Exterior shutters

[Deleted User]

Anyone had exterior shutters fitted? With climate change they are becoming more and more of necessity to keep the heat out of windows that get the sun on them.

Unfortunately many British homes have big wide windows that make it difficult to have folding or sliding shutters.

I was looking for some where you could adjust the angle of the louvres, ideally without opening the window. Then the width isn't so important. I can't find anyone in the UK offering that though. Anyone know of any suppliers?

twopenny

I don't know any suppliers. Sounds perfect to me and always thought it was the best soloution to heat and cold but very expensive.

I did investigate internal ones which my neighbour has but it was eyewatering.

victor2

We're just waiting on some internal shutters for the bathroom, from a local supplier. They specialise in blinds and shutters, but only do internal ones AFAIK. Don't think there's much demand for external ones in the UK.

We did, out of curiosity get a price on "cafe style" internal shutters for our 3m wide living room window. It was about £1K, so we'll make do with the good old venetian blinds we already have.

ComicGeek

I've bought and fitted some brise soleil for a couple of south facing windows that get the sun most of the day. They have fixed louvres that protrude about 800mm from the top of the window. In the winter the sun angle is low enough that the sun isn't blocked by them - in the summer they keep the sun off the windows for most of the day, make a big difference.

External shutters are better for west facing windows where the sun angle is lower anyway, but the brise soliel work really well for south facing. Not cheap though at about £700 per window but was cheaper than installing air con in those rooms.

We've also had a motorised awning on our lounge sliding doors for about 6 years which has been brilliant.

Fortunately we don't have any tricky west facing windows to deal with, as external shutters are probably the only effective solution.

[Deleted User]

I'll check the angle tomorrow for brise soleil, thanks for idea.

I don't see the point of internal ones, you might as well just have blinds.

ComicGeek

We have internal shutters - one benefit for us is that the top half can be opened and the bottom half can be shut for privacy, can't do that with a roller blind. Also more sturdy than Venetian blinds, windows can be opened and shutters partly closed without flapping in the wind.

Chickereeeee

The Germans have those external shutters that are stored neatly in a roll above the window inside the wall. You pull a strap (or press a button) to lower them. These are partly to keep the heat out (or in), and also for security. I think we may see more of them in the UK, but of course our windows usually open outwards...

See also 
https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/topic/9975-german-windows-with-roller-shutters-built-in-— who-makes-them/

[Deleted User]

The roller shutters look a bit "commercial" but are a really good idea.

I'll have to get the windows replaced so could get inward opening ones. They could be smaller too, one large one split into too smaller ones, but that would probably cost more.

Slinky

Chickereeeee said:

The Germans have those external shutters that are stored neatly in a roll above the window inside the wall. You pull a strap (or press a button) to lower them. These are partly to keep the heat out (or in), and also for security. I think we may see more of them in the UK, but of course our windows usually open outwards...

See also 
https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/topic/9975-german-windows-with-roller-shutters-built-in-— who-makes-them/

We had similar on our ground floor rear windows in our previous home after being burgled. They were very useful in the summer to keep the heat out as the windows were south facing. We had electric ones, our neighbour had the straps which had to be replaced a couple of times. We found that we could open the windows a little when the shutters were down. so you could get a little air through the slats but still have the security of the blinds being down. They rolled up into a box above the windows.

Chill170

We used a company called global shading solutions as we have south facing bedrooms which were just too warm in the summer months and a lot of glare was coming into the rooms. We ended up having external venetian blinds through them which are motorised with movable slats and we love them. However they do a full range of exterior shutter panels also.