Unique blinds?

So what’s unique about our thermal blinds? Well, for starters, they are truly insulating, unlike most other ‘thermal’ blinds which rely on either a single layer of foil material or open-ended folds of paper-like material containing tiny pockets of air. Our blinds have 3 insulating components – two layers of Mylar – a reflective, resistive metal-coated ployester. These both keep heat in and stop solar overheating. Then a 7mm thick Thinsulate layer, made of thousands of tiny [15 micrometres (µm) in diameter], fibres, trapping air (& used in Jag soft-top roofs, apparently). Together these materials bring the insulation level to the equivalent of triple glazing. No other blinds on the market achieve this level of insulation.

Secondly, unlike most roman blinds which hang in front of your wall or window, they fit tight against the frame and overlap at the top & sides, bringing the overlapping edges in contact with your window frame. This reduces gaps around the edges to a minimum. And thirdly they have tiny hidden magnets sewn inside, matched by self-adhesive magnets (just 1mm thick) which you put on your frame. This gives a very snug fit and stop that down-draught from cold glass which can drop into your room. Continue reading

It’s getting cold!

We’ve lined the inside of the door panels to our workshop with offcuts from the thermal blinds, ssems to have done the trick! Now its getting chilly we are working hard to finish your orders promptly and enjoying working with our new fabrics.

We’ve had some great publicity via the Homes & Design section of The Independent early in December (pics here but theres no online version) and a similar piece in Homes & Property. If you’d like a quote just send us a photo of your windows and the sizes & we’ll do the rest. See our ‘ordering‘ page for measuring details.

Article on keeping warm in The Independent

Article on keeping warm in The Independent

Photo of a thermal blind from The Independent article

Photo of a thermal blind from The Independent article

Be sure of a warm welcome sm

Child Safety news

Child safety is important to us. With recent new legislation (February 2014) our blinds now have additional safety features to ensure that there is no choking or strangulation hazard to children. There are two modifications which will be made on all blinds from 28th February 2014.

1. The chain loops supplied to control the blinds will be supplied so they hang no lower than 1500mm off the floor and included will be appropriate safety cleats for you to fix the bottom of the chain loop. These have been supplied with the blinds for some time now but it is now compulsory for the customer to fit them on installation.

2. The cords on the back of the blind will either be supplied at spacings which do not need safety devices OR we will supply the blind complete with safety release catches designed so that the cord separates under a load of 6kg.

These features ensure that the blinds comply with the new British Standard BS EN 13120. For more details see our suppliers information page.

We offer a retrofit scheme for older blinds for our existing customers. Contact katy@thermalblind.co.uk if you have any concerns or would like to have your blinds modified. We advise all previous customers to ensure they have fitted the safety catches provided. If existing blinds are accessible by young children please consider using our retrofit service.

You can download the British Blind & Shutter Association’s ‘Make it Safe’ brochure here or see the ‘Make it Safe’ website.

Safety cleats & labels are supplied with your blind

Safety cleats & labels are supplied with your blind

child safety catches

The back of the blind has quick release safety catches

 

make it safe

Safety cord release on back of blind, how it works:

More information from ROSPA.

We fully support the BBSA’s (British Blind and Shutter Association) ‘make it safe’ campaign. We will supply and install safety devices or offer alternative operating methods where children or vulnerable people may be present.
The BBSA’s recommendations to parents and carers are:
  • Do not place a child’s cot, bed, playpen or high chair near a window so they may reach a blind cord
  • Do not place furniture near a window that a child could climb on to reach a blind cord
  • Do make sure that a safety device is fitted to keep the cords taut or out of reach
You can download a copy of the BBSA’s ‘make it safe’ brochure free at www.bbsa.org.uk
Parents and carers are reminded that:
“Complete elimination of the strangulation risk can only be achieved by keeping cords, chains, and
tapes and similar out of the reach of children. Use of additional safety devices may reduce the risk ofstrangulation but cannot be considered foolproof ……Persons in charge of children are ultimately
responsible for following the safety instructions provided by the manufacturer.”
EN 13120 – Internal Blinds Performance requirements including Safety.
Useful information from Hunter Douglas.

Please note we can supply retrofit safety devices as well – don’t take a chance, make it safe!

The safety catches are hand-sewn onto the back of the blind

The safety catches are hand-sewn onto the back of the blind

 

safety clip for blinds

Cord locked into safety clip

Measuring up – sash windows

How to do it – for a sash window. The blinds were designed specifically for sash windows, though they work on other windows (see this post). Here is a drawing showing how they fit & which dimensions we need. You can download the instructions as a pdf  (includes photos) here and if you’d like a Word version of the dimension chart to fill in it is available here.

typical sash winow showing where the blind fits

typical sash winow showing where the blind fits

Continue reading

SW Homebuilding & Renovation Show 2013

We will be exhibiting, as usual, at this lovely Show on 16th & 17th November. It is held at the Royal Bath & West Showground (near Shepton Mallet). For free tickets click below.

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We will be on stand 216, right in the middle of the main hall.

Opening times:
Saturday 10.00am – 5.00pm
Sunday 10.00am – 4.30pm

Come & see the blinds in action, pick up a sample or discuss your problem windows with us. If you remember to bring a photo that’s even better!

Our stand

Our stand

You can see our previous show stands here for 2012 & 2011.

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