Browse Forums Windows & Doors 1 Mar 11, 2009 4:33 pm Hiya!
We are building our house in WA ( Busselton, same weather as Perth just slightly more temperate) Its already started so double glazing is out ( never heard of it till i found this forum site ) Our rectangle shaped living room/kitchen has the long side North facing. With 2 lots of floor length windows that have a slide opening (left to right) and a sliding door. Had planned originally to have sunscreen roller blinds with a heat reflective tint on the glass. That will sort out summer sun, but what about keeping the heat IN in winter? So now looking at different options. Am getting a quote from luxaflex on the duette, but have been warned its expensive. Also found TURNIL?? on www.beautifulblinds.com.au do a honeycomb blind that acts as an insulator, but so far they dont seem to have anything in WA. Has anyone put in either of these? Comments... or are there other options apart from traditional curtins with pelmates? is the duette and the turnil blind same quality/finish ect...I will have toddlers. The lady at luxaflex totally scrunched the Duette in her hand and it was fine! Any help is muchly appreciated!!!! please, i had no idea it was going to be so hard! Jo xx Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 2Mar 11, 2009 4:57 pm other companies make the duettes too ... you might be able to find them cheaper than at Luxaflex. They are lovely I'm in Vic though so can't help you with where.
How about an external awning? I know they are best at keeping out heat, not so sure about their keeping heat in qualities though... hopefully someone else will pop in and help you out "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 3Mar 11, 2009 5:08 pm thanks donuts.
External awnings are in the long term plan... Im hoping to find an amazing product that lets light in, keeps heat out in summer and heat in in winter. Oh and it has to be toddler proof and look modern! I think its called tilting at windmills Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?he 4Mar 11, 2009 10:15 pm glitterfaeriejo Am getting a quote from luxaflex on the duette, but have been warned its expensive. Also found TURNIL?? on www.beautifulblinds.com.au do a honeycomb blind that acts as an insulator, but so far they dont seem to have anything in WA. The best way to keep out summer radiant heat is before it hits the window. Every square metre of window exposed to the sun is equivalent to the energy coming from a 1kW bar radiator. Once the glass heats up it also heats up the adjacent air. External shading is the best solution. This you can achieve in a variety of ways - eaves, verandahs, pergolas, vines, trees, awnings. Tints are a good idea but you need one with high solar reflection. Just a darkened tint will seem to block out the light but they just end up heating up the glass and re-radiating the energy into the room. Heavy curtains and honeycomb blinds are mostly effective for stopping winter heat from conducting outwards. Honeycomb blinds do come in a blockout variety with foil lining that does offer some radiant heat control. But this should not be the primary method of stopping solar thermal radiation entering the building. We incidentally are getting Beautiful blinds do manufacture and ship to Adelaide. They are 25-35% cheaper than our local manufacturers using Luxaflex Duette (and I obtained about 5 quotes). If you do a little research you find that Luxaflex is part of the Hunter Douglas Group who are affiliates of Turnils. Turnils markets the honeycomb blinds as Nordic Light whilst Luxaflex calls it Duette. There are a handful of local companies who have the direct licence to use the Turnils product. You can contact Turnils Australia for them. Velux now also manufacture their own honeycomb blind range as well. Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 5Mar 12, 2009 7:19 am Check this out - http://www.concertinafoilbatts.com/renshade.htm You can get them from http://www.environmentshop.com.au/Products.asp?CID=159 Not sure how they go to keep the warmth in though
Maybe give them a call (the environment shop) and ask them if they have any products of take a look around their website 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 6Mar 12, 2009 3:19 pm lisanne It looks like a good removeable option. If you have got your north shaded eaves the correct length you won't need them on those windows. The high summer sun will be blocked out and the winter sun can still enter the house. These aluminium blinds are better for east and west aspects where it is more difficult to shade the low-angled sun. Reflective window films are the alternative option but are permanent. Foils are only a radiant barrier so they will only have a small effect on winter heat loss. Most of the heat exiting is conducted/convected away by the warm interal air currents against the cold window. Tightly fitted heavy curtains or double glazing are your best solutions. Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 7Mar 14, 2009 5:51 pm dynomite69.... thanks for that, so if they are affiliates you would assume its the same product then... I have emailed Turnils but got no reply about suppliers or showrooms in WA. Will try again.
