Dreadnaught Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 (edited) Calling the ingenious engineers on BuildHub! I have a vision for a motorised sun shade for my skylights: The skylights are completely flat, about 900mm x 2000mm, and will sit on a flat roof above my living room The sun shade will be a sheet of thin metal (or other suitable substance) bigger than the skylight through which is cut a pleasingly random pattern of holes to allow dappled light effect beneath The sheet of metal itself would be suspended horizontally perhaps an inch or two above the glass of the skylight without touching Importantly, the sheet would be mounted on motorised wheels so could retracted at will to allow the light to pour in I wonder, what off-the-shelf parts could be cobbled together to make this? My own first guess was the parts used for motorised sliding gates but I suspect there are better ideas. What do you think? Edited August 10, 2018 by Dreadnaught Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivienz Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Is it just for shade, or solar gain, or both? Internal or external? Prompted by an earlier thread by @lizzie I'm going to have external roller blinds to control solar gain for my south facing windows. They use a mesh fabric that allow you to see out when they're down. I had a competitive quote from this firm: External roller blinds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Windage on a metal sheet that size could be an issue..... Based on...roller shutter door...roll top desk...just running through random thoughts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerbJ Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Roller shutter doors are very widespread on the continent. I have been looking at a very good site in Germany, which does all the parts for every kind of sunshades, blinds , shutters, garage doors, sun sails etc - see https://www.jalousiescout.de 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 I think an electric shutter may be the easiest, as they may be sized to match windows. They will come with motors, remote control wires etc. Though one of those advertising signs made from triangular prisms might be an interesting base to use for a DIY project. F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreadnaught Posted August 10, 2018 Author Share Posted August 10, 2018 Thanks to you all. To add: The purpose of this motorised sun shade is decorative and to reduce solar gain. But I am not interested in other solutions to reduce solar gain; my purpose here is to ask about how to build this motorised sun shade I am not keen on roller blinds. I am after a horizontal panel the slides over the skylight, powered by a motor and, I assume, sitting on rails This will likely be a DIY job reusing bits-and-pieces from other applications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Plastic rack & pinion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreadnaught Posted August 10, 2018 Author Share Posted August 10, 2018 (edited) 44 minutes ago, Onoff said: Plastic rack & pinion? Yes, that looks like a promising idea. Thank you. Will research that. Edited August 10, 2018 by Dreadnaught Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 @newhome, have you still got those plastic gate rack sections you wanted shot of? NEVER throw anything away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Yes there are loads. That crate full plus what looks like at least another crate full in the garage loft. Haven’t ventured a look up there yet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 (edited) @Dreadnaught, @newhome has these she wants shot of: Edited August 10, 2018 by Onoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreadnaught Posted August 10, 2018 Author Share Posted August 10, 2018 @Onoff @newhome, that's very kind of you. Thank you. However, I first need to work out a design for an apparatus that could conceivably work. That's quite a challenge for me as I have no engineering experience. I am starting from zero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 1 minute ago, Dreadnaught said: @Onoff @newhome, that's very kind of you. Thank you. However, I first need to work out a design for an apparatus that could conceivably work. That's quite a challenge for me as I have no engineering experience. I am starting from zero. I still think wind could get behind what are effectively big sails on your flat roof. However.....something like these but with perforated sheet instead of glass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now