What Are Blackout Blinds?
Blackout blinds are a type of window treatment that has the primary goal of eliminating light from getting into a room. These types of blinds are commonly found in:
- Hotels
- Schools
- Offices
- Commercial buildings
- Bedrooms
- Nurseries
- Movie theaters
Many people tend to mistakenly think that blackout blinds are the same thing as light-filtering ones. With light-filtering treatments, you’re only blocking around 95% of the light from getting in.
Blackout blinds are a cut above these treatments and are able to block nearly 100% of the outdoor light. That means that even during the middle of the day when it’s the brightest that it can be, your room can still be nearly completely dark.
Benefits Of Blackout Blinds
Blackout blinds have the ability to block out the harmful UV rays of the sun. During the summer months of the year, your home will be cooler. Your energy costs might also be less because your air conditioner won’t be working overtime to make up for the heat caused due to the sun’s rays getting in.
These blinds are also ideal for students and employees that require a distraction-free environment while they are studying or working. Guest rooms also take advantage of blackout blinds, especially where there is any type of theatrical entertainment involved.
Are Blackout Blinds For You?
Blackout blinds can help a lot of people in a number of ways. In addition to the benefits listed earlier, they can also be very beneficial for those that have difficulty adjusting to daylight savings. Aside from that, these kinds of blinds can help those suffering from restlessness due to insomnia.
Blackout blinds are suitable for night shift workers or anyone who needs to sleep during the day such as:
- Babies and children
- individuals suffering from migraine
- Those living in light-polluted cities
Improving Your Sleep With Blackout Blinds
Using blackout blinds completely blocks the light from the outdoors, creating near total darkness inside of the room. This set-up recreates the feeling given by the evening’s darkness. In theory, blackout blinds trick the human body into believing that it is nighttime. The night becomes in line with human’s natural body block.
Recreating this environment makes the body release hormones and other chemicals without the need to take vitamins or sleep-inducing drugs. This is also helpful to people living in a bright city that are constantly bombarded with bright lights and passing cars. These lights disrupt the natural body clock as they replicate the feeling of daytime.
Blackout blinds can do more than just that – they can also insulate, heat, and they can help condition the room in two ways:
- If the person currently in the room prefers warmth, these blinds can keep the heat locked in. It makes heating cheaper and energy-efficient.
- On the other hand, if the user prefers a cool room, these blinds could prevent heat from coming in, making it also cost-efficient to make the room reach the preferred temperature. It can help anyone achieve great sleep, regardless of their preference.
Reduced Noise
The amount of noise can also severely affect the sleeping condition of a person.Blackout blinds can reduce the sounds coming into the room. This allows for a quiet sleep, even at the loudest times of the day. This is also very helpful for people living in blaring cities that stay loud late at all times of the night. Blackout blinds can reduce the sounds of honking cars and ambulance sirens in order to ensure more comfort for the sleeper. By using these blinds, good sleep can be achieved at any time of the day.
Blackout blinds can be a lifesaver for restless individuals, especially for those just trying to get some great sleep. These blinds solve the problem caused by noise and light pollution. They also help the user keep the room at a very comfortable temperature. These blinds can be a huge help for people trying to re-adjust their broken sleeping patterns. The comfort they bring helps fix the human’s natural circadian rhythm. Among all of these benefits, blackout blinds are fairly budget-friendly.
Different Types of Blackout Blinds
There are a wide range of blackout blinds on the market:
Blackout Roller Blinds
These are the most popular types of blackout blinds. They are the perfect choice for people looking to completely block out light. The good news is that roller blinds come in blackout fabrics!
Even those that are not made out of blackout fabrics can be easily converted into blackout blinds by including a blackout lining, which could block the light behind the blinds. The problem with this though is that minimal light could pass through the peak the roller.
This can be easily fixed by using cassette blackout blinds. They could cover the strip of light that is coming from the peak of the roller.
Roman Blackout Blinds
Roman blinds are also very popular. This kind of blinds can also be converted by installing a blackout lining. This is better than blackout roller blinds because they are hung slightly higher.
Therefore, they do not have the same issues with the minimal light peeking through the peak of the roller. Roman blinds can easily keep the room nice and dark. They require slightly less modifications than roller blinds.
Venetian Blackout Blinds
More often than not, Venetian blinds can already block out most of the light coming from the outdoors. This is because they are made from strong materials like aluminum and wood.
Light does not easily pass through these materials, but because these blinds are slatted, The light can end up passing through the slats.. Unlike roller and roman blinds, there is no fabric to be replaced in the Venetian blinds’ structure. For this reason, Venetian blinds can be hard to find.
Honeycomb Blackout Blinds
Honeycomb blackout blinds are another great option to consider. They’re ideal for people looking to keep the light out of their rooms. These blinds are usually made of doubled material that creates a unique shape.
Because of this, they are blackout by default. More often than not, they do not need more modifications, such as installing blackout linings to achieve total darkness. This type of blind fits the windows snugly, leaving no room for light to slip in and ruin the comfort of the dark. This can be a good option for solving blackout window concerns.
Blackout Vertical Blinds
Vertical blinds are not the great choice for solving a window’s blackout problem. Similar to the Venetian blinds, vertical blinds are made up of slats in that light can easily creep through them. Although they have better overlaps compared to Venetian blinds, they are usually not made of blackout materials. In some cases, they can be better than Venetian blinds, but one should be very observant in choosing the materials when purchasing vertical blinds. These blinds can still be a viable option for darkening a room as long as it is constructed from effective blackout materials.
Blackout Pleated Blinds
People do not usually consider choosing pleated blinds for creating a blackout room. They do not seem to be an obvious choice. Still, they are very effective, and they are stylish too! If one chooses to go with pleated blinds, one should make sure they are buying pleated blinds with suitable blackout material.
Unlike other blinds, pleated blinds cannot be modified by adding blackout linings because their pleated edges need to be preserved. So, one should be sure they are buying pleated blinds made of blackout materials.
Perfect Fit Blackout Blinds
Installing perfect fit blinds is probably the great way to make a room achieve total blackout status. Doing so can block out all of the light because it fits the windows perfectly!They can fit the window frame itself, leaving no room for light to slip through. Perfect fit blinds made from blackout materials can be the excellent choice for going blackout!
External Blackout Blinds
External blinds are a slightly new trend in shading. They can also be considered a luxurious option. External blinds can be powered by electricity and can be controlled remotely through the use of a smartphone. External blinds block the window entirely from the outside, leaving no passage for light to creep through. This type of blind is starting to trend especially for people looking for smart home solutions and high-end products for the house.
Places to buy Blackout Blinds:
You don’t have to leave the house anymore just to buy some blackout blinds. For example, motorized blackout blinds from Yoolax are very durable with its thick double-sided fabric. It also comes with insulation and noise cancellation features for the night cap. Its cordless design makes it safe for your kids and pets. You can get it here.
Another option is the blackout roller shade from ChrisDowa. It has a very crisp and modern design and comes with a metal chain and aluminum bottom rod. There’s also a safety device that allows you to attach the chain to the wall securely and safely. This is not just an ordinary shade because it can block UV rays and sunlight. You can get yours here.