Have you heard good reports about beautiful blinds? The website seemed very professional and I am definatly considering them. So the blinds you are getting from them are manufactured by Turnils or do they do the Luxaflex as well? Our northern eves are standard size about 450cm and I had planned to plant shady trees along there, except now we are getting a grid PV solar system on the roof that side, so will wait and see on that point. But external awnings are next on budget. Thanks lisanne, I didnt realise you could get foil shades that allowed you to see out still. I think thats definatly decided me on the honeycomb blinds, will do a trial winter and see how we go with no pelmates, curtains or heater. Summer Im not too worried about with shading, cross winds & sweep fans. that government website was really helpful for that side of things. Ta!!! Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 8Mar 14, 2009 5:56 pm oh yeah forgot to mention beautiful blinds ship any where in Aus! I did know this, I was just hoping to find a Turnil supplier in Perth so i could go and visit. Though beatutiful blinds did say they are happy to send samples....
They also have a great tool on the home page, you type in your window size and WAH LAH! they give you rough pricing on all the diff types of blinds, for that window size ( vertical, holland, honeycomb, sunscreen) Its pretty cool. Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 9Mar 14, 2009 6:07 pm glitterfaeriejo I have emailed Turnils but got no reply about suppliers or showrooms in WA. Will try again. Have you heard good reports about beautiful blinds? The website seemed very professional and I am definatly considering them. So the blinds you are getting from them are manufactured by Turnils or do they do the Luxaflex as well? I called Turnils myself and they put me onto some rep who kept a database of blind manufacturers. We are currently from BB so I will tell you when we take delivery in a month's time. The response has been always professional. Answers all emails. Provides samples. True quote is exactly the web quote. Follows up on enquiries. They say that Luxaflex just rebadges the Turnil product. They do offer a cheaper copy but they make this clear at the outset. Honeycomb/cellular blinds 10Mar 16, 2009 6:20 pm I am in the process of buying honeycom blinds probably from Kresta.
Our old house had Luxafle Duettes and I have investigated the honeycomb blinds from Beautiful Blinds. The Luxaflex blinds are DEFINITELY superior quality. Yes, you can scrunch the light filtering ones up and they return to their original condition. Yes, I could sponge clean the food spots and dirty water splashes off the ones above the kitchen sink without creasing or damaging the fabric. They don't gather dust like other blinds. I did have some of them ultrasonically cleaned but before we sold the house I washed the lot in the bath tub with water and Dynamo and got a fantastic clean (most hadn't been cleaned in 10 years). Brilliant quality material the best I've seen out of Luxaflex, Beautiful blinds and Kresta, but VERY expensive. I was going to go with B.Blinds but the samples they sent out were cheap despite what they say about sourcing it from the same supplier as Luxaflex. The fabric was thin in comparison and the surface rubbed up badly if I just rubbed my thumb (not roughly) over the fabric so I doubt you'd be able to wipe them with a sponge. It's a pity, as B.Blinds give fabulous customer service and their website is brilliant. I did purchase fantastic quality vertical blinds from them at little more than half the cost of what I could get them for here in Adelaide (quotes were for the same brand of fabric). Also, the colour looks more uniform when you hold the Luxaflex ones up to the light. Apparently the blockout ones CANNOT be immersed in water as it discolours the light relecting surface. Kresta's cellular blinds pass the thumb rub test and appear a good quality fabric. Only thing I'm wondering about is whether you can wash them in water as I'm wondering about how colour fast they are. My quote from Luxaflex for 3 small windows in my son's bedroom was $1200. Kresta will do the whole house for $4000. Lastly, Luxaflex quoted $1200 to replace one blind (discounted price) in my old house. I got cheaper quotes for the Luxaflex product, $900 was the minimum, when I went through smaller companies rather than direct to Luxaflex. Re: Honeycomb/cellular blinds 11Mar 24, 2009 10:43 pm fritzi I am in the process of buying honeycom blinds probably from Kresta. but VERY expensive. Kresta's cellular blinds pass the thumb rub test and appear a good quality fabric. I am surprised that Kresta use a different fabric from Luxaflex or that the price was significantly different. The other only major manufacturer I know of is Vertilux. My casual enquiries at their store suggested they used Luxaflex and the price was on par with most Luxaflex resellers. Their customer service is a bit lacking. When I emailed them with a window schedule, no-one bothered to reply. I contacted about five Luxaflex resellers in Adelaide and the cost ranged from $286-326/m2 for 21 blinds at (58m2 total). Beautiful blinds charge about $204/m2 with chain control. Vertilux was slightly cheaper at $274/m2 What is Kresta's rate? Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 12May 03, 2009 3:58 pm Hi, Everyone, I just joined this forum and I am in the process of selecting blinds. Your messages have been very useful. I am sold on honeycomb blinds, they make sense for both winter and summer. We put in double glazing a couple years ago and that experience taught me quite a lot about how the glazing industry works. We finished saving about 50% of cost on top quality double-glazing from Moen Glass. I hope I can do the same with blinds! dymonite69 - did you receive your blinds from Beautiful Blinds? Are you happy with them? Do you know if they were made by Turnils (Luxaflex)? I could not see anything about Beautiful Blinds chain control on Turnils site. Do you know who makes them? Is it much better than the standard cord? Jo - did you decide what to do? TIA, Goska Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 13May 04, 2009 9:22 pm Hi Goska, Email/phone Beautiful Blinds, they'll let you know what size window they recommend chain drives for. Merimy is VERY helpful. They told me that chain drives were unnecessary for windows smaller than sliding doors. After investigating B.Blinds, Luxaflex,Kresta, and Hunter Douglas (from Betta Blinds) fabrics I can say that Luxaflex quality is matched by no one. I bought Hunter Douglas (supposedly superior quality) for my kids bedrooms because they had a colour I like but I regret it. Their chord mechanism is beautifully smooth but the material is not consistent in it's thickness, and downright thin in places. In the daylight, with the blinds down, they look mottled as lots of light comes through in the VERY thin patches and less light comes through where the fabric is a better thickness. I guess you wouldn't notice so much if you chose light coloured blinds. Basically a waste of $1,500+. Cost $350 for one 85cmx1.2m blind I bought one blind from Kresta and tested it's washability fully immersed in water (they said NOT to immerse them). Absolutely no problems. So I've ordered honeycomb blinds for the whole house from them. Their fabric is durable, even thickness all over, and quite substantial in weight compare to the H.Douglas and they have some great colours. Kresta's price for the 85cmx1.2m blind was about $200 once they took their standard 30% off their "full price". Goska, love to know how you saved 50% on your double glazing. What secrets did you learn about how the glazing industry operates? Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 14May 04, 2009 9:39 pm glitterfaeriejo Hiya! We are building our house in WA ( Busselton, same weather as Perth just slightly more temperate) Its already started so double glazing is out ( never heard of it till i found this forum site ) Our rectangle shaped living room/kitchen has the long side North facing. With 2 lots of floor length windows that have a slide opening (left to right) and a sliding door. Had planned originally to have sunscreen roller blinds with a heat reflective tint on the glass. That will sort out summer sun, but what about keeping the heat IN in winter? So now looking at different options. Am getting a quote from luxaflex on the duette, but have been warned its expensive. Also found TURNIL?? on http://www.beautifulblinds.com.au do a honeycomb blind that acts as an insulator, but so far they dont seem to have anything in WA. Has anyone put in either of these? Comments... or are there other options apart from traditional curtins with pelmates? is the duette and the turnil blind same quality/finish ect...I will have toddlers. The lady at luxaflex totally scrunched the Duette in her hand and it was fine! Any help is muchly appreciated!!!! please, i had no idea it was going to be so hard! Jo xx we discovered there was a "vista" blinds in bunbury during the school holidays. they also do the honeycomb type of blinds. One thing the girl mentioned was they rate as high or was it higher than curtains and pelmet as insulation.( i suspect "as high") We got quotes for our main bedroom windows done in both hollands and also in the honey comb blinds. They don't have a huge variety of finishes. Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 15May 04, 2009 10:36 pm Hi, I spoke to people at Beautiful Blinds today. They are helpful but I am still trying to understand how the honeycomb blinds industry works. I am surprised that Hunter Douglas and Luxaflex blinds are different as Hunter Douglas is the parent company for Luxaflex (see http://www.hunterdouglas.com.au/). As nearly everything American is these days made in China (they have exported their almost entire manufacturing industry to China - apart from the automotive! (see what happened to it!)), I will have to assume that the difference in quality comes from the selection of the fabrics, and not where you get them from (as they are made by the same manufacturer). I was told by Beautiful Blinds person that all fabrics come from China while the blinds are assembled to order by Hunter Douglas/Luxaflex in NSW. So if you live in NSW your blinds will do a round trip to Tassie and back! I have also investigated Turnils and they are also part of the Hunter Douglas group. This seems to be a very small industry! Re double glazing - I had about 7 or 8 (!) quotes for our staircase and upstairs windows (the previous owner was an architect who designed the house for himself hence we have lots of windows - we like it but it is expensive on double glazing and blinds). I was