Thermal honeycomb blind conundrum!

joefizz

Coastalwatch wrote: »

Thanks for the mentioning plastic film Joe,

No probs. About 20 years ago I had a bad accident and was pretty much bedridden for a year, had single glazing and it was a bloody cold winter. Had friends fit the plastic stuff and all it needed the odd time was a bit more tape and the hairdryer out again (wave it about as its easy to blow a hole in it ;-)). When I got back on my feet I had double glazing installed so never really thought about it again.
With all the extra loft insulation and building a garage along the gable wall the double glazed windows became the cold focus once again so put it up to see (that and they cut the trees down in the fields near me so can hear road noise again).
Triple glazing would really be overkill as if it got to a -15 -20C winter again Id just stick some spare insulation panels on the outside or build a lean to ;-)


Yeah Martyn, it was Canada (and Norway) I was thinking of about the shutters. I went to prairies Canada one winter and remember getting off the plane and it was -19C and that was the warmest it got. Binned the idea of buying a place there straight away!
I stayed in some 'older' houses there and many were influenced by the eastern european settlers so lots of secondary inside windows like you see in eastern europe.
Other places had the roll down external shutters you see in central europe, some just the folding shutters instead.


All this was in addition to the drimaster which helped solve the humidity/mould problems but unknown at first it was dropping the humidity down to about 35% in the middle of cold winter nights so I had a permanent sinus infection/cold and was waking up at night coughing. Wasnt until I put in a tracking humidity meter that I saw what was happening.
Ive a humidifier as well now! Another similarity to prairies canada!

Fire_Fox

You might download 'Improving the Thermal Performance of Traditional Windows: Metal-framed Windows' (Historic England, 2017)

Martyn1981

Just remembered, I'd forgotten ...... no that makes no sense.

Start again, long ago, a very simple and cheap trick was posted, involving bubblewrap. It's quite insulating as it has trapped air, and less than the 10mm (I think it's around 10mm) when air currents can aid thermal bridging.

But the real beauty is the install method - wipe glass with damp cloth, apply bubblewrap, job done. Also provides instant privacy if needed, so long as it doesn't fall off at an inopportune moment. :shocked:

Coastalwatch

I've sourced an ideal sized moulding(30 x 30 x 1.5mm) online and am comfortable with the cost/metre, however, their minimum order is 75metres and I only require approx 25! Unfortunately they have no other outlet and I can find no other source for this particular size, so I'm a bit stuck at present.

No success obtaining that particular moulding but a friend suggested cable trunking, available in various sizes. Lo and behold 38 x 25mm electric cable trunking seems to be ideal. I'd thought initially at 38mm it would be too wide but there's a small return upon each leg reducing the internal size to 28mm. Anyway fitted a track to either side of one of the blinds and seems to work perfectly. A bonus to this solution is that the "clip on top" can be kept to one side then in spring when the blinds can stay permanently open it can be popped back in place to form a neat box section hiding the three screws used to fasten the base moulding in place.

Apparently it's a standard sized trunking available from a variety of outlets. This 3 metre length came from a certain tool station priced £3.49 or, approx half the cost of the original mouldings discovered.
It would seem to confirm that patience is a virtue after all. (Let's just hope the same applies to battery storage)!

mmmmikey

Hi - thanks for this. Are the honeycomb blinds working as expected and are ypu happy with them? Do they seem to make a worthwhile difference? I have one small bay window at the front of the house of the type that sits on a bracket underneath and has a flat roof above and although the window is decent it always seem cold in the recess which I guess is heat loss up and down through the sticking out bits. Toying with the idea of having a "flat" honeycomb blind flush with the wall rather than the window - wondering if it will make a worthwhile difference - any thoughts? I like the trunking idea - would allow me to leave it up in the warmer months and still look neat with the covers attached. Thanks, Mike

joefizz

mmmmikey wrote: »

Hi - thanks for this. Are the honeycomb blinds working as expected and are ypu happy with them? Do they seem to make a worthwhile difference?

Funnily enough, Im going out this week to see if I can get blinds to match the kitchen door and window recess and fit as above.
I think they are a compromise, Ive three layers of curtains in most of the other rooms (pull down blackout, thermal linings, thermal curtains) but for kitchen and bathroom this would just not be practical. The honeycomb ones I have are white so at least allow some light through and its easy to raise them up and down if I wasnt lazy.
I do think they make a difference, even just from the draught perspective stopping the air circulation pattern but probably not that cost effective. (if that makes sense?)

Coastalwatch

mmmmikey wrote: »

Hi - thanks for this. Are the honeycomb blinds working as expected and are ypu happy with them? Do they seem to make a worthwhile difference? I have one small bay window at the front of the house of the type that sits on a bracket underneath and has a flat roof above and although the window is decent it always seem cold in the recess which I guess is heat loss up and down through the sticking out bits. Toying with the idea of having a "flat" honeycomb blind flush with the wall rather than the window - wondering if it will make a worthwhile difference - any thoughts? I like the trunking idea - would allow me to leave it up in the warmer months and still look neat with the covers attached. Thanks, Mike

Hi Mike, afraid I've not taken any temperature figures of before and after so difficult to quantify, but the rooms seem to have a more consistent temperature and the feeling of cold nearer to windows is less. I very much doubt the blinds could be justified on cost alone but I'm content with our purchases and will seek to do other windows and probably doors as well, ala Joefizz.

The trunking also has the benefit of improving the aesthetics giving a neater appearance than seeing gaps either side, between the blind and window recess.
Should perhaps say that I've also fitted the secondary "cling film" to each window which gives a warmer feel to the touch than glass, effectively making it triple glazing.

Of course you could always just fit a curtain rail across the bay and fit heavy duty curtains. But wouldn't mind betting they'd always be a draught somewhere. I guess with blinds and trunking these might be eliminated!

mmmmikey

Thanks for replies - thinking more of comfort and reducing cold spot rather than cost saving so think I will give it a try.



Joe - this site looks like good value:


https://www.blinds-2go.co.uk/


Best get them quick though while you still can, before the border goes up in the Irish Sea

joefizz

Sorry for the late reply to this, up to my eyes with this election thing!
Anyway, cheers mmmikey but having trialled out the back door with sheets of polysterene insulation stuck to them its just not practical for me to put the blinds on the upvc door (top and bottom clear glass panels). Kept knocking them and caused problem with the gap in the door handle. That and it restricted the light a lot more than Id thought, Ive decided to give it a miss although might leave the bottom insulation panel on for most of the winter.


However...
Just happened to be down in Ikea this morning (dont ask!) and they have a hoppvals pleated blind which is similar (but deeper) than the one I have in the bathroom but at only 30 quid for one to fit the kitchen window, its already installed!
Obviously psychologically its already doing a great job ;-)

vic_sf49

I bought some honeycomb perfect fit blinds in the summer for my bedroom, as the light coming through my bay window was waking me up at crazy o'clock each morning.

I noticed they helped reduce the temperature right next to the glass, but I don't know if there was a noticeable temperature change over the whole room.

I was going to use them over winter to retain heat at night, but they trap too much warm air against the cold windows. The condensation levels on the windows went from a couple of millimetres, to the whole window streaming with moisture.

(The previous home owners had triple glazing fitted, but the one that isn't much thicker than double glazing, so my windows are not very efficient. )

I used the company mentioned above (blinds 2go). I ordered one blind to test the fit / quality, and ordered the other 7 blinds the day after I fitted it.

I'm chuffed with them, as I bought them for the light blocking / privacy aspect.