Hi everyone, I’m Jason from Blockout Blinds and I hope you are having a good day! Today, I am going to talk about creating privacy on your windows while still maintaining a view. If you want to cover your windows from prying eyes while at the same time still maintaining a view of the outside as well as still allowing the sunlight to come in, we may have a few options for you.

1. Roller Blinds

The first option which is the most popular now and probably the most modern looking is the roller blind. This particular type of blind may be made of either screen or mesh material and can cover your windows from prying eyes while still maintaining a nice view of the outside. It also has little holes on it which allow the sunlight to pass through thereby keeping your room bright despite the blinds. Since roller type blinds are placed behind glass windows during the day, it creates a mirror-like effect so anyone outside trying to look in cannot see at all. However, the only catch with this type of window covering, which some people might not realize is that when you have them down at night time and there’s light inside your home, people outside can see inside your home just as clearly as you could have seen outside during the day. So don’t get caught with this thinking that the blinds are down and you are safe from prying eyes because at night time, you are not.

2. Vertical Blinds

If you are worried about people looking in at night time, we suggest that you put a separate blind over the top which you can pull down for night time use to completely block the view. Another option is using a vertical blind. Vertical blinds can slightly rotate and can be angled at a certain position so that you can see out while  camouflaging seeing in. However, because they are hanging vertically, at some point while walking past, you can see through the gap.

3. Venetian Blinds

The next one is any of your venetian type blinds. These blinds obviously have slots going across and can be angled.  You can angle them so you can see out but anybody who walks past your house looking in really can only see up to the roof. So people can still slightly see in but they can’t look directly at you. 

4. Plantation Shutters

We also have our plantation shutters. These have louvres which are like slots and similar to the venetian blinds. The benefit of plantation shutters is that they are a little bit more flexible because you can move the plantation shutters louvre’s of the top half and the bottom half independantly. What some people like to do is have these shutters placed on the front windows of their homes, with its bottom and top moving independently, so they may have the bottom louvres angled down thus allowing them to have a view of the outside while at the same time not allowing people to see in. Compared to venetian blinds, shutters are a little bit more flexible because you can split the control of louvres which is nice.

So there you have it, those are the main ways we can keep our home’s privacy while maintaining a view outside. I hope you find this video useful. Should you have any questions about the kind of window covering we have, please do not hesitate to give us a call!

Thank you for your after sales support and for the off cut, Chris Perovkaneas for his apology card, Lloyd (great chap) for the replacements installation and also the production people for the prompt response an delivery.

We have had a look at all the replacement blinds and found them to be spotless this time and I must say that I am very impressed with your after sales service. I must say, initially, I was rather dubious about what to expect from your after sale response but after this experience, it has enlighten me to see that your company is a truly Professional and of high Integrity enterprise which I am happy to associate with.

It has also given me great confidence in recommending your products to others.

Thank you very much and appreciate your friendly team work.

Best Wishes,
Eddie

Hi everyone, I’m Jason from Blockout Blinds and I hope your day is going well. I’m here to talk to you today about how the inside of your house heats up and how blinds and awnings can help this and also the myth about how thick the fabric on your blinds need to be to help keep the heat out. We get a lot of customers that look at the fabric and they start to think that it doesn’t look that thick so how is this going to keep out the heat from my home. Well, at the end of the day, it does not really matter and we’ll explain why.

So let’s start with how the house heats up.

First of all, the air in the environment never gets heated up directly by the sun passing through it, believe it or not. So the sun beams come down, they’re going through the air, but the air itself, does not heat up. The air heats up through a process called convection which means the air needs to be touching some type of solid object that has heat in it, to in turn heat up the air. Now, when it comes to your home, the sun comes in, heats the glass, and what happens is that the glass gets really hot when you touch the glass you can feel the heat. So, in turn, what that does is the hot surface of the glass then comes in contact with the air inside your home, that air, then heats up and of course, what does hot air do, it rises. So the hot air touching the glass rises up, and as that rises up and heats the roof, more cold air comes from underneath to touch the glass and in turn heats up, rises up and creates a cycle. It’s a little bit like having a mini weather system inside your home believe it or not.

It doesn’t just heat up from the glass. The sun comes in, it heats the floor boards. The floor boards get hot, they heat the air up. The furniture gets hot, it touches the air and heats up the air as well. So anything that has direct sunlight in your home, it then directly transfers the heat to the air in your home creating the inside to get hotter and hotter.

So how do blinds stop this?