just about to give up as it was far too expensive when the number 9 glazier offered to do the measure and installation while we ordered the glass. He charged $600 (2 people at $300) and that included removing old window panes. They worked all day on this job. I ordered the glass directly from Moen Glass (http://www.moenglass.com.au/products/doubleglazed) to glazier's dimensions. I did my homework and got advice from the manufacturer on what type of double glazing to get. Contrary to expectations most glaziers knew very little about double glazing and types of coating. Some tried to sell coated single glass as superior to double glazing! (they apparently make even more money on it) This approach saved us around $3000 on the average quote of $6000 from other glaziers. Worth the effort! So you need 2 things - live in Melbourne or Canberra (although Moen Glass might deliver elsewhere, I don't know, it is worth checking; in Melbourne delivery is free), and a willing glazier. And the final comment - double glazing is not expensive, it is the way the industry works that is the problem. Good luck with finding the right glazier! Margaret Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 16May 05, 2009 10:24 pm Thanks Goskan for the info on double glazing. So hard to get real, unbiased researched information. Luxaflex told me that their Duette material is manufactured "..in the USA by Hunter Douglas". I was told this twice by different Luxaflex people. However, the Hunter Douglas "Whisper" cellular blinds offered by other blind companies are most definitely different material to Luxaflex. I can only guess that H.Douglas produces different grades of fabric for different markets. In reponse to kexkez.. Honeycomb blinds are vastly better insulators than curtains with pelmets - see the Hunter Douglas web site, it tells you the comparitive insulation offered by different types of blinds and curtains. Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 17May 06, 2009 6:07 am sorry to hijack the thread but has anyone seen the windows that have almost like a venetian blind inside the glass? Hubby works in the glass industry and was telling me about this window - he said the sample he saw was fitted into a laundry door - it has a mechanism which allows you to open & close the blind but the actual blind is completely sealed inside the glass. He showed me the picture ages ago -
Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 18May 06, 2009 7:49 am Re double glazed venetians - I saw them when I was looking for affordable double glazing few years ago. I googled the term and found a few (there are more): http://www.vertilux.com.au/products/505.jsp http://www.qualital.com.au/integrated-blinds.html http://www.hunterdouglascommercial.com. ... inds/sb.cn but while they do not need to be cleaned and are good for privacy they do not help much with heat insulation as it is the trapped layer of air (or argon in case of sealed units) that does it the best. This is why honeycomb cellular blinds work so well, especially if installed leaving a gap of air in front of a double glazed window while minimising gaps around. Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 19May 06, 2009 8:29 am goskan Re double glazed venetians - I saw them when I was looking for affordable double glazing few years ago. I googled the term and found a few (there are more): http://www.vertilux.com.au/products/505.jsp http://www.qualital.com.au/integrated-blinds.html http://www.hunterdouglascommercial.com. ... inds/sb.cn but while they do not need to be cleaned and are good for privacy they do not help much with heat insulation as it is the trapped layer of air (or argon in case of sealed units) that does it the best. This is why honeycomb cellular blinds work so well, especially if installed leaving a gap of air in front of a double glazed window while minimising gaps around. interesting - perhaps why the sample hubby saw was in a laundry door where the heat insulation properties aren't as important?? Re: heat blocking window treatments, honeycomb? sunscreen?help? 20May 06, 2009 4:42 pm 78xtc sorry to hijack the thread but has anyone seen the windows that have almost like a venetian blind inside the glass? Hubby works in the glass industry and was telling me about this window - he said the sample he saw was fitted into a laundry door - it has a mechanism which allows you to open & close the blind but the actual blind is completely sealed inside the glass. He showed me the picture ages ago - he said it was a competitors sample & they were going to try and replicate it but as yet they haven't got anything ready yet... We have it... there are 2 versions, one you can raise and angle the blind, the other you can only angle the blades. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 I have a toilet that blocks up on the top (2nd) floor of a property. The toilets on the 1st and ground floor are OK) Blockage clears when the using a plunger. But… 0 493 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair 3 pipes are coming from upstairs bathroom. 40mm from bathroom sink, 50mm from shower and another 50mm from the bathtub. Highly unlikely that any of these will be open at… 2 843 There may be answers here but can't find anything. I have a closed in veranda, four windows. North facing, just had sunblock blinds installed. A bit cooler (actually… 0 2977 |