Dealing with Glare from Direct Sunlight

In the UK the summer seems to be relatively short and unpredictable in terms of how many truly sunny days there’s likely to be. The generally changeable weather means that there are many days throughout the year where the prevailing temperature may even be low but the levels of glare from the sun are high. This can cause uncomfortable conditions at home or in the workplace, but in either it’s not always easy or practical to completely block out the glare. There are a variety of different options to consider.

Curtains can offer somewhat of a ‘blanket’ solution to the problem although traditionally in many UK homes there are 2 layers to curtains – the net curtains and the outer curtains. Net curtains vary widely in design, thickness, how much visibility through them they allow, and how much necessary light they allow in to the room. Even relatively thick and patterned net curtains can allow some glare and the associated heat into the room. The outer, thicker curtains often need to be pulled partially across to block out the glare, but this can decrease light and visibility in other parts of the room and isn’t really a practical or safe way of dealing with glare.

Where roller blinds (and Roman Blinds) are concerned, dealing with glare could involve pulling the blind down a long way. This may be a case of throwing the baby out with the bath water in terms of reducing glare as the whole room can be darkened as a result.

Horizontal blinds can be angled to deal with glare although closing the slats almost completely can seriously reduce the ability to see out.

Modern wooden window shutters have moveable slats built into them and these can be angled to reduce glare and heat. Shutters however can be one of the more expensive options in window coverings.

Vertical blinds provide an effective all round solution. The long wide vertical blind slats sit back away from the window thus allowing a gap where the heat can be contained behind the slats when the sun is strong. The vertical blind slats can be angled to the perfect position for the conditions to allow plenty of light into the whole room and yet to cut out any excessive glare and heat. The width of the slats ands the fact that they are set back from the glass mans that you can see out and maintain a high level of privacy. Vertical blinds can be surprisingly economical and fast solution to the problem of glare from direct sunlight.

In summary, you can see there are a lot of choices and may be a few more than you had thought of.

For more information about choosing vertical blinds, call 01604 671189, or contact Blind Corner online.