Roll down window blinds forward looking glass

Was wondering if such blinds are good or no good idea.
Forward facing cabin windows are angled back, and in summer much heat comes into the main salon from these three windows.

I also have a piece of rubber rollout reinforced sheet roofing. white on one side and silver grey the other. And it is super strong material. I have the snaps and could cut and fit to cover the front windows all the way from one side to the other side as a single piece. It does completely block incoming sunlight. Of course not as easy as roll up shades.
White side would face the sun. Silver gray the inside.

Advantage of window blinds, up or down from inside the cabin.
Do exist some better looking than the typical style?
What do you think?

I'm all for them. Just had them installed on the three gorward window on the boat I run.


This is the company that made them for me.

Poseidon Window Treatments

We are looking at the same type of thing. Our Pilothouse has slanted back windows so it gets warm in the sun (the new NP45 is super nice and wouldn't have this issue). Some type of a shade on the inside would be helpful. Capt Bill if you ever can show some pictures of your install, it would be great.

We also are looking to install some type of shade in the saloon. That install would be much easier as the windows are square and have a nice recessed valance on the top.

IMHO the sun prevention, to be most effective, should be on the outside of the window rather than the inside. If it's on the inside, the sun's heat has already come through the window and will already be warming the air on the interior side of the glass.


Our windshield cover is made of Stamoid. In this picture it looks gray due to the light conditions but it's actually white. It snaps snugly on the outside of the windshield.

We have a solid Stamoid front window cover that snaps over it all, outside.


But I prefer using the Textilene mesh cover; it also snaps over the whole outside front windows and "around the corners" -- but it also allows some view outside.


Both do well at mitigating heat from direct sunlight, but we use the mesh most often, usually throughout all of July and August, plus maybe parts of June and September.


In our case, since we have no lower helm, those kinds of choices don't affecting piloting...


-Chris

GFC said:

IMHO the sun prevention, to be most effective, should be on the outside of the window rather than the inside. If it's on the inside, the sun's heat has already come through the window and will already be warming the air on the interior side of the glass.


Our windshield cover is made of Stamoid. In this picture it looks gray due to the light conditions but it's actually white. It snaps snugly on the outside of the windshield.

Click to expand...

In Washington state that might work just fine. But here in the south it's nice to have options.

Between exterior covers, V-Kool window film and cellular interior shades that act as insulation and that you can easily move up or down you get lots of options throughout the day as the boat and/or the sun moves around.

I'll post some pictures of the forward window shades I just had installed tomorrow .

Exterior covers are great and so thing else that I want to get for the boat. However, as was mentioned it is nice to have options that don't involve pulling a canvas or mesh cover out and installing it every time you want to block some sun when out on the boat.

dhays said:

Exterior covers are great and so thing else that I want to get for the boat. However, as was mentioned it is nice to have options that don't involve pulling a canvas or mesh cover out and installing it every time you want to block some sun when out on the boat.

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Our use is much simpler than that. Mesh goes on usually in mid-June or early July... comes off in late August or by Labor Day.

Not usually needed, the rest of the time... since we only start being concerned when the ACs can't cope with really high interior temps.

-Chris

Here are the binds I had installed. I can only seem to load one picture per post so there will be a few posts with different pictures.

This shot is looking out through the exterior mesh window cover.

The blinds hang on a tight string. But even with the string very tight they still wanted to sag away from the window when half way down or do. So I got clear plastic edge guard strips from Home Depot and used them as tracks for the edges of the blinds to ride on. Now the blinds no longer sag.

Another pic. of the track.

And one more of the blinds in general.

Is there any window tint that's worth a darn at deflecting heat?
Not that tint alone would be enough, but I'm thinking every little bit would help especially down here in the gulf south.
Our boat has old ugly scratched up tinting on the windows that we are planning to have replaced after we fix up and paint all the window frames.
There's canvas on the front windows but it's black...not sure if that's really helping to keep heat out or not. But the side windows get damned hot to the touch in the heat of the day.

Google V-Kool

I have had blinds, sun reducing mesh fabric and solid fabric on slanted forward windows. Blinds on tight wire guides worked best but were a PITA to replace. The ease of adjusting them for varying conditions was a major benefit. Mesh was good but became transparent at night with lights on inside. The solid cover was best if it never needed to be removed.


Bills guides are a great idea if you have individual frames.

Capt.Bill11 said:

The blinds hang on a tight string. But even with the string very tight they still wanted to sag away from the window when half way down or do. So I got clear plastic edge guard strips from Home Depot and used them as tracks for the edges of the blinds to ride on. Now the blinds no longer sag.

Click to expand...

Super resourceful fix, Bill. Great tip! What did you use to attach the angles?

ranger42c said:

Our use is much simpler than that. Mesh goes on usually in mid-June or early July... comes off in late August or by Labor Day.

Click to expand...

Chris, I am really interested in the exterior mesh covers as well. My wife has expressed concerns about how it affects the visibility from inside the boat. We will find a boat with them at some point and beg our way on board so we can see for ourselves, but what has your experience been?

