Blinds
- Thread starter Cinlamb
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
- Joined
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- FlyWright
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- 1977 Marshall Californian 34 LRC
We bought our boat without window coverings and felt like we were living in a fish bowl. For the windows, I ordered faux wood blinds from Lowes with color ribbons with make them more coordinated to the boat's colors. Each window has its own blind but in hindsight, I should have installed double width blinds for some of them.
The doors have cordless shades that operate single handed from inside or outside. Those are very easily operated. If I had unlimited funds, I'd go cordless throughout the boat.
Here's a shot immediately after installation.
The doors have cordless shades that operate single handed from inside or outside. Those are very easily operated. If I had unlimited funds, I'd go cordless throughout the boat.
Here's a shot immediately after installation.
- Joined
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- 1977 Marshall Californian 34 LRC
I opted against installing the little retaining clips to hold the bottom rail steady. When we're underway or at anchor at night, we raise the blinds and wrap the cord in the end to prevent noise.
psneeld
Guru
Underway the binds are usually all the way up so no rattling...
Other times...I used electrical P clips as the cheapo plastic retainers that came with them lasted about a week per. The P clips are retained by screws that hold the window frames in.
They work great, are easy to use and near indestructible...
Other times...I used electrical P clips as the cheapo plastic retainers that came with them lasted about a week per. The P clips are retained by screws that hold the window frames in.
They work great, are easy to use and near indestructible...
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Our 1973 boat came with Levalour metal blinds in all the windows except the forward ones (windshield). The boat we charted had curtains. Hated the curtains, love the blinds.
We run with them up but very often put some or all of them down at a dock, at anchor, etc. To keep them from banging around Levalour used plastic fittings at the ends of each bottom bar that fit into hook-like catches that are screwed to the lower window sill.
Some of the original fittings were failing when we bought the boat and were being held together with electrical tape. More of them broke over the years so we finally did something about it this year.
The college-age son of a co-worker built a 3D printer from scratch last summer and once he had it operating he printed thirty new fittings of an improved design for us. First photo is on of the last intact original fittings, second photo is the new 3D-printed fitting.
This is just one way to secure the bottom bar of a blind to keep it from banging around. There are many others.
We run with them up but very often put some or all of them down at a dock, at anchor, etc. To keep them from banging around Levalour used plastic fittings at the ends of each bottom bar that fit into hook-like catches that are screwed to the lower window sill.
Some of the original fittings were failing when we bought the boat and were being held together with electrical tape. More of them broke over the years so we finally did something about it this year.
The college-age son of a co-worker built a 3D printer from scratch last summer and once he had it operating he printed thirty new fittings of an improved design for us. First photo is on of the last intact original fittings, second photo is the new 3D-printed fitting.
This is just one way to secure the bottom bar of a blind to keep it from banging around. There are many others.
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We found "cellular" blinds at Home Depot. They custom make them (in China I suspect) to your measurements. They've been great. Here's the best picture I could find showing the construction:
It's not shown in the picture, but the end caps have little holes that fit into the plastic clips you screw into the bulkhead. The blinds are great, but the clips break easily. Some of the alternatives above would help, but we've learned to be careful and haven't broken one in over a year now.
They aren't cheap, but they look and work great. The strings are all internal, they raise and lower just by pulling down or pushing back up.
It's not shown in the picture, but the end caps have little holes that fit into the plastic clips you screw into the bulkhead. The blinds are great, but the clips break easily. Some of the alternatives above would help, but we've learned to be careful and haven't broken one in over a year now.
They aren't cheap, but they look and work great. The strings are all internal, they raise and lower just by pulling down or pushing back up.
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Boydski
Senior Member
We use the clear plastic blind hold downs that are designed for RV's. As Capt Tom suggests, they break every once in a while, but work very well, even in open ocean. I have a bag full of spares.
There are several different sizes, depending on the style and size of the blinds that you install.
Amazon.com - Hold Down Plastic Bracket For 2 inch Horizontal Blind- Pack of 10 - Clear - Window Treatment Horizontal Blinds
I don't really have a good picture of them in use, but there is one of the clips in this picture, just below the window on the right side.
Good Luck
There are several different sizes, depending on the style and size of the blinds that you install.
Amazon.com - Hold Down Plastic Bracket For 2 inch Horizontal Blind- Pack of 10 - Clear - Window Treatment Horizontal Blinds
I don't really have a good picture of them in use, but there is one of the clips in this picture, just below the window on the right side.
Good Luck
We found "cellular" blinds at Home Depot. They custom make them (in China I suspect) to your measurements. They've been great. Here's the best picture I could find showing the construction:
...
We have similar blinds in our house and they are very energy efficient. We have very tight, leak proof windows, but the energy transmission through the glass was something you could feel. We put in these blinds and it makes the rooms noticably more comfortable in the winter.
My first thought on seeing this thread was how could the boat have blinds like these and not bang around. Glad to see the solutions that make this work!
Later,
Dan
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This is the same product I have on my doors. They just cover the upper half where there's glass.