Well, first of all, you have your internal blinds. As I have said before, the air is touching the glass and heating up. Now by putting a blind on the inside, it creates a barrier. So the first thing is, the air that heats up, it gets trapped between the glass and the blinds and doesn’t recirculate back into the room hence stopping more air from coming in. Now, of course, blinds are not fully sealed all the way around so some air escape but it dramatically reduces it. So, also, what happens is, when you’ve got your blinds down, the sun no longer heats the floor, or it no longer heats the furniture. So these items no longer heat up and in turn, don’t heat up the air.

So the myth that you need thick fabric to reduce the temperature in your home is false because all the blind is doing is stopping the direct sunlight from coming inside and it’s just creating a barrier to stop the air flowing around the home.

If you have a blind that has just one solid piece of material, that’s going to do a much better job than a venetian blind that has lots of slots and gaps. Because with the gaps, more airflow. Of course anything with a plymouth is going to be even better again because it stops air flowing up from behind the blind up to the roof. So that  in a nutshell, is how it works. Now of course, the sun is going to be heating the back of the blind, now the blind itself will also be heating up. So once that blind gets hot, the blind itself will also start heating up the air inside. Though it takes a while for the blind to heat up. So if you are really trying to reduce the heat of your home, you probably want to go for a lighter colored blind. Or, we do have fabrics available that are dark on the inside so in other words, it matches your interior but the back of the blind is white to maximize the reflection of the sun. So white reflects more than black absorbs more. A white back means your fabric is not going to get as hot, so when you touch the fabric on the inside, you won’t feel the heat as much.

An alternative to blinds – The Awning

The best way to reduce heat is to put awnings or some type of covering on the outside of your home. Why is that? Good question. Of course, if the sun is not heating the glass in the first place, the glass is not going to get hot and no heat is going to be transferred inside. So best option for keeping the heat out would be to install an external awning however if this is not an option then internal blinds will be the next best thing. Probably one of the best internal blinds for heat is a honeycomb blind but we’ll talk more about that later.

Summary

So there you have it, an insight into how a home does heat up and why the thickness of your fabric does not make much difference, it’s just really about creating that barrier to stop the air circulation.

So I hope that has helped you, and please don’t hesitate to contact the team at Blockout Blinds if you’d like to have a chat about the best solution for your home or office.

Can you pass on my absolute thrill with my blinds that were installed yesterday?

They look fabulous!!!!!

Thank you

Chris

Hi everyone, I’m Jason from Blockout Blinds and I hope you are having a great day. A question I get a lot is how much heat can blinds and awnings really keep out of your home? The short answer is, a lot. About 40% of the heat in your home actually comes through the glass in your windows. So if you don’t have any blinds or awnings up, that’s a lot of heat.

Depending on your preference, you can either put an internal or an external blind to reduce the heat in your home.  An internal blind, depending on what type you put in, can reduce the heat going in your home anywhere from about 25-60%. Of course, putting something on the outside is going to do a far superior job. Therefore if you decide to use awnings, the heat can be reduced to as much as 70-85%.

It is important on a hot day that you put your blinds or awnings down from dawn and leave them down until dusk. By doing so, you minimize the amount of heat coming into your home. If the heat lasts for only a day then this might not be as important. But have you noticed that after 3 or 4 hot days, when the heat finally cools down, you walk back into the house after a day at work and it feels like you are in a sauna. It’s still like 26 degrees inside even though outside it’s already 14 or 15 degrees. The reason for this is that the heat is already absorbed by the walls and that it may take some time for the home to dissipate the heat back outside again.

If you want to avoid going home to a sauna, you need to make sure that your blinds and awnings are down continuously throughout that period so your home won’t be anywhere near as hot and so it cools down quicker as well.

So there you have it, I hope the information above was handy for you. Should you need more information regarding the best kind of blinds that can effectively reduce the heat in your home, please do not hesitate to give us a call, we’ll be more than glad to assist you.

So what are you going to do to ensure you can keep cool this Summer and protect your homes floors and furniture from the harsh sun?

Awnings keep out the heat and protect your floors and furnishings

Direct sunlight on your windows heats up the glass which in turns heats up the air inside of your home which is why awnings are a better option for keeping out the heat.

So the key is stopping the heat from hitting the windows in the first place and that is why awnings are the perfect solution!

Some of the benefits of the Blockout Blinds Awnings range are:

• our fabric range blocks out harmful UV rays
• helps reduce your cooling bills
• enables you to enjoy your home in the hot summer
• helps protect your floors and furniture

Awning are available in canvas, acrylic and screen fabrics.

View the Blockout Blinds Awnings Range here

Retractable Fly Screens for when the the cool breeze arrives

There is nothing better than the afternoon cool breeze to give you some respite from the heat, however the problem in Australia are the flys and mosquitoes.