Capt.Bill11 said:

Here are the binds I had installed. I can only seem to load one picture per post so there will be a few posts with different pictures.

This shot is looking out through the exterior mesh window cover.

Click to expand...

Great photos and a great install. That is pretty much exactly what I was thinking about. I need to check to see exactly how much clearance I have on the inside edge of the window frames.

What level of mesh is that on the outside and do you recall which fabric it is?

dhays said:

Chris, I am really interested in the exterior mesh covers as well. My wife has expressed concerns about how it affects the visibility from inside the boat. We will find a boat with them at some point and beg our way on board so we can see for ourselves, but what has your experience been?

Click to expand...

IIRC, ours is a 90% mesh, and we can see out easily enough. The view just seems a little "dim" or something, like looking out household windows with heavy-duty screens installed.

They don't block views into the interior at nigh, when interior lights are on...

-Chris

healhustler said:

Super resourceful fix, Bill. Great tip! What did you use to attach the angles?

Click to expand...

I was going to use clear double sided tape. But the edge guard came with small holes in it for mounting so I used three #4 screws.

dhays said:

What level of mesh is that on the outside and do you recall which fabric it is?

Click to expand...

The cover came with the boat so I don't really know anything about it. But it looks like 90% Textilene.

Capt.Bill11 said:

I was going to use clear double sided tape. But the edge guard came with small holes in it for mounting so I used three #4 screws.

Click to expand...

I like this clear edge guard idea to support the blinds.
Is this a u shape or just an L, can you point to an HDepot link?
Is is made for window blinds?

External Visor....easy to set-up...

sdowney717 said:

I like this clear edge guard idea to support the blinds.
Is this a u shape or just an L, can you point to an HDepot link?
Is is made for window blinds?

Click to expand...

L shaped. It's made for protecting the corners of interior walls. I just adapted it to my needs. Lucked out and didn't even have to cut it to length.

Trimaco 1-1/8 in. x 1-1/8 in. x 4 ft. Plastic Corner Guard - Commercial 01184G at The Home Depot - Mobile

ranger42c said:

We have a solid Stamoid front window cover that snaps over it all, outside. But I prefer using the Textilene mesh cover; it also snaps over the whole outside front windows and "around the corners" -- but it also allows some view outside.
Both do well at mitigating heat from direct sunlight, but we use the mesh most often, usually throughout all of July and August, plus maybe parts of June and September.
Chris

Click to expand...

I think you mean something like this. Yes, it's mesh, but stops 90% of light and heat, and on bright days, one can actually see through it well enough to navigate with care, especially just for a short move. Normally of course one needs it most at anchor, so it is no big deal to just go out and put it up, with the stretches at the corners, pressing home the studs as well is only necessary when we leave the boat back at the berth. Having used this, but having roller blinds on some side windows, I would never put roller blinds up on the main windscreens.

I have venetian blinds in the lower helm windshield. They run on wooden tracks to keep them angled-up against the windshields. They are easy to use and I always bring them down when not in motion to keep the sun out and protect the interior.

In my previous boat I had a wrap-around windshield cover on the outside which I did not use as often as it was more effort to set-up and to stow. In that boat I had mesh window covers for the saloon windows which I thought worked well but the Admiral preffered venetian blinds which we installed. These also worked well looked good and replaced the curtains.

Hi folks,

My boat came with black snap-on window covers made of Phifertex. You can see through the mesh well enough to cruise with them up, but I usually take them off due to spray, etc. I use several of the folding automotive windshield reflectors when anchored. You can not see through them, but I slide them between the outside of the window and the snap on covers for the hottest part of the day, and they work really well.

Once it cools off, I remove them. Depending on which side of the boat is facing the sun, I can position these reflectors as needed. Low tech for sure, but it works.

Cheers, Bill

I was down at the boat yesterday and looking at the pilothouse windows with an eye to installing blinds. My boat has three windows forward. The center is rectangular with rounded corners. A blind could be fit there without too much blood, sweat and tears. However the two windows to the side are trapezoidal with rounded corners. No way I could do those. It is possible a custom blind shop could manage it, but not something for me to try.

I have wood blinds on the windows in the saloon. They are in tracks so they stay in place and have a wooden rod that opens and closes them. They look nice, but underway they can make a racket in bumpy conditions. I would not want that in the pilothouse. I use a snap-on exterior cover.

Capt.Bill11 said:

Here are the binds I had installed. I can only seem to load one picture per post so there will be a few posts with different pictures.

This shot is looking out through the exterior mesh window cover.

Click to expand...

Bill, those look nice and I like the idea of using the angled plastic pieces to keep the blinds in place. I like the nice, clean look to them. Good job!

That wouldn't work on my boat though because I can't reach the windows. They're too far forward from the helm and the stairs leading down to the staterooms. If I were to do something like that I'd have to run the pull cords somewhere that they could be reached to raise and lower the shades.

We almost never pilot from down below (I think 2-3 times in 6 years) so having the Stamoid cover in place all the time is not a problem.