Blocking the west sun

pommom · ‎03-10-2010

I live in Texas. I recently moved and have a big bay window in the front room. The window faces west. I bought blocker curtains which really were not effective. Then I bought panels of blockers and placed them behind the curtains. The glaring heat of the sun still seeps through somehow. I keep the curtains closed in the afternoon.

Tuesday I had to put the a/c on around 4 pm and when I went to bed at 10, the thermostat still read 80 degrees.

I'm at my wits' end. What else could I use to block the heat? Mylar is not an option. I've watched videos and it looks very complicated.

TIA for your ideas/suggestions.

If your face brightens when you meet a friend, you have struck gold. - unknown

Lacey1 · ‎03-09-2010

@pommom

Good luck with the sun! My sister lives in Phoenix, she used to drive into the sun every morning and evening. Even super duper sunglasses didn't help and she develped premature cataracts. She finally took a work from home job.

Could you try some sort of plant in front of the window, shutters?

Meowingkitty · ‎06-19-2010

I live in Arizona and our house faces west. We don't have curtains or shades but we have shutters for the inside and we have shade screens on the outside. We have one room upstairs that gets warm but ceiling fans help. The living room also faces west but we don't stay in there very often and there is a big tree outside to help with the heat. Our a/c has been going on for the past few weeks. Just the price you pay for not living in the snow.

millieshops · ‎03-09-2010

No real help from here. I have a wall of windows facing west in my Long Island, NY apartment. I keep my blinds closed from noon to sunset which helps with the glare but not so much with the heat. Then again, our terrible heat days are limited compared to those in Texas. I do remember my Denton, Texas aunt saying they turned their A/C on in April and off for Thanksgiving!

Mary in MO · ‎12-21-2014

pommom, you can have your windows professionally tinted (like they do for car windows). Have a pro come to your home to suggest solutions and prices. It is well worth the investment, and it will save on your utility bills and your furniture. They sell "window film" in big box stores, but it is actually only a temporary solution, and not the best.

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

DH took our screens off our windows & made shade screens for all our south windows. Since we have bought dual pane windows which really helps keep the heat/cold out so we don't need them. I would suggest either buy shade screen & make shade screens for the outside of your windows. Only thing is it's harder to see thru plus when you look thru the windows that have them it looks like it's fixing to rain but it's not. You could also buy roller shade screens you install inside or outside like the pics below. Ours looked like the one below the guy is putting on the window. I would go for the indoor shade you can pull up & down as needed so you are not stuck with it on the window all the time like our outdoor shade screens were. I would not recommend the solar window film. We tried that. One of our south windows cracked after it got really hot after we installed it.

Image result for window outside shade screens

Image result for window indoor shade screens

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

@Mary in MO wrote:
pommom, you can have your windows professionally tinted (like they do for car windows). Have a pro come to your home to suggest solutions and prices. It is well worth the investment, and it will save on your utility bills and your furniture. They sell "window film" in big box stores, but it is actually only a temporary solution, and not the best.

This would have been my suggestion, as well. I think that the intense sun and heat some of you deal with in climates different than those of us up north, require a real solution, for both the heat aspect, and the way the sun will ruin furniture and fabric in it's path.

It may be expensive, but in the long run will save so much.

ChynnaBlue · ‎05-22-2012

@Mary in MO wrote:
pommom, you can have your windows professionally tinted (like they do for car windows). Have a pro come to your home to suggest solutions and prices. It is well worth the investment, and it will save on your utility bills and your furniture. They sell "window film" in big box stores, but it is actually only a temporary solution, and not the best.

Yes, I recommend the same thing. Every window in my office is tinted. My old car did not have tinted windows and my new car does - it makes a BIG difference. The money you spend will be made up in utility bills in no time.

You could also put up blinds AND curtains. Neither option may be aesthetically pleasing, but I think the tint would be the better option.

And if your window is getting so much sun that your AC can't keep up, you may want to look into solar panels. It's an investment, for sure, but they pay for themselves over time. I have several friends who've had solar panels installed and they've mostly been very happy with the results. (The one who isn't had a terrible experience and it took nearly a year to get the panels installed and running and a lot of back and forth hassle. She bought hers through a program run by Home Depot, so I wouldn't recommend them.)

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151949 · ‎03-09-2010

We have this exact problem with bay windows facing west in our camp. It was so hot there by evening it was unbearable to eat in there. We would keep the night shades down 24/7 but it wasn't enough so my DH bought some of those cardboard things you unfold and put in your car windshield to keep the car cool. We cut them to fit the window and put some velcro dots on the window frame to hold them in place - then after they were up we closed the night shades again so we did not see them from inside. sadly, you can see them from outside but that is just unfortunate - we aren't removing them - they work perfectly. The inside of the camper is much more comfortable. We can now sit right in front of those bay windows. Because they are only held in by velcro - we are able to remove them any time it may be cool out or if we want to open the window in the mornings.

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

@151949 wrote:
We have this exact problem with bay windows facing west in our camp. It was so hot there by evening it was unbearable to eat in there. We would keep the night shades down 24/7 but it wasn't enough so my DH bought some of those cardboard things you unfold and put in your car windshield to keep the car cool. We cut them to fit the window and put some velcro dots on the window frame to hold them in place - then after they were up we closed the night shades again so we did not see them from inside. sadly, you can see them from outside but that is just unfortunate - we aren't removing them - they work perfectly. The inside of the camper is much more comfortable. We can now sit right in front of those bay windows. Because they are only held in by velcro - we are able to remove them any time it may be cool out or if we want to open the window in the mornings.

Nothing wrong with that for your camper. I could not deal with that on the windows in my home. I'm a clean freak & that would drive me crazy.