How Integrated Blinds Can Reduce Energy Bills and More

If you’re thinking of having double glazed windows or doors installed in your home, or even going one step further and are looking at double glazed porches and conservatories, one feature you might like to budget for is integrated blinds. These offer a wealth of benefits, from easy use and maintenance to reducing the demands on your heating – and therefore your energy bills. Here, we explain why you should be asking your double glazing suppliers for integrated blinds.

How Do Integrated Blinds Work?

You may also see these referred to as integral blinds, and as the name suggests, they are incorporated within your uPVC replacement windows. Each double glazed unit consists of two parallel pieces of glass. Between, there is usually a void or an inert gas which helps insulation. It’s here that integrated blinds can be installed, so they’re actually sealed within the glass. The control panel, of course, is sited on the interior window frame, for easy access. The blinds are usually operated manually, although remote control options are also available, by sliding a magnet up, down or around on the control zone. In a lot of cases, this entirely removes the need for a long length of cord that can be unsightly and even dangerous to young children.

Why Are Integral Blinds With Double Glazing Energy Saving?

Windows are well known to be an area of the home where significant amounts of heat can be lost as warm air from the room inside hits the cold pane and radiates through the glazing. Single glazed units are poorly insulated and often suffer from air leakage. Double glazing helps prevent much of this heat loss and any kind of blind on large expanses of glass will also help you save energy if used correctly. 

Integrated blinds can be used as a highly effective, extra barrier to heat loss when closed and help insulate the room more effectively, so you can turn the heating thermostat down when it’s cold. And if you have air conditioning installed, blinds can be closed against the sun’s rays when it’s warmer, thus reducing the need to turn the a/c on to prevent the room from overheating.

How Should I Use My Blinds to Save Energy?

You can enhance the energy-efficient benefits by opening your blinds in the winter months when the sun is out, so the room can build up and retain solar heat. Once the sun goes down, close your blinds so they act as a barrier to heat loss and help retain the room’s warmth. Integrated blinds tilt just as normal blinds do, so they can also be used to adjust lighting levels in the room throughout the year to reduce your dependence on electric lighting.

What Other Benefits Are There to Integrated Blinds?

Because the blinds are fully integrated within the glass by the double glazing installers before window installation, they are protected from air pollution from the outside and the normal build-up of dust that accumulates on the interior of properties. So there’s no tiresome cleaning involved. They also look much neater than separate blind units which are installed over windows and can actually add to the feeling of space within a room. 

If you’d like to find out more about how double glazing in Great Barr can be even more effective with integrated blinds, then contact us today. Experienced window fitters of uPVC windows, we also offer composite doors and double glazed porches, conservatory and door repairs and uPVC fascias and soffits replacements.