Knowledge

Conservatory Roof Blinds can be made in several types of fabric. We only supply pleated roof blinds as these are simple to operate and very effective. There are no motors involved hence you do not have the additional expense - we feel the less moving parts there are, the less there is to go wrong. Plus the fact that, in practice, people with roof blinds only operate them 2 or 3 times a year (although other companies won’t tell you this). Ask yourself if that is worth doubling the price for!

Obviously with ‘clip-in blinds’ there are no holes to be drilled (check with conservatory manufacturer about the warrantee situation). Also, as the blinds clip in to your conservatory frames, there is no tension straining on your conservatory roof. High tension is required to keep conventional pleated blinds from sagging. Tension also makes the blinds more difficult to open and close.

Perfect Fit conservatory roof blinds are built around a 20mm pleated blind. There is 25mm pleated on the market but it is very ‘old hat’ and virtually extinct. Needless to say, we only supply 20mm pleated in a Perfect Fit configuration. The blind itself is mounted in a frame (available in white or brown, to suit your conservatory), which clips into each window pane. Obviously by looking at our picture gallery you will appreciate that it is vital the frame is measured very accurately.

Regarding the blind material itself… we need to bear in mind that people need blinds for the following reasons:

• Privacy - “It’s like a goldfish bowl in here!”
• To keep heat in - “We don’t use it in winter, it’s too cold”
• To keep heat out - “We can’t use it in summer, it’s too hot”
• Glare - “I can’t see the TV because it’s too bright in here”
• Decoration - “The blinds look great, don’t they?”

There are 2 major suppliers of clip-in blinds in the UK. But only one (Louvolite of Manchester) can make shaped roof blinds, hence this is the one we use. They supply products that keep heat in (in winter) and out (in summer) whilst also cutting down glare (SPC and SPF). There are also ‘black out’ fabrics which cut all the light out and have the same thermal properties as the other fabrics (ESP). For 95% of installations the non black out version is preferred as it can solve most of the scenarios above. However there are customers who like to have another ‘ceiling’ in the conservatory and the black out solves that problem.

So the materials we use are all of the SPC, SPF or ESP type. Any fabrics you may come across, in your research, which do not have these letters on them will probably not do the job properly and that is why we don’t supply them. The other reason is that we can get these more expensive ‘coated’ materials at the same cost as the conventional fabrics.

So just for the record…

• SPC = Solar Protective Coating - reflects and filters daylight more efficiently than a conventional fabric.
• SPF = Solar Pearlised Finish - material has light and heat reflecting properties.
• ESP = Energy and Solar Protection - superior performance black out blind.

A word about blinds for your conservatory’s side windows….

When ordering your roof blinds, you may want to use us as a ‘one stop shop’ and get your conservatory side window blinds as the same time.

However, with side blinds, be aware that you will have more options. All the options we provide are still clip-in, so there is no need for holes to be drilled.

By the way, if you ONLY want side blinds, that is fine too! Just go on through to the next page, select a fabric, then just tick ‘Yes’ for conservatory side blinds.

Now you can choose the same pleated fabric you have in the roof (you can request a sample on our Quote page). This will ensure consistency in your conservatory blinds but be careful if you are selecting a Quartz fabric as it has grey plastic backing which will be seen from the outside of the conservatory!

If you want conservatory window blinds with more variety you can choose from Venetian Blinds or Roller Blinds. With these two types you open up a whole range of fabric and colour choices. However with these you will not be able to select a colour on this site but when our surveyor comes to see you to measure up he will bring you the full portfolio to go through.

Firstly, the Venetian conservatory blinds option is now equipped with something called ‘smoothglide’ this means the bottom bar is moved up and down by hand so there is no need for a drawstring. Blind manufacturers are very concerned about child safety and have now removed the cords from Venetian blinds.

Secondly, the Roller Blinds option - advantages are massive choice of fabrics and clean fabric look to the blind. Nice smooth operation with these conservatory blinds by simply tilting the bottom bar and locking it at the desired position. Just one thing to bear in mind with this type of pre-tensioned roller blind is that the width of the blind must be more than 300mm. That’s because the roller has a torsion spring inside it, which must be that length to operate correctly. So if you have narrow windows you may not be able to have clip in rollers. However pleated blinds can go down to about 120mm wide.

You can of course get a fully guaranteed quotation by filling-in the drop down on the ‘Your Conservatory’ page. Don’t forget you will get a substantial discount on all your conservatory blinds (roof and side windows) from us at the same time.