That’s where the good old fly screen can keep those nasty pests outside, however what about when they are not around and you want to have the window fully opened.

Blockout Blinds now has the perfect new solution to this old problem, a retractable fly screen. The retractable fly screen range of products will fit most doors and windows and is made from high quality materials and very easy to operate.

With a large range of standard colours there is sure to be one to fit your home.

View the Blockout Blinds Fly Screen Range Here

Give us a call on 1300 4 BLINDS (1300 425 463) to have a chat to one of our design consultants and to book in a free measure and quote today.

Hi everyone, I’m Jason from Blockout Blinds and I hope you are having a fantastic day. Today, we will talk about the five reasons why you might want to install blinds on your windows. Let’s start off with the two fairly obvious reasons being Decoration and Finishing Touches.

1 . Decoration and Finishing Touches

The first reason you want to put blinds on your window is purely for finishing touches and decoration purposes. Blinds can really enhance the final look of your home. Once you are done buying certain furniture pieces and have everything done to your liking, blinds can give a finishing touch to your room. In fact, try walking into a room that does not have any blinds and you will notice that it looks bare or a little bit unfinished. So decoration is one of the main reasons most people would get their blinds.

2. Privacy

The second reason is privacy. Nobody wants their neighbors looking in or people walking past the street waving to you when you are in the kitchen with no top on, cooking dinner. A bit embarrassing especially if you are looking like me hence privacy is a big issue as well.

3. Keeping the Heat In and Out

The third reason is all about reducing heat in the home. Now, in summer, blinds can dramatically reduce how hot your home gets by keeping out the heat and the sun. By keeping out the heat, this reduces your need for air-conditioning which is a good thing for the environment since you reduce your energy consumption. Another great reason is in the winter keeping the heat in which most people don’t even consider. Blinds can really help keep the heat in and in turn, you do not have to use the heater as much. If you have nothing on your windows, the heat just escapes right out into the environment. To test this out, all you have to do is hang a sheet on your window and you’ll notice the big difference in keeping the heat in during winter.

4. Floor and Furniture Protection

Most homes these days have timber floors and most homeowners do not realize how much impact the sun has on timber floors and wooden furniture pieces. This is something that you might not notice straight away but in six months or two years from now, when all of a sudden you walked into your room, you’ll start to notice that geez, this side of the room looks really nice and this side near the window is looking quite faded these days. By this stage, it is too late and you have no choice but to redo your floor. To prevent the above scenario from happening, it will be wise to purchase blinds while it is still early. 

5. Light Control

The last one is all about light control. Don’t you just hate it when the sun glares into your eyes while you are watching TV? Blinds are fantastic when it comes to controlling the light in your house during the day and have it anywhere from dimming the room to making it totally dark. If it is too bright in your home, adding blinds will help dim your home and make it even more comfortable to just sit around and watch TV.

Summary

There you have it. My five reasons why you might want to install blinds. Some of them you might have considered before, others might be new to you. Should you have questions regarding the different types of blinds we have, do not hesitate to give us a call so we can help you decide which blinds will best suit your home.

Just thought I would send through a quick message to let you know how please

I am with the blinds I have purchased recently.

The look, quality and workmanship is all I could hope for. In fact I have now ordered three more Awnings for the front of my house and another double
roller blind for my second bedroom.

I also had a retractable fly screen installed in my French doors and I am more than satisfied with it. Whilst the purchase price appeared expensive, I believe that it is money well spent. The unit is beautifully crafted and the screen glides& retracts very smoothly. I love the fact I can pull it three quarters of the way thru and leave an opening to bring food in and out of my entertaining area. The door just props where you leave it.

All of your staff, from the salesman who quoted me, through to the admin staff& of course the installers have been nothing more than delightful; and even where I experienced a hiccup the matters were handled with decorum& professionalism.

Having worked my entire life in customer service, I have a high expectations and I believe you have met all of them. Well done!

Kind regards & Merry Christmas!!!

Janelle Wilcox
Happy Knoxfield customer

Just had my retractable screen installed! I am so impressed and happy with it!

And to make the situation even better I had 2 young guys (matt and lauchlan) come and install them who were extremely polite and worked efficiently, they should be commended for this!

Great service!

I’ll be sure to pass on your details to anyone and everyone!

Cheers
Danielle

My name is Isabella and recently I had some PVC Cafe blinds installed by your company. After installation, I noticed an irregularity and called Scott Leader to discuss this problem.

I wish to report that Scott was absolutely professional in his followup. He kept me informed as to what he was doing to remedy the problem, offered a solution and came to see me to ensure I was happy at the end of it all.

I would recommend him to anyone that asked.

Thanking you,

Isabella Poloni