The Sun Protection Lexicon
by Richard Koch
Blinds are not something most people deal with every day. The many terms used often create more confusion than clarity. That's why we've created this small blind glossary.
THE DIFFERENCES AT A GLANCE
| (Interior) blind | Interior product with a covering made of aluminum slats. Advantage: Good visibility and glare protection. Disadvantage: Since it's located inside, there's no heat protection. Cleaning is time-consuming. Here's an example. |
| Exterior blind | Exterior product with a covering made of aluminum slats. Advantage: Excellent heat protection while still allowing daylight to be used. Adjustable louvers also allow for privacy, glare reduction, and blackout, depending on the situation. Disadvantage: High price. Time-consuming cleaning. Here's an example. |
| (Interior) roller blind | Interior product with fabric covering. The term "roller blind" always implies a fabric covering that is rolled onto a shaft and operated by means of a beaded chain, electric motor or simply by hand. Advantage: Good visibility and glare protection. Disadvantage: Since it's located inside, there's no heat protection effect. Here's an example. |
| Exterior roller blind | Exterior roller blind – by definition, an exterior sunshade with a fabric covering. Beware of confusion: In everyday language, "roller blind" is often used as an abbreviation for roller shutter. Advantage: Ideal heat protection. Depending on the fabric properties, optimal heat protection while still allowing daylight or complete blackout including privacy is possible. Disadvantage: None Here's an example. |
| Roller shutter | Exterior product with aluminum or plastic slats. Advantages: Good thermal insulation properties. Complete blackout possible. Disadvantage: Not transparent – heat protection and use of daylight are in conflict. Here's an example. |
| Pleated blinds | Internal product. The fabric is not rolled up, but folded and pushed together like an accordion. Special feature of honeycomb pleated blinds: Here, the fabric has a honeycomb structure. Advantages: Very modern look. Good privacy and glare protection. Disadvantage: Since it's located inside, there's no heat protection effect. Here's an example. |
| (Patio) awning | Exterior product. Primarily used on patios or balconies. A cassette is typically mounted to the house wall. Inside, a fabric curtain is rolled onto a roller. This curtain can be extended horizontally using articulated arms. Click here for an example. |
| Clamp awning | Similar to a patio awning. However, instead of being attached to the house wall with a drill and dowels, the awning is secured by two support tubes that are clamped between the floor and, for example, the roof overhang at the top and bottom. Here's an example. |
| Window awning/ Facade awning/ Vertical awning/ Markisolette |
See exterior roller blind. A unique feature of the Markisolette is that the fabric curtain doesn't descend in the traditional way, but is attached to so-called drop arms that swing outwards. A crossbar, however, only allows this extension to occur below a certain depth. Here's an example. Special feature of the drop-arm awning: Similar to the Markisolette, however the crossbar is omitted. |