ᐅ What type of external venetian blinds (also known as louvered shutters) should be used?

When "dark gray" combined with "aluminum gray" and "white" turns into a "very crazy play of colors," acute anthracosis (ICD-10-H7016) might be a possible diagnosis ;-)

Really cool 😀, I’m feeling that way a bit now...

I just reread it, something was off before, you’re right, it’s not such a crazy combination after all 🙂.

I recently saw black windows (really black) with black external blinds (also completely black), aluminum window sills (some anodized aluminum that really looked like aluminum), and a white rendered facade. It blew me away so much that I thought, this is it... Only afterwards did the concerns about heat and dirt come up 😱. Is the heat issue really that bad with today’s houses? Dirt, yes, but that’s one of the reasons for the CDL slat.

We have had the Z lamella blinds from Roma since 2018. I have never cleaned them because they are on the upper floor.
I have always been dissatisfied with them because they don’t block out the light well, similar to the picture posted by the previous user…. Roller shutters were not an option for us because the ring beam was in the way….

Then one time the cord came loose, but we thought it had broken and called customer service. They repaired the one in the bedroom and also adjusted something.

After they left, I noticed that this one is now 100 times darker than before…

So customer service is coming tomorrow to adjust the others as well to make them darker (-:

Nixwill schrieb:

And how do you clean your external venetian blinds?

And what do you mean by “they get hotter”? Do you feel that inside when the windows are closed 😱? Are they integrated into any smart home system?

- I haven’t really cleaned them properly yet. The ones on the ground floor I rinsed off once in summer with a garden hose. Next summer, I plan to use soapy water first and then gently rinse them.

- Regarding the heating, well, dark colors absorb heat faster, especially if the blinds are down. In summer, if you open the window, the heat can come inside :-) But we will soon have a controlled ventilation system, so the windows will be opened even less.

- Regarding KNX, all my external venetian blinds are integrated via KNX. I can control each individually through the Gira app or glass switches, including adjusting the slat angle.

At first, my wife only wanted roller shutters... but I insisted on external venetian blinds, and today she says:

+ no curtains needed
+ look nicer
+ provide darkness
+ let light in
Plus the combination with KNX = perfect

@Nixwill I took some photos for you:

Window frames and guide rails in RAL7015 (Slate Gray), window sill in naturally anodized aluminum, external blinds (venetian blinds) in gray aluminum. The photo shows the gray aluminum more clearly than it appears in reality: from the inside you barely notice it because it disappears in direct and diffuse light, and from the outside you only see it if the blinds are fully closed (so at night, which usually isn’t relevant 🙂 ).

My concern regarding heat buildup is less about heating the interior space (which likely isn’t a problem) and more about the material expanding and potentially warping. This is probably not an issue with the external blinds, but definitely a concern with the window sills. Also, powder coating in color is more complex, more expensive, and more prone to scratching than anodized aluminum. Additionally, older powder-coated metals often show a faded, dull appearance after years of UV exposure. I don’t know if this is still an issue with newer or improved processes—I just chose to play it safe.

@tumaa
Okay, so not excessive heat inside the house, just a bit more when you open the window—that sounds good, I was a bit worried at first. Floor cooling is also planned for us, and controlled ventilation comes automatically with KfW 40, so everything sounds good and not really worse because of the black. 🙂

KNX would really be great, but the budget just doesn’t allow it, you have to make compromises and think about what’s more important...
That’s why "smart home" will probably have to be implemented differently. I have to say, contrary to my assumption that I was some kind of fanatic (because of Alexa, Hue, Tado & Co.), my idea of a smart home is actually quite modest 🙂.
(From reading the forum, my smart home is basically just an extended remote control. But that’s totally fine, I don’t need (or want) a lot and am very happy with my current solutions for the rental apartment. Now for the house, a few more “practical” things still need to be planned (or improved), like “smart” switches (the Hue buttons are kind of annoying), and the blinds should ideally be controllable via Apple HomeKit with scene-based settings. But I will open a new thread for that when the time comes, I still have to think about exactly what I want and how it should work in detail.)

Thanks for your reply so far!


@Hangman
Thanks a lot for your effort with the pictures!

I like it too, it feels quite coherent!

I think my idea of black/black/silver (window/blinds/windowsill) could work well, and I hope it fits thermally. Could you maybe tell me the exact anodized finish you used? I really like it (it should be something with EV and/or C-xx, I think).