Solar Shades?

12 years ago

Just moved into our new home! Very happy to finally be settled after a very hectic move.

New great room has large windows. We love them, beautiful windows, and great views. But for a few hours in late evening the sun is BRIGHT. We thought solar shades would be a good solution, and only on the bottom windows. Have any of you used them? Any suggestions on type, brand, openess, closing mechanism, etc. My biggest concern is that I don't want them obtrusive when rolled up. Thanks for the help.

Joyce

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Comments (5)

cat_mom
12 years ago
We have Hunter Douglas Designer Screen Shades in the flat Roman Shade style in two of our bathrooms and in our "office." They work beautifully and look great. Depending on the "fabric" you choose, they range from more to less sheer. We are very happy with them and plan to use them in other rooms as well.

The only thing I might have done differently is gone against the advice of our window treatment guy and gotten my original choice of fabric in the office (the one I really liked and wanted is not available in the Roman style, only in a flat/unseamed roll-up shade).
sonaliagrawal
12 years ago
I had exactly the same scenario. Large super wide beautiful windows in my living/dining combo with amazing views (we are on a hill top). But the sun gets really glaring in the summers in the morning and afternoon. So after a ton of research I invested in exterior solar shades from blinds.com (not affiliated in any way). Got them installed on the exterior of the house. Like you have 4 panels, I have 6 panels, the center two panels are sliding doors that open up to a patio. So I got one solar blind each for each of the 6 panels, got them installed on the exterior. They let the view to still be very visible. They control the heat and the glare that the sun gets into the house very well. Overall, its been a year that they have been installed, and I couldnt have been happier. From the inside I cant tell that I have any shades installed when they are not down. Also coz they are the roller kinds, I can control how much down do I want to pull them. I got the manual ones, so I do have to go to the patio to bring them up and down, not a big deal, as I love going out and enjoying the view. In winters - they stay up almost always. In mid-summer, I end up bringing them up and down everyday.

I started with samples from blinds.com and they send them for free. They have sales often, so watch for that. The customer service is excellent too - one of my blinds would not come up and down that easily, there was a bit of tension in it - they mailed me a replacement without any questions.
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Wow what a view! Just gorgeous!!! Don’t blame you for not wanting to cover up even for a minute. I also didn’t want shades and I have just installed solar film on our back windows, I also didn’t want to darken the room.. We installed a film that has very little color in them but supposedly blocks like 97% of the harmful UV rays. You cannot tell that they have it on. I was just saying though what if this is all hype and they really aren’t blocking the rays?! Haha I have only had them about three months so no way to know for sure I guess. I really haven’t noticed a difference at all with them on. When you touch the glass they are hot though so maybe not allowing the heat to pass through.
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I just installed solar shades in my high rise condo and although my layout isn't identical, it is similar in that there is essentially a wall of windows. A difference is that my bedroom is a separate room although the bedroom essentially is one wall of windows which are separated into three frames. I have large shade in the bedroom which makes functional sense because I am going to have the windows either covered or uncovered. My living room has a patio door so it's broken up functionally somewhat differently since there are three windows - patio door - column and then another set of windows. For obvious reasons, I have three sets of shades since the shade for the patio goes to the floor. However, it's the same principle with the three windows having their own shade - the patio door having a shade. I would suggest getting motorized shades as now that I have them, I can't imagine having to physically go back and forth to the windows to adjust them. I also got tinted film for my windows to block destructive UVA rays plus heat somewhat. I don't need my shades for my privacy but only want to keep them down when the sun is directly beaming through. The film helps block heat and destructive UV during those periods when there isn't direct sun but still strong light. I used to have a western exposure and don't envy you if you live in a warm climate :-). On the advice of my designer I went with Q-Motion shades. They are not widely advertised like Hunter Douglas but are high quality and quite a bit less expensive..
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Ok, I have the blinds up! I think I made the right choice with the 5% opacity. They're opaque enough to cut glare from direct sun rays, yet the room doesn't feel too dark like they did with the brown shades. They are still transparent enough that I don't feel boxed in. I'm very happy with my choice! One big problem though: I am not happy with the brand -- Sunlera by Blinds Chalet. The brackets were ugly and bigger than necessary. The hem is horrible -- stitched instead of fused, with a flat bar inserted and huge visible pockets all around it (see below). It looks cheap. I ordered Blinds Chalet's solar shades 11 years ago and really loved what I got back then. But they discontinued that product, and these Sunlera shades are what they recommend instead. Since I knew I was so happy with their stuff from before, I figured I could trust them, but they have clearly gone down in quality. Fortunately, I was able to use all of the hardware from my former blinds (it's all Rollease and very compatible), so I swapped everything out. Also, I bought metal ball chain from Amazon. Changing that all out made a world of difference. Eventually I'll build a custom valance for the tops, that was the plan all along. BOTTOM LINE: yes, I would recommend 5% white solar shades, but NOT this particular brand. Thank goodness I'm handy enough to fix them. White shade vs dark brown comparison. Obviously dark shades look prettier (and are better for TV and computer screens), but I was going for lightness and to reduce heat gain in the summer. How the white shades look when light is not directly hitting them: And this is how they look when light is directly hitting them (they become more opaque): For reference: the ugly hem from Blinds Chalet. (the white brackets were from my previous blinds. I'll add simple valances later.) And how much better they look since I fixed the hem and swapped out the ball chain.
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sonaliagrawal
12 years ago
Forgot to add, drapes do add softness to all the wood and trim etc. So I did install drapes on the two extreme sides. These are non-operational and just for aesthetics.
jab65
12 years ago
I, too, have a similar situation and just wanted to mention that I end up closing the shades on the upper windows more often than the lower because the sun is brighter when it's higher in the sky.
joyce_6333
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for the advice everyone. I did go to Penneys this morning, and purchased Phase II solar shades. They are the flat kind, with 5% openess, in a chocolate color. They seemed to provide the most protection with the least distortion of the view. Originally, I did not want a valance, but I didn't like the roller hardware showing either, so opted for a flat valance - versus a curved valance. Both DH and I prefer simple, non fussy window treatments, and prefer other things in the room to be the focus. So keeping my fingers crossed that these look ok.

Solar Shades?

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