Effective Protection from Overheating

Once a cold British winter and a (hopefully) pleasant spring are over, the long-awaited summer is on the horizon. It's the season when we enjoy longer, sunnier days catching the sun on the beach, in the park or in our own back gardens. After a long day in the heat it's natural to retreat indoors where we hope to find relief and be able to relax and cool down. However, rooms with excessive heat gain are not an ideal place to rest.

Window accessories are here to help.

If you researching the market you'll come across a wide range of accessories for roof windows, both internal and external ones. The first group might include all kinds of roller blinds offering various designs and shades, while the others involve awning blinds and roller shutters. Which of these accessories ensure the most effective protection from heat and solar gain within the loft space in summer months? Here we present a detailed report on the analysis of the effectiveness against room overheating by means of different sun screening devices - carried out by the Research and Development Department of FAKRO.

The first stage of our analysis consisted in constructing 10 identical research rooms, each with the same exposure to sunlight. The temperature in each of them was measured at several points exactly one meter above the floor. Tests were conducted with windows closed and equipped with various accessories.

The conducted research showed that the most effective protection against excessive heat gain in a room was achieved by installing external accessories, such as roller shutters and awning blinds. The best solution when taking into account thermal protection effects, price and ease of installation is, therefore, the awning blind.

The results of our presented research clearly demonstrate that external accessories (roller shutters and awning blinds) provide the optimal protection from heat ingress on the sunny days. Internal accessories, however, serve this function only to a limited extent, their main task is to enhance interior design, provide increased privacy and regulate the amount of light entering the room.

Our research indicated that awning blinds offer up to eight times more effective protection against room overheating when compared to internal accessories. The purpose of awning blinds is not only effective protection against excessive heat gain in the room, but also improvement of Uw heat transfer coefficient and reduction of heat loss on cold days. Also, the use of awning blinds allows for even distribution of natural light and less restrictive views outside. They also protect your house interior against external viewers and ensures a feeling of privacy.

External Blinds

Thermal radiation which passes through the window pane is absorbed by internal blinds so the heat radiates to the interior in the form of long wave infrared radiation which is not transmitted through the glass back to the outside. This leads to unwanted overheating, particularly on south-facing roofs during hot, summer days.

Internal Blinds

External accessories absorb solar radiation before it reaches the glazing and emit the heat to the outside of the room, hence ensure an interior temperature lower by as much as approx. 10OC .

External accessories absorb solar radiation before it reaches the glazing and emit the heat to the outside of the room, hence ensure an interior temperature lower by as much as approx. 10OC .