West Sussex Forever Home

On 30/04/2020 at 11:14, Thorfun said:

cool! not far down the A24 then. maybe one day I can visit your site and talk about stuff with you.

You can Google sussexlogs for phone number and I work from home (live on site)

The house we completed in 2016 has velux windows and sliders - mostly west facing.  The second floor (in the roof)  has two bedrooms and a shower room - each having velux windows with blackout blinds.  However the rooms get unbearingly hot - due to the amount of insulation I think.  We are thinking of applying a solar reducing film to all the veluxes in the lounge and kitchen/family room (cut to size by Purfrost).  Supposed to reduce the heat by 61%.  (NB Film is not as easy to apply to a sloping window)  We loved all the glass but the architect (architectural technician) who has been doing this a very long time failed to point out the downside.  Like the others have said, it is best to sort this as soon as possible to ensure the house is comfortable.  Look at Pilkingtons Glass website - they do a solar control glass which may be more expensive but probably worth looking at.  We'll consider this on our next build which we are in the process of doing plans for at the moment.  This site is really great and definitely worth listening to others' experiences to enable you to try and make any amendments before its too late or too expensive.

Hi Dorothy - we have large Velux 3G windows in a South-East facing roof and had some issues with over-heating which we thought the Blackout blinds would deal with - they didn't. We fitted the Velux solar blinds which go outside the window and they have worked very well. They are sort of plastic mesh and are very easy to fit and retract when the window is opened (you can retract them completely over the winter if required), they don't flap around in the wind and I reckon they cut the heat by 75% - definitely worth the money. Blackout blinds are also pretty good and a clever design but we have had problems with the cords wearing through after 2 years - worth checking before the warranty expires!

Dave

Thank you HWP.  I'll look at the Velux exterior blinds.  I think Velux also do a Solar Control Glass style (for anyone thinking of fitting Velux windows).  Where are the cords in the blinds.  We bought ours from Blinds to Go and you pull them down with a small silver handle - like a very tidy roller blind  contained within a silver frame.  They fit into the glass frame (not inside the glass which you can also buy).  They do block out the sun glare but the rooms are still very hot in the roof - probably from rising heat from downstairs.  We don't have anything on the large veluxes in the large kitchen/family room (4) and lounge (3) and those two rooms also get very hot .  We have blackout vertical blinds on the sliding patio doors in each of those room and they are excellent altho not everyone likes vertical blinds (Tudor Blinds).   The film seemed like the most effective solution but I'd not seen the exterior blinds.  Thank you for pointing those out. 

Hi Dorothy - Blackout blinds were Velux brand for roof windows - concertina-type blind. Cords run through the blinds and up along the sides. They have a silvery back which we thought would keep the heat out but of course once it is through the window it is trapped inside! In Europe the external blind idea seems pretty common or brise soleil (sp?) which keep the direct sun out. I did look at the blinds inside the windows but all the ones I saw on recent projects had failed very quickly - and then there is no way to fix them! It is something that designers rarely consider here - we have MVHR installed which also helps by moving the air around but even so in the heat of the summer with a south-facing roof it can get pretty warm - wish I'd thought about air-con.

The external blinds for roof windows make a massive difference, i've got them on all of my south facing ones. Quite cheap really too.

On 18/05/2020 at 08:36, MikeGrahamT21 said:

The external blinds for roof windows make a massive difference, i've got them on all of my south facing ones. Quite cheap really too.

@MikeGrahamT21 this is a good tip. Which brand external blinds did you get? I’m looking for ones that will work with a flat rooflight. 

10 hours ago, Adsibob said:

@MikeGrahamT21 this is a good tip. Which brand external blinds did you get? I’m looking for ones that will work with a flat rooflight. 

I got compatibles off ebay, itzala I think was the company, somewhere in europe, they took a while to come but were about a quarter the price of velux.