on the floor-to-ceiling windows on the ground floor (patio exit, etc.)? In any case, they should be electric.

I honestly don’t see much added value in blinds, especially since I would even have to pay extra for them, which still doesn’t make sense to me.

Recently, we drove through two new housing developments, and really about 80% of the houses have blinds?? What do you think about this?

I just can’t believe it, but of course, this also raises the question: Are we thinking about this the wrong way? Are blinds maybe actually better?

Added value: You can control the appearance and the amount of light coming in. But otherwise, I don’t see any benefit, and I’m supposed to pay extra for that?

In my opinion, the disadvantages clearly outweigh the advantages...

We have external venetian blinds in the living areas; I would never do it any other way. You get proper shading while still having enough light _and_ maintaining the view outside.

What disadvantages do you see?

In general, this is primarily a matter of personal preference and aesthetics. One downside of blinds can be that they rattle in the wind, which can be especially annoying in a bedroom. This mainly depends on the type of guide system, whether the blind operates on a cord or within a track. Also, many (or maybe all) blinds automatically roll up when the wind becomes too strong. This means you’d want the blinds to stay down, but that’s not possible until the wind calms down. The advantage, as you mentioned, is of course the amount of light coming in when the blinds are down.

Initially, we also wanted to install blinds in our new build, but due to the disadvantages and cost, we ultimately decided to go with regular aluminum roller shutters instead.

I understand what you mean, and that is also an advantage of blinds. The question is whether the benefits of roller shutters are completely negligible, so that one should definitely choose blinds instead:

For example:

- Thermal insulation
- Soundproofing
- Complete blackout
- Burglary protection
- Durability / protection against hail, etc.
- More affordable
- Wind protection

What is the difference between venetian blinds and roller shutters? ops:

We also have external Venetian blinds in the living room. NEVER GOING FOR ANYTHING ELSE AGAIN!

My neighbors practically spend the whole day in complete darkness, with all the roller shutters down on the south/west side. Usually, there are also pleated blinds or some kind of curtain-like coverings, so you’re not left completely exposed when the external blinds are rolled up.

Of course, it also depends on the window areas. If you only have a standard single patio door and one or two windows, you might as well skip it. But with sliding doors or something similar, I would never want to do without it.