Reflective Blinds are transparent, internal, sun control blinds.
They come as Roller Blinds:
The thing that makes Reflective Blinds unique, is that they are made from laminated polyester film.
The film has a thin coating of aluminium sandwiched between the laminations. The polyester gives the film its colour, strength and pliability; while the aluminium, which is so thin you can see through it, provides the medium for reflecting the sun's rays.
To describe polyester, you can use some trade names such as Mylar, which is manufactured by Dupont or Melinex, which is manufactured by ICI, but you cannot actually claim that a particular piece of our blind film is either because we have no knowledge which specific raw film supplier's product is being used at any one point of time by the film manufacturer.
To keep this simple, we will talk of the two most significant mechanisms a Reflective Blind uses to insulate your window:
Any sun affected window, but they are a blind you have when you would really prefer not to have a blind at all, so they work best in a window with a view.
Some of the best views are lost when the sun shines. Whether the outlook is onto water, a tree studded reserve or just the world outside, it is a shame to lose it every time the sun shines.
Reflective Blinds are truly transparent.
They:
For a Reflective Blind to reach its full potential it must be placed where it can take, and reflect the full force of the sun. Therefore Reflective Blinds are always installed in front of all other blinds and curtains. It is always the closest window furnishing to the glass.
Reflective Blinds are also ideal in high wind areas, locations where you cannot safely have an awning. Here the Reflective Blind, safely fitted behind glass can go on working regardless of the strength of the wind. They have been used successfully in homes, offices and factories. You will see them protecting the cashier and the chocolates in service stations. They are used by air traffic controllers in airports around the world and on the bridges of ships.
Reflective Blinds give no night time privacy, so they are not a substitute for conventional blinds or curtains in the evening. They are not a decorator product in the normal sense of the word, because they do not add colour and texture to your room.
The performance claims made for Reflective Blinds has been done under the Windows Energy Rating Scheme using the same computer modelling software as used by the US National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC). This software has been thoroughly validated against laboratory tests in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom -- in all climates, hot and cold. WERS is truly international in its derivation and draws on over 100 person-years of R&D in 15 countries over the last decade.
Reflective Blinds / Energy Shield is a fully licensed participant in the Window Energy Rating Scheme (Australasian Window Council, 2002). Custom energy ratings for Reflective Blinds products, in their most basic form, denote the performance improvement provided by each product when used in conjunction with a typical, 3 mm clear glass, aluminium framed window. Energy ratings are based on optical measurements and computer modelling by means of software from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA, and the WERS Program (AWC 2002).
Energy Rating for windows is here to stay. Certified energy performance is an essential part of the information that professional companies provide to their customers. The Australian Federal Government's Australian Greenhouse Office is helping to underwrite WERS as part of its commitment to improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse emissions from the built environment.
The market profile and returns from high-performance windows are increasing rapidly. Gone are the days when windows were just a commodity to be sold on price alone.
WERS will be referenced by AS 2047 and the Building Code of Australia.
The Australasian Window Council is the peak body for the window product and component industry in Australia and New Zealand. The AWA is a major player in that body. WERS is independent of any one manufacturer and acts as a fair, rigorous and credible system for testing performance claims.
Reduction in solar Heat Gain: This is another way of saying Solar Energy Rejected. Solar Energy Rejected is the ratio of the amount of total solar energy in the full solar wave length range (300-2100 nanometers) that passes directly through a glazing system, to the amount of solar energy falling on that glazing system.
What this means is that on a normal summer's day, about 600 watts of solar heat energy will fall on every square metre of our eastern and western windows for about four hours every day: the eastern windows in the morning and the western windows in the afternoon. The Reflective Blind working in concert with the glass, and hanging about 25mm inside the glass will reduce heat gain into the room by 51% to 80%, depending on which film from the range you are using and the design of the window.
The more reflective the Reflective Blind Film, the more effective the blind will be in reducing solar heat gain.
Solar energy does three things when it strikes a surface:
They are truly transparent:
Day time Privacy: Reflective Blinds work like a one way mirror during the day giving excellent day time privacy. There is a security element to this in that you cannot see in through a Reflective Blind during the day, or at night when the lights are turned off.
Washable: Although some users never need to clean their Reflective Blinds, they can be cleaned. With care even paint spatters can be removed without harm.
Reflective blinds are tough, durable and sun rot resistant.
It depends on the model.
Deluxe Reflective Roller Blinds are installed at the top of the window reveal. They are operated by a continuous loop chain at one side, and roll down the window inside the glass. Each blind sits in two brackets, each of which is held in place by two screws. they can be face or ceiling fixed.
Reflective Cord Actuated Blinds are installed, usually under glass roofs or sloping windows. They are on a spring loaded roller and are drawn up or down the slope of the glass by a single cord which is fitted to the middle of the lath. The cord then runs through a series of pulleys to a cleat. The cleat holds the blind in tension against the spring loaded roller.
Reflective blinds for Skydomes (Skydome Industries) are very similar to the cord actuated model. The blind is Inside a cassette which is fastened to the metal parts of the Dome.
Reflective Blinds are usually held in place with screws, but we do use a range of sophisticated fastenings for more unusual installations.
Just like the rest of the blind industry it depends on the time of the year.
In winter time the delivery lead time is usually a little over a week.
In summer time, especially around Christmas, it can extend to four weeks.
Almost all Reflective Blinds installations can be motorised.
The cost is what stops most people. You can add $600 to $1000 per motor to the price of the blind, depending on the electronics required.
The cost of an electrician will add to these charges. A $200 blind could end up costing as much as $1500 if you want to sit in your lounge chair and operate it by remote control.
Given that they are designed to sacrifice themselves while they protect the occupants of a building and their furnishings from the sun, the manufacturers of Reflective Blinds say that their product will last five to seven years in a glass roof application, and seven to ten years behind a normal vertical window. But this is dependent on the amount of sun they are exposed to, and the amount of use they are given.
Users are reporting that they are still happy with Reflective Blinds under a glass roof after ten to twelve years and behind vertical glass after seventeen years. Our only concern with making such extended claims is that although the blind may look fine after that amount of time, it may not be working as well as it was in the first half of its life.
There are two ways:
Full measure quote, supply and fit service.
This may be obtained from the manufacturer direct in the Sydney area.
If you live on the outskirts of Sydney, or on one of the satellite cities give us a call.
We also have a very large number of distributors right across Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia, who may be able to help you. So whether you live in Cairns or Perth, Darwin or Hobart, give us a call for a distributor near you. We will try to recommend a distributor who has the most experience, perhaps one who will give you the best value.
Do-it-yourself measuring and fitting.
Just phone, fax or E-mail Reflective Blinds for a DIY Instruction Kit.
This kit contains full measuring and ordering instructions, colour brochures, prices and a set of colour swatch samples of the various films that may be appropriate to your needs.