What are blinds for?

[woodsieboy]

Just been reading the handbook in our new caravan,'' never use the blinds in direct sunlight even for a short period, heat will accumulate between the window and the blind possibly causing damage to the window such as bending/ballooning'' so what are they for then, and what happens if we go out and leave the blinds down, but the sun comes out, do we have to rush back and open them? the blinds are pleated type with silver foil on window side, I am guessing to reflect heat, so we have a top of the range caravan where the blinds can't be used in direct sunlight. Previous vans had the roller blind system, no reflective finish and we never had a problem with them in direct sunlight,once again it looks to me like manufacturers know what is best for us best, sadly every van we looked at had the pleated reflective blinds so there must be a lot of people in the same position

 

[Mel]

Flipping 'eck. I am glad I didn't read the caravan handbook, if that is what it says. I leave the pleated blinds closed whenever we are not in the van; and when it is hot and sunny, when we are in the van. No ballooned Windows as yet.
Mel

 

[MikeyW]

Our pleated blinds pull up from the bottom. We always leave a gap at the top to help heat to escape in the day, obviously fully closed at night. No problems so far.

Mike

 

[Damian]

Ever since the makers started using the pleated silver backed blinds there have been problems.

If they pull up from the bottom it is not too bad as you can leave a gap at the top to allow heat to vent into the van, but those which pull down from the top are a bigger problem as they trap heat between the blind and window, and plastic windows do not like excessive heat and can distort, and this is not covered by warranty !

With vans which have fabric blinds there is no problem as the fabric allows heat to escape.

The price of "modernisation" can be very expensive !!!!

 

[Dustydog]

So a design defect becomes the responsibility of the the poor caravanner?
Bizarre and I am sure worthy of a challenge in Court.

 

[otherclive]

I have sometimes referred to our industry as a " Cottage industry" but that is unfair to those who provide good products from such businesses. Too often form takes precedence over function although with good design both can be successfully achieved.

 

[Dodger524]

Before total panic sets in I must ask if there is any record of such a problem actually occuring?

I’m another that always closes our foil blinds in an effort to keep the interior temperature lower.

 

[Craigyoung]

We often shut ours when we go out , yes to keep it cool inside and for security so no one sees inside. But have never thought about the heat deflecting off the blind onto the plastic windows ?! :huh:

 

[Grey13]

Craig in which case it clearly has no detrimental affect! Quote: We often shut ours when we go out , yes to keep it cool inside and for security so no one sees inside.

 

[Craigyoung]

Craig in which case it clearly has no detrimental affect! Quote: We often shut ours when we go out , yes to keep it cool inside and for security so no one sees inside.

?

 

[Hutch]

We do pull our blinds down but tend to leave a bit of the Insect mesh open at the top, to let heat out. Never had a window problem.

 

[Grey13]

To explain, your comment says that you often shut your blinds.... therefore if you or anyone else was going to experience problems of any sort, (often closing blinds) you would have. By default then, leaving blinds closed does no harm.

 

[thosoneill]

Can you not just draw the curtains in such a scenario - seldom have I witnessed intense heat in the U.K. perhaps this would be more of an issue on the continent

 

[Craigyoung]

To explain, your comment says that you often shut your blinds.... therefore if you or anyone else was going to experience problems of any sort, (often closing blinds) you would have. By default then, leaving blinds closed does no harm.

Ah ha ! sorry it's been a long morning !!

 

[ProfJohnL]

To explain, your comment says that you often shut your blinds.... therefore if you or anyone else was going to experience problems of any sort, (often closing blinds) you would have. By default then, leaving blinds closed does no harm.

I'm not suggesting anything about how teh blinds to be used, but I am commenting about the poor logic being applied to the issue

Is this another case where its assumed just becasue someone does something contrary to good advice or even against law and gets away with it that makes it OK for every one else to do it? Sorry Grey but that defies logic and good sense.

The incidences of problems arising may be low, but advice is out there and perhaps has been heeded by more people than you think, so the scale of the problem is low.

