Solar Shade Openness Factor

11 years ago

I live on a lake and want to preserve my eastern view of that lake. I'm considering purchasing solar shades to reduce glare in the morning and to protect furnishings. It's so hard to tell from a small swatch if 5% openness will preserve my view. With the small swatch you can see clearly through the dark color, but I wonder if on a big window if the view will be clear dead on and opaque at an angle.

If you have a 5% openness factor in a dark solar shade, do you wish you had gone with 10% to preserve more of your view? Conversely, if you have 10% are you satisfied with glare reduction and fabric protection?

Also, I'm planning on going without the cassette. Does the shade look fine without the cassette for a more causal look? Would you recommend that I order a few extra inches of fabric to make sure that the roll has fabric wrapped around it even when the shade is completely down?

Featured Answer

theresa2
Original Author

9 years ago

Ermenta, we've had our blinds for about a year now. We ended up ordering Monterey 5% Cloud White N001 from Blinds.com. I am very happy with the 5% openness factor and glad that I didn't get 10%. The shade does a good job of balancing the view/glare when the sun is shining directly on the shade. It's not super clear, but it's clear enough for me to enjoy my view IMO. When the sun is not shining directly on the shade, the view becomes extremely crisp with just the slightest hint of highly transparent veil of white over it.

If you order a darker color shade you will preserve your view even more.

I like the way my white shades keeps my room light and bright even while cutting down on the glare. A darker shade may darken your interior, which may or may not be an issue for you. I use my shades mostly in winter when there are no leaves on the trees. In my northern climate I crave as much sunlight as possible, so I'm thrilled with my white shades. At 5% openness there is still some glare into the room, but it's not too bad. I think the glare might have been problematic with 10% openness. At 5% openness, I wouldn't want a TV or computer screen facing the window directly. My screens face away from the window, so screens are not a problem in this room.

Another thing I discovered is that a shade layered over an insect screen will form a moire' pattern. This may or may not bother you. I don't really notice it so much with my white shades, but it might be more noticeable with a darker shade.

I hope this helps.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (12)

Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
11 years ago
We have solar shades on our golf course facing Southern California home. We keep them up, mostly because we like a clear view, but when watching TV, they definitely help the glare. They help keep the house cooler in the hot sun also.

We have the cassettes and like them. They make everything look neat.

We can see through them, but the view is not clear. It's like looking through a haze.

Also at night, anyone can see YOU!

We will have these again in our new view home, mainly for the glare factor. They will be in their cassetts most of the time.

