ternal blinds

There’s nothing like a long stretch of high temperatures to make me again consider the idea of getting external blinds.

I’ve spent quite some time reading about methods of keeping rooms cool, both externally and internally. It seems that once the window glass is allowed to heat up then the transference of that heat to the room behind the window is inevitable. It can be reduced a little by having heavy, dark curtains inside but by far the preferred method is to stop the heat from penetrating the glass in the first place.

None of the windows in our building are double glazed so the current trend for light blinds and no curtains does little to keep the heat out. Some of the apartments have double blinds, one that allows light into the room but prevents anyone outside being able to see in and the second blind which cuts the outside light and the ability to see into a room from the outside. Very few people have heavy curtains and anyone who has done renovations and wants to present the latest and most desirable interior design has not only ditched the old fashioned idea of curtains but have also removed the pelmets which act as a deterrent to the cold/hot air entering through any exposed glass.

And so with the brave new march towards highly desirable interiors with their up-to-the-minute accessories the way has been paved for the sellers of air-conditioning units to do a roaring trade. Residents, coming home to an oven-like apartment after spending the day in a cool air-conditioned workplace immediately rush out and purchase the latest and often greatest in air conditioners. In the last few years the design of air-conditioners has moved forward in leaps and bounds, away from the old box types that roared away in the window frame to ones that now sit happily on a balcony and work with hardly a murmur, cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. There is of course a price to pay for presenting the latest image to the world, and it arrives each quarter with the electricity bill.

I’m all for keeping the heat out in the summer and so external blinds appeal to me. I aim to have one fitted to an east facing window which draws cries of disbelief as the norm is to have these blinds on a north or west facing wall of a building. I do not have an exterior north wall and my only west facing window is shaded most of the day by the upper story of the building while the east facing room gets the sun right from the time it peeps over the tree tops.

The greatest obstacle to overcome, after robbing a bank to pay for it, will be getting approval of the colour for the blind from the Owners’ Corporation. We have some old-fashioned dark brown and cream striped blinds at the west facing front of the building, fitted about forty years ago which I might just be expected to install. Styles and fabrics have changed a lot since then and I have seen neutral coloured blinds that allow some light in while still keeping out the heat and they really appeal to me.

As we are now more than half way through this summer I will put the idea on hold and see how the weather shapes up through next summer.