 

[Grey13]

Yes prof, my very point about the leisure battery issue.

 

[Grey13]

OK I have given this some serious thought. The question is: What are blinds for?
So what do I use my blinds for?
[ol]
[*]First and foremost, although my van is stored on my driveway and I seldom ever leave home unless with it, most of everything I need for a trip remains in my van. (Including a spare set of tools Awning and sun canopy etc.) I then use my blinds for stopping people looking in.
[*]Now perhaps an even more important use is late evening after a grand barbie and a few good drinks, I then use them to stop prying eyes whilst I evade the missus
[*] Lastly on terribly hot sites they are used to keep the van cool, a lot less noisy and or expensive than an air con!
[*] I guess from recent experience, this last week, they also serve to keep me busy fixing or replacing the plastic fittings that secure them in a down position. (I am tired now just thinking about all that!)

[ol]

 

[otherclive]

We just use ours for pulling down at night in the vain hope of a sleep in during light mornings. The curtains are used to stop prying eyes and to keep the direct light off the upholstery when the van is stored. But our blinds are the roller cassette type which have the restriction on having them extended for long periods.

 

[Dustydog]

Ridiculous!
If you believe everything , more fool,you !
So , let’s deal with the real world.
The general recommendation whilst in storage is to pull down the concertina blinds. Not the roller blinds. Use the curtains instead.
Our current caravan from New is nearly ten years old. No problems with heatwarps etc ever!
I can’t help thinking we are are being lead into don’t do this and that because of the litigious world we live in :woohoo:
My windows are fine and have travellelled extensively with no issues.
Relax Guys B)

 

[Damian]

Quote " Ridiculous!
If you believe everything , more fool,you !"

Ok, calm down !!!!!

Just because certain comments are made does not make them a fool, and the possible distortion of plastic windows by excess heat is certainly not ridiculous, it has happened, and will happen again.

Keep the more personal comments out of postings !!!!!!

 

[Dustydog]

Quote " Ridiculous!
If you believe everything , more fool,you !"

Ok, calm down !!!!!

Just because certain comments are made does not make them a fool, and the possible distortion of plastic windows by excess heat is certainly not ridiculous, it has happened, and will happen again.

Keep the more personal comments out of postings !!!!!!

Well that’s fine with me Damian but why are we caravanners always on the losing side?
What happened to ‘fit for purpose “?

 

[Damian]

Quote " Well that’s fine with me Damian but why are we caravanners always on the losing side?"

Simply because the makers know that whatever rubbish they put out, you will accept it and continue to buy their second rate offerings.

They are clever though by stating in the blurb given away with the van, not to close the blinds fully...…………….

 

[RayS]

I've been particularly aware of this problem with the new caravan which has pull up/down rather than roller blinds. Our habitual pitch in Spain for long stay has one side of the caravan due south so quite a problem. Current solution is to put the window onto night vent - happily catches have security buttons - and leave an area of fly screen showing such that there should be some circulation of air. may try using the curtains instead but these are a very pale materiel so will still reflect somewhat.
Would be interested to know whether the current trend for privacy tinting windows actually makes matters worse as dark items absorb more heat than light) or helps to keep cool. (Apologies to the pundits for the simplified physics ).
Quite heavy dark patterning seems quite common on the new fasion front upper windows of current caravans and i wonder how these respond to direct sun, since you can't add ventilation to most of them

 

[Dodger524]

Having been panicked into first finding and secondly reading my caravan’s manual I find no mention of not using our window blinds for the purpose for which we brought them.

On further investigation I found that the blinds fitted to our 2012 Lunar Clubman are not the blinds described in our 2012 Lunar Clubman manual! Roller blinds in the manual and foil faced concertina blind fitted.

However, on reflection (sorry) eight years of use doesn't seem to have harmed our windows, so I shall continue to use the blinds for the purpose for which they were purchased.

 

[Buckman]

Many windows have a small sticker on them showing that should not be closed in bright sunlight to prevent a build up of heat. We always close ours 3/4 of the way with the pleated blind to prevent a build up of heat.