I don't know what % ours are.
Fun2BHere
11 years ago
I don't think you will be happy with 5%, but only you will know for certain. Tell your shade person that you need to see a larger sample of the various openness factors.
Related Discussions
Tell me about solar shades...
Q
Comments (7)
I have cream colored fiberglass solar shades for many years. It saves the view and energy too. The greenhouse effect allows the rays to come through and warm up objects in the room. The shades prevent the short wave length of light, thus stopping the greenhouse effect, thus keeping the room cooler in southern exposure rooms. These shades are very popular in skylights for this reason. I have them in my family room window mainly for filtering out the light for daytime TV viewing. Also they are down for the little grandkids napping time when I watch them. Several years ago hubby installed a ten foot box window at that time he ran electric because he knew he wanted to make a motorized shade for the ten foot span. ( and he did make them) The other three smaller windows he made shades with pull chains. I highly recommend pull chain shades, over spring loaded shades...They are easy to operate and you never have to pull up or down on the shade. You just pull the chain one way for down, and the other way for up. You can stop it exactually where you want it. When you have windows that are viewed together this is a big plus to have shades all stopped at the same level... In our bedroom I keep our shades always half down during the day, and for the two windows that are side by side -- this is a task. Pull chain shades would eliminate this daily chore. Our bedroom solar shades are spring roller shades, I much prefer the chain pull shades. I'll get you pics later or tomorrow. Also, of course you can still do window treatments on top of the solar shades, we have Roman shades on top of ours.
...See More
Solar Shades at Night
Q
Comments (10)
We are planning solar shades (designer screen shades I think Hunter Douglas calls them) for our Master bedroom. We put them in recently in the guest bathroom and the office without a liner/second shade, but the window treatment guy suggested "micro-pleats" to use behind the solar shade in the bedroom. We're not worried about privacy there (windows are in the back and driveway side of the house, upstairs), rather, we want the ability to darken the room/prevent early-morning sunlight from coming in through the solar shade. HTH!
...See More
Solar shades or Cellular
Q
Comments (11)
Solar shades come in varying openness factors. The densest is blackout. I have them on all of my west-facing windows and they make a huge difference in the temperature of the room. The difficulty is if you want a more open weave for the daytime and a blackout weave for nighttime. You can install two separate shades if your windows are deep enough or you can install one inside mount and one outside mount, but that gets pricy. I only have cellular shades on one bathroom window where I wanted to be able to change the openness factor. I don't know about the heat protection because that window doesn't face west.
...See More
Solar Shades Openness vs Glare
Q
Comments (6)
We purchased Phase II solar shades for our great room in 5% openness. We opted for the dark color, and only use them occasionally when watching TV during the early evening in the summer. The windows are west facing so get the afternoon sun. They definitely block out enough glare to see the TV clearly. And you can still enjoy the view. When rolled up, the are not noticeable at all. We've been pleased, they function as we expected. Now that the sun sets earlier, we don't use them. We got them at Penneys, and they had samples of the fabric. I brought them home and held them up to light before making my choice. They definitely are not decorative. If you want something decorative, these are not for you. I love wood blinds, and plantation shutters too. But now that we in a wooded area with beautiful views, I wanted it to be wide open when we didn't need the shades for TV viewing. Here is a link that might be useful: Phase II
...See More
theresa2
Original Author
11 years ago
Nevermind, I decided against solar shades. It turns out that solar shades show a diagonal stripe effect when layered over a window screen. It's an effect that I could not live with. I'm not sure if all solar shades do this. Just thought I would pass this information onto others who might be considering solar shades for their windows.
amykath
11 years ago
Excuse the picture quality but we too have huge windows east facing to a lake. I got these shades from Overstock for about 20.00 each and they do the trick.
amykath
11 years ago
Another shot at night.
theresa2
Original Author
11 years ago
I love those shades aktillery. Good find!
amykath
11 years ago
Thanks Theresa! We are only renting so I was not about to pay a great deal of $$ on shades. ;) But geez, the light blaring in during most of the day was killing me!
annie1971
11 years ago
Theresa: You might investigate having your windows tinted. My bathroom windows have the darkest allowed for noncommercial use and our bedroom has the second darkest. We can see perfectly through them during the day; they protect from the sun (we're in a high mountain desert climate) and give complete privacy. You will want shades, however, for privacy at night when your lights are on.
earmenta
9 years ago
Hi Theresa, On may 2013 you express your doubt about 5 or 10% openess factor for your windows. I would like to know what openess you decided and what is your experience about your decision.
My wife and I are in the same situation right now and we do not know which would be better. We have a wonderful forest infron of our 14 windows and we do not know if we choose 10% our furniture would be protected.
Thanks for your input.
Enrique Armenta
earmenta00@msn.com
Canada
joyce_6333
9 years ago
Hi Theresa: These are old pictures, but thought I'd share. We got custom shades from Penneys and I believe they were 5%. In the picture the lower shades are installed, and the uppers are clear.
Shannon Barnes
4 years ago
Theresa2

I’m considering buying solar shades for my screened in porch. When the sun sets, it produces a huge glare. Not to mention the sun is shining directly on the left side of your face. Lol

My screen is a dark color and the metal is black. I was thinking of buying a light gray shade to brighten things up. I like the option of being able to see through the shade a bit. I’m thinking that 5% open would be the best option from what you have said. I am wondering what you meant by a moire pattern with the shade over the screen? Thank you. Shannon

Solar Shade Openness Factor

theresa2
Original Author

Comments (12)

Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b

Fun2BHere

Related Discussions

theresa2
Original Author

amykath

amykath

theresa2
Original Author

amykath

annie1971

earmenta

joyce_6333

Shannon Barnes

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Solar Shade Openness Factor

theresa2Original Author

Comments (12)

Related Discussions

theresa2Original Author

theresa2Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

theresa2
Original Author

theresa2
Original Author

theresa2
Original Author