Can someone settle a disagreement re blinds ?

[Bard Rooney]

Himself and I are having a disagreement re when towing, do you close the blinds or not ? We always closed them when travelling in our last caravan with no problems but given the current hot weather my husband thinks that they should be closed to try and keep heat levels down, I think however that this may potentially damage the blinds and the clips keeping them closed. I’m interested in your thoughts if possible. Thanks as always, Bernarde.

 

[Hutch]

You should keep the blinds up when travelling, my theory is in case their is a sunlight reflection that could temporaraly blind someone. That is if you have silvered window blinds.
We find leaving our shower room, ròoflight on the first latch, allows enough airflow through the caravan, to keep it cool.

 

[Dustydog]

Left closed they can close suddenly through road bumps. And then get damaged. I’m with Hutch keep them up.

 

[Thingy]

Not to mention the build up of heat in the windows on a very hot day. But, I would keep them open for the simple reason if anything goees pear shaped inside the caravan, you may just notice via your rear view mirror before too much damage gets done.

 

[otherclive]

We had blinds and curtains so kept the blinds open and curtains closed.

 

[Lutz]

There are even factory fitted stickers on all the windows of my caravan to tell you to keep the blinds open when they are not needed to be closed.

 

[Buckman]

We have the blinds 3/4 of the way up as on all the windows there is warning sticker at the bottom of the window indicating that in sunlight they should never be closed altogether. The heat build up and lead to an expensive window repair or replacement.

 

[Beachball]

We have always leave our blinds up when we are towing

 

[Ern]

When our caravan is parked at home we keep the blinds 1/3 open to reduce the radiated heat from sun, whilst allowing air movement between window and blind. We travel with the blinds that way too. Never had a problem with the blinds (just the rest of it falling apart )

 

[Jcloughie]

When our caravan is parked at home we keep the blinds 1/3 open to reduce the radiated heat from sun, whilst allowing air movement between window and blind. We travel with the blinds that way too. Never had a problem with the blinds (just the rest of it falling apart )

Same here, Except they are about 10% open. There is a diagram on each window indicating this. It is to ensure the heat build up on the ‘glass’ is not excessive. We close the roof blinds to help stop a heat build up. But in winter storage, we leave them open to try to get some heat in order to encourage air movement.

You should keep the blinds up when travelling, my theory is in case their is a sunlight reflection that could temporaraly blind someone. That is if you have silvered window blinds.

Must admit, that is not something I have given thought to, but makes sense. However, I don’t remember having problems from other vans on the road in this respect.



John

 

[Hutch]

John, I have seen many caravans with the rear ( silvered ) blinds Reflect the sunlight when behind them, a dangerous situation.

 

[Jcloughie]

John, I have seen many caravans with the rear ( silvered ) blinds Reflect the sunlight when behind them, a dangerous situation.

Hutch, there is NO window in theback of my van. 😁

John

 

[Hutch]

Hutch, there is NO window in theback of my van. 😁

John

Your A frame is at the wrong end then. 😂

 

[Dustydog]

Hutch, there is NO window in theback of my van. 😁

John

Must be breezy🤪

 

[GeorgeandAde]

In storage.......blinds open/curtains closed.
Towing......all open.

 

[Beachball]

In storage.......blinds open/curtains closed.
Towing......all open.

Storage Blinds open / No curtains at present my wife doing new ones

 

[Darren.H]

So in my handbook, and I actually remember this, it reads,
Do not close blinds in hot weather as the heat build up can damage the windows.

Blinds are closed to protect the inside decor from UV damage, my compromise is blinds closed but with a gap at the top to let the heat out, same for roof lights, we have concertina style

 

[Buckman]

So in my handbook, and I actually remember this, it reads,
Do not close blinds in hot weather as the heat build up can damage the windows.

Blinds are closed to protect the inside decor from UV damage, my compromise is blinds closed but with a gap at the top to let the heat out, same for roof lights, we have concertina style

Also there is a sticker on the window normally at the bottom. Many people do not realise that there is this sticker warning them about closing the blind in hot sunlight.

 

[Jcloughie]

Also there is a sticker on the window normally at the bottom. Many people do not realise that there is this sticker warning them about closing the blind in hot sunlight.

The sticker on my warns against closing them completely.

So in my handbook, and I actually remember this, it reads,
Do not close blinds in hot weather as the heat build up can damage the windows.

Blinds are closed to protect the inside decor from UV damage, my compromise is blinds closed but with a gap at the top to let the heat out, same for roof lights, we have concertina style

Mine are open about 10% in the hope that I get max UV protection without overheating.

In storage.......blinds open/curtains closed.
Towing......all open.

Many do the same, I don’t follow the logic. You have a blind to protect against UV yet allow the curtains to possibly pale in the sun.

The curtains in our van are not designed to be used, they don’t shut properly and are too starched. I think they were for show Purposes.

John

 

[Raywood]

I am not convinced it makes any difference either way. We usually store the caravan with the blinds up and just leave them that way when towing.
In storage we leave them up so anyone looking in can see there is nothing worth stealing inside, the springs in the blinds works are not stretched and it prevents the sun overheating the window and damaging them. In winter it also gets the most warmth in which may help.