Summer is the perfect time to think about the right blinds for your home or business, when the sun is high and you need to have the ideal balance between light and shade.
When you’re looking for the right blinds to block out sun and heat, there’s a lot to think about. From whether you’re looking to soften light, redirect it or block it out completely, to whether you should go for outdoor or indoor shading solutions, or even choose a different blind control method so you can set up your blinds to raise and lower at specific times.
So, in this guide we’ll talk about the different ways you can manage the sunlight hitting your windows, and how you can find the best blinds for sun protection this summer.
What are the different styles of sun blinds for windows?
There are plenty of different blinds for sun protection that can help you manage the light and heat coming through your windows in the summer.
The most common ways to control the light are through angled blinds and shutters that you can use to redirect sunlight, blinds which filter sunlight, softening its impact, and sun blocking blinds, which aim to keep the light out entirely.
Another strategy is to introduce a smart blind system, so that you can set specific times for your blinds to rise and lower – and even have different settings for different windows in your house. That means you can have the blinds down on your exposed windows, but up in other parts of the house.
A smart blind system can be the easiest way to achieve sun protection with your window blinds.
External sun blinds
Our favourite blinds for blocking out the sun are exterior sun blinds. These hard-wearing, motorised blinds are fitted to the outside of your windows, which means that they block out the sunlight before it even hits the glass.
Outdoor sun blinds for windows are incredibly effective at keeping your rooms cooler. And you can even program them to automatically lower or raise based on the time or even temperature using a smart control!
An alternative style of sun blinds for outside, are awnings. You might not think of them as blinds exactly, but awnings provide a great sun blocking solution. Again these protect your windows from the sun before it hits your window, by creating a shaded area outside and stopping the heat from building up inside too.
Of course this also gives the bonus of having some outdoor shade as well, which is why patio awnings are particularly popular as the weather gets warmer.
However if you’re hoping that awnings will give you the sun protection you need, you’ll need to make sure they’re the right size and angle to actually do the job.
Smart anti sun blinds
When you’re looking for the best blinds to block sun, one of the best options isn’t actually a specific type of blind, but actually how it’s operated.
Making your blinds into smart blinds means that you can control your blinds easily through your phone, an app, or even through smart home hubs like Google Nest and Amazon Alexa.
You can set up your system so that each blinds is raised or lowered at specific times of day. That means you can have blinds on exposed windows automatically lower when the day starts getting hot, but raise again later in the day when things are cooler.
This is a really efficient, effective way to block out the heat of the sun, and means you don’t even have to be at home to get it done!
Smart controls work with any of our motorised blinds, so if you’re looking to purchase, or already have electric blinds from us, you can easily upgrade to smart blinds.
Conservatory window sun blinds
When it comes to your conservatory, having effective sun blinds can be the difference between having a lovely room to enjoy, and having an internal heater on all summer.
The glass roof and walls of your conservatory make it the perfect place for the sun to heat up through the course of the day, which can make it unbearable when the weather gets too warm.
But luckily there are a lot of different options for sun blocking window blinds for your conservatory.
One of our favourite choices for the conservatory is perfect fit blinds. These are fantastic for the summer, as they can be fit within the frame of each glass panel, perfectly fitting the angle and shape.
That means you can even have conservatory roof blinds, which can be a massive help in keeping out the sun – especially if you choose perfect fit blackout blinds. These are also a great option for angled, or Velux windows.
If heat control is a big issue for your conservatory, we highly recommend our duette perfect fit blinds. These have a honeycomb shape which holds a pocket of insulating air. This not only helps provide protection against heat in the summer, it does the opposite in the winter, helping to hold heat within the house – bringing you benefits all year round!
Angled solar blinds
One of the most effective ways to manage the sunshine in summer, is to have angled vertical or venetian blinds.
The wonderful thing about these blinds is that the louvred slats can be tilted in different directions. This is particularly helpful if you enjoy the sunlight, but want to stop it glaring off the TV or computer screen, or shining directly into your face.
Vertical blinds are also a really popular option for commercial sun shades, as they’re easy to fit for long, wide windows, and allow staff to manage the light effectively.
And blinds aren’t your only option for angling the sunlight. Lots of shutter styles also enable you to adjust their slats and redirect the light too.
Sun filter blinds
Light filtering blinds are a lovely option if you’re just looking to soften the light that comes through your windows.
Vision or twist blinds are one of the best ways to achieve this effect without having to compromise on total light control – with this style you can have both!
Because these blinds use two different materials, you can arrange them with the translucent materials matching front and back, allowing light into the room.
Or you can match up the translucent stripes against the solid fabric, blocking the light out like an everyday roller blind.
Allusion blinds
Another trending blind option is allusion blinds, which bring you the benefits of both day and night blinds and vertical blinds too. These light, translucent blinds are becoming more popular as a way to soften light coming through your windows and are particularly popular sun blinds for patio doors.
Allusion blinds are light, translucent blinds in large vertical panels. This means they’re ideal for softening light coming through your windows, but because the panels aren’t secure at the base of the blind, they can easily be walked through without having to retract them.
They’re also great for privacy control, and look a lot more sophisticated than your classic net curtain!
Blackout blinds for sun blocking blinds
If you’re looking for blinds to keep the sun out, then your best bet for internal window shades is to get some blackout blinds.
Blackout blinds will give you much more protection from the sun and can even help keep your room cooler at the same time, by keeping the bright light from warming up your home.
You can get blackout blinds in a huge range of styles, which means you can combine some of our suggestions to get, for example, blackout perfect fit blinds.
The best blinds to keep sun out this summer
At Leamington Blinds we supply and install a massive range of different blinds that are ideal for your home this summer, whether you’re after outdoor sun blinds or internal sun shades.
From external blinds to perfect fit, venetian to vertical, shutters to roller blinds, we can help you choose the ideal option for your home or office.
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If you’d like to talk to one of our friendly experts about the right solar blinds for summer, get in touch today!
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