Keeping your home cool with conservatory blinds

Posted on April 25, 2012 by GC Family

Summer is just around the corner (we hope!) and whilst it seems wrong to complain about the British summer heat, temperatures can soar to very uncomfortable levels in your home – especially when you have a conservatory.

The best way to keep your home cool during the warmer weather is to keep the sun out. Blinds are a very cost effective way to keep your home cool, helping control the excess heat and preventing this from radiating around the rest of your home. By simply fitting blinds, you will not need to install an air conditioning system, which can be costly and expensive to run.

How does your conservatory get so warm?

When heat hits a material, the material expands, which gives the heat space to be stored. All materials expand, including woods, metals and plastics.

When sunlight hits your conservatory windows, the wood (or PVC) and glass expand, holding in the heat. As well as creating a lot of heat in your in your conservatory, the sunlight can cause your furniture, fabrics, colour of the wood, walls and carpets to fade.

How blinds will keep your conservatory cool

Blocking out the sun’s rays prevents the heat from building up in the room. There are many different blind options (Vertical blinds, Venetian blinds, Wood Venetian blinds, Roller blinds , Roman blinds and Pleated Blinds) available for your conservatory that come in a range of performance fabrics that will maximize the heat retention during winter and keep your conservatory cool in the summer time, anti-glare options, or even black out blinds.

Specially constructed conservatory blinds have small spaces in the material to let in light, but not the heat. Some blinds appear sheer, while others are woven. You can have the best of both worlds with a conservatory blind – plenty of light into your room without the heat from the summer sun.

Conservatory blinds are not just for your windows, but can be installed on the roof too. Electric roof blinds can be really handy in a conservatory, allowing you to control them from the comfort of your arm chair.

Your conservatory was built so you could enjoy your garden no matter what time of year, and by installing conservatory blinds you can really make the most of this special room.

The Goldcrest Family has a large selection of conservatory and electric blinds, and can advise which type of blinds would suit your needs and your conservatory best.

Blackout blinds

Posted on April 19, 2012 by GC Family

Keeping your little ones (and you!) asleep longer during the summertime.

Days are getting longer and nights shorter, it’s that time of year again when you start waking up earlier and falling asleep later.

Did you know that sleep problems and an abundance of light can go hand in hand because light interferes with the body’s natural sleep process?

Our bodies produce a hormone called melatonin – this helps bring on sleep but exposure to light reduces our body’s production of this essential sleep hormone, making it harder to fall asleep. A reduced amount of melatonin also wakes you up. So, the extra daylight of summertime can create sleep problems, encouraging us to rise earlier and preventing an early night’s sleep.

The Goldcrest Family (Goldcrest Blinds, Baileys Blinds, Aberdeen Blinds, Rainbow Blinds, and VBS Centurion) offer many blackout fabrics that can be used with various blind styles. For example, all our Roman blinds are fully lined and are available with a blackout option which is ideal for keeping out that early daylight.

You can also add a blackout option to our curtains. All Goldcrest Family curtains are fully lined and you have the option to add blackout fabric, making them very popular for bedrooms.

And let’s just quickly clear one issue up – no, blackout blinds and curtains do not have to be black! A blackout blind is ideal for any bedroom, and can be teamed up with a variety of materials to suit your room décor.

So if you want to keep your children in bed longer during the summer months or need an extra few hours yourself, a blackout blind is the ideal solution.

The Goldcrest family is online!

Posted on April 10, 2012 by GC Family

The Goldcrest family have taken a step into the world of social media by setting up Facebook and Twitter accounts where you can keep in touch with us and get ideas, tips and hints for blinds, shutters and much more for around your home. Along with our new social media channels we will be keeping a comprehensive blog filled with useful information to help answer your questions and keep you inspired about your home interiors.

The Goldcrest Family along with our associated partners have many years experience in supplying quality blinds to customers throughout the whole of the UK, so if you have any questions about blinds or shutters then don’t hesitate to ask.

The Goldcrest Family is made up of Goldcrest Blinds, Baileys Blinds, Aberdeen Blinds, Rainbow Blinds, and VBS Centurion.

If you are looking for information on blinds whether it is what type of blind to choose to what material is best suited for you or even just a great idea for home interiors then don’t hesitate to share it with us on Facebook or Twitter.

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