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Protecting your windows from the sun: from shutters to awnings

This post gives an overview of strategies to protect your windows from the sun's rays. Shutters and awnings are two common options that offer different benefits. Shutters can be aesthetically pleasing and provide complete blockage when completely closed. Awnings allow for more natural light while providing adequate shading. They also come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors to fit the style of your building. Both shutters and awnings protect your windows from sun damage and excessive heat, ultimately saving energy costs.

Protecting your windows from the sun: from shutters to awnings

The simplest option is a fabric canopy or awning. It can be of very different shapes – a sail, a semicircle, an umbrella. There are purchased options, or you can make a canopy on the balcony yourself by purchasing fabric and installing suitable props. The cheapest option is canvas, but now there are fabrics that are more durable and resistant to external influences..

Tension awning

Awning canopy. More advanced option. There are several types of awnings, in this case – domed, which literally surrounds a window or moves onto a balcony. This hemisphere will protect well from the sun and can be used in apartment buildings as well..

Protecting your windows from the sun

A simple balcony awning can also be used to protect windows, a special mechanism allows you to adjust the angle of inclination, letting in a little sunlight into the room. On the balcony, a sturdy waterproof fabric can also protect against rainfall.

Balcony awning

Terrace awnings. Much wider, covering a large area. Like all other types of awnings, they can be manually and electrically operated. There are also modern “smart” automatic systems that fold and unfold the canopy themselves depending on the weather..

Terrace awning

Pergola awning. It can be up to 10 meters wide, of course, it will need additional supports, for example, in the form of a garden pergola, from which the canopy got its name.

Pergola awning

Regular shutters. Yes, the good old method, which has not lost its relevance. Shutters can be traditional – carved wood, metal, plastic. Roller shutters are also used now, as a more modern version. Choose a protection that matches the facade of your home.

Carved shutters on the windows

Wooden shutters

Roller shutters on windows

Reflexols. In principle, these are ordinary roller blinds, but intended for use on the outside of the window. The scheme of work is the same, but more reliable fabrics are used, for example, with the addition of fiberglass, or polyester fabric. Reflexols will not fade in the sun and will definitely last more than one season.

Outdoor roller blinds

Reflexols

Raf curtains. In general, they resemble the usual blinds, but made of more durable materials. They have an adjustable angle of rotation of the lamellas, so that they let in sunlight if it is not too hot outside and the room does not need protection.

Outdoor sun blinds

Raf curtains

Sunbreakers. They are made of aluminum and are usually installed along the entire facade. The design is both lightweight and durable. There are sunbreakers with a constant slope of the lamellas, they are more common, there are electrically adjustable ones. It is convenient that raf curtains, metal shutters, roller shutters, and sun breakers simultaneously protect the house not only from the sun, but also from strong winds, as well as unwanted intrusions.

Sunbreakers on the windows

The advantages of external protection from the sun include greater reliability, bright light and heat do not get the opportunity to penetrate through the window, while a “greenhouse zone” can form between the internal blinds, roller shutters and glass.

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Comments: 1
  1. Scarlett Foster

    What are the most effective and cost-efficient alternatives to protect windows from the sun, besides shutters and awnings?

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