Too Hot to Sleep? The Best Blinds for Keeping Bedrooms Cool
If the summer sun turns your bedroom into a sauna, you’re not alone. Here’s how to keep the heat (and the glare) out.
When it comes to keeping your rooms cooler it is not so much about the type of the blind you have, it’s more about the type of fabric and how you use your blind. The wrong fabric can pull heat and make sleeping a struggle. But the right one can make a real difference without sacrificing your style.
When it comes to fabrics the lighter the colour the better as they will reflect more of the heat. If you like the idea of anthracite grey blinds don’t panic! We’ve got you cover as there are anthracite grey and other dark colours that have white backing to the fabric. So you have the colour you want showing in your room and a reflective colour outside. Win, Win.
How to use your blinds this summer
As I said earlier the colour makes a huge difference, and so does how you use your blinds. I always recommend keeping your blinds closed BEFORE the hottest part of the day. I know that doesn’t sound great on a lovely sunny day but trust me it will help keep much of the heat out of your home.
Then open the blinds and windows when the sun is going down to allow fresh air in and help cool your room even more.
What Blinds Work Best
- Blackout roller blinds with white or reflective backs – blocks light and bounces heat
- Cellular blinds the honeycomb design traps air and insulates against heat (most cellular fabrics have white backing)
- Perfect Fit blackout blinds ideal for tilt & turn windows, they create an enclosed air layer again most fabrics have white backing.
- Motorised blinds for roof lanterns or skylights – easy to control at peak sunlight hours
A Real Example
We were asked to visit a lovely home in Loughborough. They had a really nice new extension to create a garden room at the back of their home.
They realised fairly quickly that having 2 bifold doors and a roof lantern in the same room in a south facing room made it unbearable to sit in on those hot summer day. They also had concerns about their new flooring and furniture fading.
So our challenge was finding blinds that would keep their room cooler on those hot day, prevent fading, when the blinds weren’t in use to almost make them disappear and ideally have the same fabric on the roof lantern and the doors. They also wanted a fabric that let light it so the room wasn’t too dark.
Our recommendation was cellular blinds for a number of reasons:
- The fabrics have white backing that reflects heat (keeps the room cooler).
- The design of the fabric means there is no risk of UV rays entering the room to cause any fading.
- The door blinds are cordless so no operating chains and cords to look untidy when the blinds are in use (They also have a young baby so cordless is perfect)
- The solar powered roof lantern blind can be made in exactly the same fabric.
- Light filtering cellular fabric reduces heat and glare but still allows a good level of light into the room.
- Anthracite fascia fitted in front of the blinds to hide them when not in use.
The added bonus… I got a call just after Christmas saying what a difference the blinds have made in keeping the room warmer in the winter.
The Research Behind the Advice
Research commissioned by the British Blind and Shutter Association and Southbank University on a block of London flats showed just how much difference the right blinds can make:
- Rooms without any shading reached a scorching 47.5°C.
- Rooms with external blinds peaked at just 28°C – a 41% reduction.
- Those with internal blinds closed peaked at 32°C. Still too hot, but worth noting that the rooms had limited ventilation to remove the heat that built up during the day.
It shows that while blinds alone can’t solve poor ventilation, they play a huge role in preventing heat build-up in the first place.
