Special discounts available for May only for anyone within 15 miles of our HQ at BA11 – 10% discount on thermal blinds in standard fabric (9 colours available) if you order 2 or more.
ALSO there is a 5% discount available for all orders of four blinds or more, wherever you are.
Email your sizes and a photo and we will send you a price & swatches.
Two Shows this month we are attending, first in Camden on 21st March, the greenerHOMEevent run by Camden Council from 3pm – 9pm then at Green Park Station in Bath the Green Living Fair from 10am to 4pm.
Come and have a chat, pick up some samples or get a guide price. Both events have some brilliant talks, demos & lots to see.
Bath Green Living Fair
As October drew to a close the emails picked up & it took a potential customer to explain why. “I expect you’ve been busy since the Sunday Times article?”, they suggested. Erm…. well it rather passed me by to be truthful! But the evidence was there to see, the website hits shot up so it was time to check it out.
I have no idea how she heard about the thermal blinds but Julia Kendell (DIY SOS) wrote about them in October 2011 here & it appears that the paper likes to look at preparing your home for winter each autumn, so there it was, another reference in a national paper, how fabulous! Journalist Lucy Denyer wrote the piece entitled “Top insulating tips. How to keep warm this winter – and cut your bills“. Our thermal blinds were one of ten ideas suggested.
Thermal blinds “will reduce heat loss” according to the Sunday Times
The South West Homebuilding & Renovation Show took place at the Bath & West Showground on 17th & 18th November. This Show is one of our favourites, lots of great stalls, talks, networking and it’s close to home!
Stand at the Show
Sample blinds at the Show
One of the key elements to reducing heatloss using thermal blinds is to get a good edge seal between the blind and the frame when they are down. This is achieved using high-performance magnets which are sealed within the blind along the outer edges. Each ‘internal’ magnet is then paired with a self-adhesive magnet attached to the window frame, which ‘click’ tightly together when the blind is lowered. They are described by the manufacturer as “Ultra High Performance Neodymium Magnets” – the most powerful permanent magnets known. They are supplied in nickel finish but can be painted on site (we’ve used Humbrol enamels) to match your frame.
We use 10mm diameter N42 Neodymium Magnets. The NORTH pole is on the showing magnetic face and the SOUTH pole is on the face covered in adhesive. These Magnets are plated with 3 layers of protective coatings – Nickel + Copper + Nickel (Ni-Cu-Ni). More technical details are below; Continue reading
As a newly qualified architectural student Katy was involved in super-insulated homes built in the 1980’s, when working for Feilden Clegg Design. In some properties roller blinds were velcroed to window frames, and she has been searching for a better version of this idea ever since. As a Conservation Officer in the 90’s & a Conservation Architects’ Assistant in the 00’s she worked on many old buildings with sash windows. As these are protected from change, a non-invasive solution to heat loss is needed. The idea of a magnetised edge led to some prototype blinds and thermal testing in late 2010 and by February 2011 the business was ready.
After a period of time during 2010 struggling to import alternative blinds from the US she now makes the thermal blinds in Somerset. The workshop is a converted school toilet building, fondly known as The LoobyLoo.
We have supplied thermal blinds for five of the Retrofit for the Future properties, a national programme of whole-house refurbishments on a wide range of typical UK homes funded by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB).
Prince Rupert Road thermal blind fitted
The aim is to cut CO2 emissions by 80% & establish which specifications are best and most cost-effective for each type of home. A virtual meeting with Mark Elton, Associate Director and Head of Sustainability at ECD architects at the Sustainability Now conference gave us the opportunity to discuss how thermal blinds might be used where the existing windows couldn’t be replaced with high performance new windows. Continue reading
Conservation Areas & Listed Buildings
The UK has a glorious range of beautiful and protected old buildings, many of which are difficult to heat. The target for C02 reductions in the UK are ambitious and organizations such as the National Trust are beginning to identify a strategy to deal with heat loss & energy efficiency in their buildings.
Listing currently protects 500,000 or so buildings. Many of these have windows which cannot be altered and thermal blinds may be a good solution to some of the heat loss and thermal comfort issues. Continue reading