A Word Of Warning

[Matheous-2]

If you are considering Hillary's Thermal Blinds for your conservatory?
FORGET IT! We just put a thousand pounds down the stank!
Today in the conservatory we suffered 50 degrees C.!! And that's not uncommon.
Don't waste your money!

[Dodger666]

I thought Hilary's Thermal Blinds were to prevent heat loss from your room during the winter months. There's nothing in their website to suggest they also keep rooms cool. If they told you that they should do that maybe they were mis-sold

http://www.hillarys.co.uk/blinds/thermal-blinds/

[Sammy48]

A cheap way to stop the heat penetrating if you have a glass/pvc roof on a conservatory is to paint it with white emulsion. In our old house, we did this and it worked a treat.

[hc4361]

In the 'conservatory' section they do claim to keep the conservatory cool(er)
http://www.hillarys.co.uk/conservatory-blinds/

Ask them to take the blinds away and give you a full refund, Matheous, they are not fit for the purpose you bought them nor as described

[Matheous-2]

Thanks guys, probably we should have returned them while still under warranty.
But this is their second season.
I think we will end up getting the glass replaced with poly carbonate....
I just don't want anyone else to waste their money on Hillarys Thermal trash!

[woofgang]

The problem is, do you know it wouldn't be hotter if you had no blinds?

[Gizmonster]

We have an electronic thermometer that records max and min temperatures. It's usually in the kitchen, but I've just placed it in the conservatory today, to see if I can beat last year's record of 62.7 deg C

[Purple_Popple]

Thermal does mean to keep heat in - did you not know this when you bought them ?

[saintpeter48]

Surely the sale of goods act covers you, I think its up to 7 years after purchase. Follow it up, do some research and put a claim in.

[gingejbee]

I would argue that the word "thermal" means no more than "of or pertaining to heat"....not specifically "keeping heat in".

[grasscarp]

I looked at link provided for conservatory blinds and to keep cool it suggests pleated blinds with Sun Shade Factor. Can't see it suggest thermal blinds for this purpose.

[granny grump]

We have a conservatory and have only had blinds in there (Not posh Hillary ones but good enough). Before they were fitted we could not sit in there during the day even with the doors open and certainly couldn't watch TV it was too bright. With the blinds - whilst it is still warm - and why wouldn't it be it has a plastic roof and large windows and the temperature outside is massive - we can sit in there comfortably. It will never be cool - but that wasn't what we built it for

[Matheous-2]

Grasscarp- the roof blinds we have are pleated. I actually thought that 'thermal' was intended to be cooler in summer and warmer in winter.....

I might pursue the 'fit for purpose' thing and try to make a claim....

[alavahalf]

The blinds may well give you a few degrees less than you would get without them. In which case Hillary's claims are genuine. But when you have 50 degrees, you probably won't notice a few degrees less.

It all boils down to your conservatory being badly sited (with the sun on it).
I live in what was one of the warmest places in the UK today .... in my conservatory the temperature reached a rather pleasant 29 degrees C.

The only way you will reduce the temperature inside is to stop the sun hitting the glass by throwing a net over it. ( scaffold net is quite good, I use it on my greenhouse ).
The other option is you could get more efficient glass.

[buildersmate]

Not sure why you think replacing glass with polycarbonate will change anything. It won't.

[Cloverjo]

I remember reading a builder's magazine column where someone had a similar problem. The builder replied by saying that once the sun's heat has got through the glass, no type of blind will keep the conservatory cooler.
If the company specifically said this would work, you might have a claim.

[Hypognosis]

What many might not appreciate about greenhouse effect is that what happens is that light at visible wavelengths gets through the glass layer and either reflects off surfaces or is absorbed by them. When absorbed, the surface gains energy, in the form of heat, which is re-radiated at a longer wavelength than it arrived. When the lengthening takes it into the infra-red range this is when it fails to pass through the greenhousing layer. It bounces back down causing further heating of surfaces and the air in the enclosed space.

Even if a product 'rejects infra red in sunlight', as long as visible light gets through (you want a view, don't you) then you've got a potential overheating problem.

[buildersmate]

...... and hence the bold claim on the Hillary's website that "these clever designs reflect excessive heat on the sun to keep your glass room comfortable" is probably true. They just forgot to the sentence "The visible light still getting into the conservatory and converted to heat within the items inside will just as effectively reflect the excessive heat from these items and keep it in the conservatory."

[Hypognosis]

Yes, what bothers me is how much heat the blinds reflect into the air gap between them and the glass/polycarbonate roof, which could convect to a level higher up than the window vents and warming up the roof structure. Also, afaic, the pleats are just another absorption/re-radiation surface, spreading as much heat downward, into the conservatory space, as it bounces back to the outdoors. Their brochure isn't lying but isn't telling the whole story either, imho.

[pixie373]

I would never go with them, having had a quote for blackout blinds and then finding identical blinds at Argos for less than 10% of the price.

[grasscarp]

If your roof blinds are pleated this may be where the problem lies according to this independent web site
http://www.conservatory-solutions.co.uk/conservatory-blinds-2/