Hello everyone!
We have a semi-detached house from 1921 with good insulation and fairly new windows from 2017, which we also bought in 2017. Unfortunately, it currently has no external shading. Our house stays cool for a long time, but the longer a heatwave lasts, the more it heats up. When temperatures stay above 30°C (86°F) for several days, even the best insulation can’t prevent the heat build-up. The living room and one child’s bedroom face east, so the sun beats down relentlessly on them until around 1 to 2 p.m., and for the rooms facing west, the sun arrives around that time as well. We now want to retrofit external shading as protection against heat. Below you’ll find the types of windows we have. The lower transom windows cannot be opened. There is no electrical wiring in the window reveals.
Based on my current research, the only really practical solution here seems to be an external roller shutter. Electric operation would likely be too much effort to retrofit; manual operation would mean drilling into four-year-old windows (thermal bridge?). They are PVC-aluminum windows, and we did not cut any corners there. Then there are various types of clip-on blinds, but those are ruled out because of the lower transoms and usability, right?
Our main priority is really effective protection against heat. We could also consider external blinds (such as Venetian blinds) if the operation works well. Since we all like to sleep in complete darkness, very good blackout capability would be a bonus, although our internal roller blinds already do quite well in that regard. We are the type who like to ventilate early in the morning and then keep everything tightly closed until evening during hot periods, because we just can’t take the heat otherwise—we are definitely not sun-lovers. The external window reveals have a depth of 22.5cm (9 inches), so there is quite a bit of space there for solutions recessed into the niche.
I wanted to tap into your collective experience here. Sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees or imagine problems where none exist.
Attached are the types of windows we have.
We have a semi-detached house from 1921 with good insulation and fairly new windows from 2017, which we also bought in 2017. Unfortunately, it currently has no external shading. Our house stays cool for a long time, but the longer a heatwave lasts, the more it heats up. When temperatures stay above 30°C (86°F) for several days, even the best insulation can’t prevent the heat build-up. The living room and one child’s bedroom face east, so the sun beats down relentlessly on them until around 1 to 2 p.m., and for the rooms facing west, the sun arrives around that time as well. We now want to retrofit external shading as protection against heat. Below you’ll find the types of windows we have. The lower transom windows cannot be opened. There is no electrical wiring in the window reveals.
Based on my current research, the only really practical solution here seems to be an external roller shutter. Electric operation would likely be too much effort to retrofit; manual operation would mean drilling into four-year-old windows (thermal bridge?). They are PVC-aluminum windows, and we did not cut any corners there. Then there are various types of clip-on blinds, but those are ruled out because of the lower transoms and usability, right?
Our main priority is really effective protection against heat. We could also consider external blinds (such as Venetian blinds) if the operation works well. Since we all like to sleep in complete darkness, very good blackout capability would be a bonus, although our internal roller blinds already do quite well in that regard. We are the type who like to ventilate early in the morning and then keep everything tightly closed until evening during hot periods, because we just can’t take the heat otherwise—we are definitely not sun-lovers. The external window reveals have a depth of 22.5cm (9 inches), so there is quite a bit of space there for solutions recessed into the niche.
I wanted to tap into your collective experience here. Sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees or imagine problems where none exist.
Attached are the types of windows we have.
Winniefred18 Apr 2021 22:05Kobrakai schrieb:
[QUOTE="Winniefred,
@Kobrakai I don’t think window film is a solution for us, as I haven’t seen any that looked good visually. I don’t know if you mean the kind of film you have to cut and fit yourself like on a smartphone... But if a professional company applies it using high-quality film, you can’t even tell there’s a film on the window, and it lasts for several years. Of course, there is also film integrated directly into the glass, but that is more expensive accordingly.
[/QUOTE]
That is more expensive accordingly, and we still have three old windows that will need to be replaced in the coming years, so the effort isn’t worth it multiplied by three. What kind of film do you have?
H
hampshire18 Apr 2021 22:20Nida35a schrieb:
because it is so modern to have an open glazed south-facing facade.The bright, maximally glazed south-facing side helps us stay healthy through the winter. In summer, we still manage without any electricity consumption. Everyone is different.Window film is a good idea for summer but unfortunately reduces light during winter.
Winniefred18 Apr 2021 22:27hampshire schrieb:
The bright south-facing orientation with maximum window area keeps us healthy through the winter. In summer, we still manage without using electricity. Everyone is different.
Window film is a good idea for summer but unfortunately reduces natural light in winter. You often hear that. That the films darken too much even on cloudy days and lead to higher heating costs in winter because they also block heat. From what I have read, this seems to be rather an inflexible solution.
Winniefred23 Apr 2021 15:59We have now decided to first buy electric roller shutters for the two east-facing windows in the living room as a test. This way, we can see how well they keep the heat out. These cost around €600 (about $650) in total. If they prove effective, we will retrofit the rest as well. My husband is completely against window shutters. Solar-powered ones would require less effort to install, but they are almost twice as expensive. In the living room, we at least already have power outlets inside the window reveals, so we can branch off from there without much effort. It’s different for the other windows, but if the roller shutters deliver as promised, the extra work would be worth it compared to the higher price of solar-powered ones, at least for the windows on the ground floor. On the upper floor, it would only be the two children’s bedroom windows, where we would probably go with solar-powered shutters since we already have new plaster there. Yes, yes, we didn’t think that through—that was a mistake, I know.
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