Brooksie
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Mine is a no AC, anchor out operation so blinds were selected for max insulation, minimum noise. The narrow plastic type, cheap from home depot for the blinds and thin, white, plastic, channels, (somthing to do with drywall I think) keep them from banging at any height. That with my nylon "air funnel" on the bow hatch keep me cool on the warmest days. I have solar film on my sides also
Codger2
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I guess I'm going to be the "doubting Thomas" in this thread but, for the life of me, I don't see how blinds inside the boat keep the heat out! I know they keep the sun light at bay & provide privacy but since the blinds are in the boat, isn't the heat already in the boat when the sun comes through the windows? I have blinds on my boat but when I hold my hand up to them on a sunny day, I can still feel significant heat. Low E-glass or tinted windows seem to be a better solution to the problem. My windshield is covered by Sunbrella and my salon sliding doors are tinted. Even with direct sun on the sliding doors, not much heat can be felt.
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psneeld
Guru
No physicist here but my understanding is...blinds of a light color can reflect heat back OUT through the glass....dark blinds would be much hotter as they are absorbing and not reflecting...the reason passive solar items have glass over absorbers and the back of the panel is painted black.
So blinds that will reflect back rather than allow light to land on and heat up an interior object should help. Not a lot...but some.
Even if they heat up a bit...better it be close to a low R value window that will transmit the heat back out than the rug or sofa that will add heat t the interior of the space.
So blinds that will reflect back rather than allow light to land on and heat up an interior object should help. Not a lot...but some.
Even if they heat up a bit...better it be close to a low R value window that will transmit the heat back out than the rug or sofa that will add heat t the interior of the space.
Even energy efficient windows still allow energy transmission. One problem we have with our house is the west facing walls heat up in the summer. There are two rooms, both the same size, on the same wall with equal sized glass doors on that wall. One door has energy efficient blinds. One does not. The room without blinds is much hotter and the room heats up our house which is not a good thing.
The blinds do have an R value as well as being light colored to reflect the sun light from entering the house and warming up the floor. It really does make a difference. A shade covering on the outside of the window will certainly work and this is an age old solution for Southern homes but the blinds R value also helps. Shading the windows on the outside AND having interior energy efficient blinds would be the best solution.
The blinds will work better if they are IN the window casement. That certainly is not going to happen on all/many boat windows.
Our house has passive solar design features. The roof overhang is a certain size that blocks the summer sun from entering the southern facing windows while allowing fall, winter, and spring sun to enter those windows. The sun enters the windows and warms up the furniture and finished concrete floor helps heat the house. The house's concrete floor is a huge heat sink that helps moderate the house temperature. The slab is heated mainly from the sunlight hitting the floor.
When the house was being built, I measured room temperature on the south and north sides of the house. There was a five degree difference in the south facing rooms due to solar heat gain.
Later,
Dan
Brooksie
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I agree with you, I think once the sunlight is through the glass, most of the heat is already in the boat/house. If you recall the old-old Landcruisers? They had a double roof with a 3/4" space between, the wind blew through the space and carried the heat off. If blinds were on the outside, in theory they might do the same. Inside, some heat is reflected back but most, I think, wafts up between the blind & the glass.
Heron
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Mini-blinds here, on 3 sides....We always have ours up when underway too, but do have the little retaining clips to keep them quiet when at anchor or when dropped...
Some of our clips were broken when we bought the boat, but replacements are easily available at Lowes..
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fryedaze
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This was a great add to the boat this year. We got rid of the curtains for the large windows. These are online Hunter Douglas knockoffs, half the price. http://www.selectblinds.com/sheershades/roomdarkening-sheer-shades.html
The magnet at the bottom holds the blinds in place when down. They roll up and are out of the way in the valance.
The magnet at the bottom holds the blinds in place when down. They roll up and are out of the way in the valance.
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kchace
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The reason very light colored or reflective blinds keep heat out has to do with how the heat is trapped inside. Glass transmits light very well, but when that sunlight hits an object inside the boat it warms that item. That item then radiates the heat as infrared light which does NOT go through glass very well. So if you can reflect the light out before it warms interior items you can keep a lot of the heat from being trapped inside.
Ken
It was called a Tropical Roof and Toyota stole the idea from Rover who created it for the Land Rover back in the late 1940s. I ordered my Land Rover with a Tropical Roof back in 1973 when I lived in Hawaii and I can tell you that it works as advertised. The theory is very simple, as Rover explained in their booklet on off-road expedition driving that came with the Land Rover in those days--- it keeps the main roof in the shade. It works, wind or no wind.
Even parked in direct sun all day, the inside would be stuffy when I climbed in at the end of the day but it was never baking hot as everybody else's cars were. Photo is my Series III Model 88.
Also, I completely agree with psneeld's post #19 regarding the effect of blinds on interior heat. We've had a boat with Ventian blinds now for 17 years and I can tell you that on sunny days they have a very noticeable effect on reducing heat inside the boat when the sun is beating on the windows for exactly the reasons psneeld states.
We have come back to the boat on hot summer days and the inside of the cabin has been very warm with the blinds up. We lower and close the blinds on the sunny side of the boat and almost immediately we begin to notice a reduction of the temperature inside the boat.
And we're not the only ones who notice it. A previous owner mounted a brass mercury thermometer in the main cabin on the edge of the magazine rack attached to the backside of the the galley cabinet. So it's almost in the middle of the main cabin. We've noted the inside temperature when the cabin's been hot with the blinds up and then again a half hour or so after lowering and closing the blinds on the sunny side. I don't recall the exact change, but it was measurably cooler.
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I'm with you. Great looking rig you have too btw.
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