Buying skylight blinds  

Roof Window Blinds

 If you are shopping for skylight blinds to place in your home and need help finding what to buy.  Look no further, you have came to the right place for advice.  Buying skylight blinds for a normal size window is quiet easy, but if you are looking to put skylights blinds in a roof window it is a little more difficult.  Knowing the exact size of your roof window will help tremendously to a supplier trying to give you a fair price.  

A roof window will not hang down like a verticle blind will hang down on your window.  Most people do not know that they need to have, siderails or wires to hold the roof window blind in place, so it hangs down correctly.  A normal vertical window is placed on the inside of the window and is generally placed over the outer dimensions of the window frame.  When you have a skylight or roof window in your home and want to have blinds, the blinds will have to sit inside the opening to allow them to open freely at will.      

Typically there are five types of blinds available for roof windows in today's market.  These blinds to choose from are of the following: Blackout blinds, Awning blinds, Pleated blinds, Roller blinds and Venetian blinds.  Out of the five available, Blackout blinds are the most common purchased.  Blackout blinds will shut out 100% of light.  They come in a cartridge format with aluminium siderails and are able to be moved in any position, but can normally only fit in a specific window. 

Pleated blinds run on a string or wire and are made with fabric, which is folded into concertina style pleats.  They are a cheaper blind and extremely flimsy, but made commonly for roof windows.  Roller blinds are made for 3 positions only and rely on a spring loaded barrel's tension to stay tight in the window.  These blinds are found in stores at a much cheaper price than other blinds available in the market.  Venetian blinds are beautiful, but very hard to come by for roof windows.  These blinds need a track to function properly and can be used in any postition.  Awning blinds are used to stop the light before it hits the window and reduces the amount of heat that is entering your home more than any other blind on the market.

Paying a fair price for quality blinds is something everyone wants to take advantage of and looking around before settling on a manufacture is something I suggest that you do.  No one wants to have to pay top dollar to a manufacture, when they can get a discount if they shop around first.

Awning Blinds

Awning blinds are very different, in that they sit outside the window and stop the heat/light/rain before it hits the window.

Generally available in a dark black mesh, they reduce the amount of heat hitting the window far more than any other blind, and are especially good where intense sunlight will overheat your attic room. Intense daylight can also discolour your carpet or flooring, so these are well worth considering in addition to any plans you may have for your blinds.

Where can I get my blinds from?

Well firstly you should consider that the purchase process for blinds for roof windows and skylights is unlike the process for buying vertical blinds, in that in general it is unnecessary to buy blinds and cut them to size or to have them made specially. This means they are an ideal internet purchase!

If you go to the local blind store and don't have the make, size and type of your roof window you almost certainly will have to come home and find it, so be prepared!!

How much should I pay?

Well I guess the old adage "how long is a piece of string?" applies, but you should know that the major manufacturers charge top dollar, but they discount to resellers so you have to hunt around for the one giving the most discount (often on Ebay).

There are a few smaller manufacturers making blinds for the leading brands, but make sure you pick one with a well featured website with security that you can definitely trust.

In terms of colours, you will get most choice from the brand leading window manufacturer, but it appears that even with a wide range of choices, most of us prefer to have dark blue, beige or white blinds (I know I do...) so they are the ones you will get the cheapest.

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