Skylight blinds are an absolute necessity, at least for domestic use. Nothing can equal the beauty of skylight windows, but they have a major drawback if not covered: they could turn your room into a green house, because of the direct sun light that lasts for so many hours a day. In normal windows, thanks to their orientation, there’s full sun only for several hours a day, then as the sun moves in the sky, shadows take its place. With skylights, things are different, as these windows are exposed as long as the sun shines in the sky. Besides, if you are surrounded by taller buildings, you may need some privacy, at least at night.

Even in case of commercial buildings such as museums or art galleries, skylight blinds are also a must have, because there has to be a way to control the light filtering if you want visitors to be able to enjoy the masterpieces exposed in the halls.

Skylight Blinds Control Systems

Depending on the movement control mechanism, there are several types of skylight blinds:
Motorized skylight blinds: these are maybe the most convenient, as you don’t have to use anything else but a button on the remote control to change their position. In buildings with tall ceilings, this could be the only possible solution, because the manual systems may be too big and difficult to operate. Powell Blinds offer several interesting solutions of motorized skylight blinds. If you have skylights and you’re interested in some window covering ideas, you can check out the Velux website. Velux is a well-known skylights manufacturer and they offer a catalog with a wide range of mount types and accessories such as blinds, shades or accessory controls.

Manually operated skylight blinds: if the rooms are not that tall, skylights blinds can be operated with the help of a crank and a simple wand. Usually, the wand is removable, so you can hide it somewhere when you don’t need to use it.

Best Materials For Skylight Blinds

First of all, when thinking of skylight windows, you have to be aware that if they don’t provide an excellent thermal insulation, your energy bills will be much higher, in both winter and summer. This is why most manufacturers of skylights and roof windows suggest the usage of either low-E or low-E laminate glass, double glazed, and if possible filled with an inert gas.

Such windows come from start with a good R-value, but you can improve it even more by choosing special fabrics for your skylight blinds. The fabric or the material for skylights coverings should have good insulating properties, as well as good resistance at fading, yellowing, bending or cracking under the direct exposure to sun light. Cellular blinds and shades are excellent in this respect, so they are one of the most frequent choices. A few examples from the most popular manufacturers are: Bali Skylight Cellular Shades, available as inside or outside mount, Comfortex Skylight, available only as inside mount, Graber Skylight, which are manual and come with extra charge, optional extension poles to open and close the shade, or Hunter Douglas Skylight which come either manual or motorized for full comfort and convenience.

Hopefully, this brief overview will help you in choosing your blinds for skylights.

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