Thanks to bifolds we boiled last year. Not keen to do it again!

[Tiptoptum]

So, I did not design my house, and I bought it in Spring when the entire wall made up of bifolds seemed quite nice.

Summer came and I discovered in a South facing kitchen a wall of glass was not actually nice at all, and the heat has lifted the veneer on some kitchen units and it heated the floor so much we couldn’t step on it.

So. I can’t afford awnings, and the set up won’t suit a Pergola, and as they are bifolds rather than windows, I need to be able to freely move them.

I am poor, so looking for cost effective ideas

I toyed with Vertical blinds, but I don’t like them and they are a sod to clean, I was thinking of four large roller blinds, attached to the wall above them, which I can then raise/lower, but I’m worried they will get in the way or look weird.

Ive also seen a film I can put on the windows, particularly a mirrored one that means no one can see in? I quite like the idea of that, but I don’t know how well it works?

I will have to cover the units this year with a large sheet as they can’t cope with the heat through the windows, but would obviously like something that is effective. It’s difficult because it’s the kitchen, and it get steamy with cooking and dirty, so anything like curtains will look crap quite quickly.

Has anyone tried the film (especially the mirrored ones?) or tried anything else?

Curtains?
The IKEA blackout ones?

The film will definitely help. Have you got large garden parasols? We tilt ours to shade the doors and window. Not large bifolds though so might be trickier.

We have a half wall of bifolds in a south facing kitchen - we use vertical blinds. I keep them pulled back for most of the year and just roll them across in summer when it’s hot. They are also grey, rather than white, so show the muck less!!

You can get roller blinds that fit in a cassette to the ceiling and come down using a remote control
or for a more cost effective solution use blackout roller blinds attached either to the ceiling or at the very top of the bifolds. Argos do cheap blackout blinds or try Blinds2Go for cheap made to measure

Some wafty curtains or voil. We close curtains on the hottest days , dometimes with the doors open . It has made a massive difference and there are only a few days when this is needed. It sounds stifling op. Also have you a roof light you xan crack open to circulate the air a little?

We got 50% solar film from Lustalux and it makes a difference but I wish we'd got the 65% https://www.lustalux.co.uk/buy-online/product/65-reflective-silver-privacy-window-film/
You can order samples to see which will suit.

What about perfect fit blinds - they attach to the window frame itself, meaning you can still use the windows without blinds getting in the way. You can get Venetian type or a concertina fabric type
https://www.blinds-2go.co.uk/perfect-fit-venetians/35943/perfectfit-gloss-white.html?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAk9itBhASEiwA1my_61JgIh551qw6cHK-4NdOvMvUss7xavl9fo8caHsGMFyBEZMkUsnNBRoCxmkQAvD_BwE

I haven’t tried the film myself (we have an awning) but in your shoes I would try it.

Anything that blocks the light/heat on the outside and stops it coming in in the first place is more effective than something on the inside (like curtains/blinds) that lets the heat through the doors.

Another idea - I saw a post once where someone had put up blackout type curtains on the outside of her bifolds - they weren’t weatherproof so she did have to take them down after the heat was over but worked well for her in summer. Just used a normal steel curtain rail.

Another option is a very large parasol which you put right by the house like a temporary awning. Something like this

Agree with curtains hung outside for the summer months.

Thankyou for the suggestions. I don’t think curtains will work out in there at all, just simply due to the layout and the fact they are open a lot in the summer.

I do like the idea of blinds in the cassette, I think in my head I had a picture of that. Are they very expensive? Has anyone got them? Unfortunately it is a fairly large amount of windows, probably a good 12 ft wide and fairly high, so there’s a lot to cover.

Those who have solar film, does it make it darker inside? I’m keen not to have it dingy inside as it’s a lively and bright (but boiling) room and was it very expensive? I assume I could buy it and then pay someone to fit, rather than pay an expensive company?

I don’t think I could hang curtains outside, but it’s a possibility.

Its a shame because if I had done the windows I’d have had the ones with the blinds inside, but maybe the people who put them in didn’t think it would be quite so hot either

I do like the idea of blinds in the cassette, I think in my head I had a picture of that. Are they very expensive? Has anyone got them? Unfortunately it is a fairly large amount of windows, probably a good 12 ft wide and fairly high, so there’s a lot to cover.

I have, I can take a photo later. We've got two bifold 'walls' with four blinds in all.

Check Blinds2Go
they have blinds for bifolds tooBlinds 2 go

I'm interested in the film you have mentioned for our conservatory. We put in an air conditioning unit which sort of works well, but our problem is the light- very sunny. I wonder how well the film actually works.

I have large patio doors and in the heat a couple of years ago I actually attached one of those gro blinds with the suckers across one side.

It's not the best fix as you cannot see out but it was lovely and cool.

I have seen on Blinds to go I self install blind that clips into the frame, so no drilling or cassette. I wonder if they would work?

Like these?

I have perfect fit ones like these, they just clip into the frame and can be pulled down or just left up.

I have south facing French windows. Shopped around and bought a manual retractable awning for about £200. Absolute game changer. Also have thermal lined curtains which keep heat in during the winter and heat out when very hot.

We cave corner bifolds with those fitted blinds that attach to the window frames, they're on the sunniest part of the house too and those blinds must work well as I've not been affected by the sun, all furniture etc all good

@Tiptoptum
I have those, from Hilary's Blinds, on south facing patio doors. Game changer, highly recommended. They fitted them. We keep them down most days, so easy to use.
They weren't the cheapest option at the time when I was a bit skint, but used every day now for at least five years, wise investment.

https://www.hillarys.co.uk/blinds-range/perfect-fit-blinds/

I have Luxaflex TruFit top down bottom up blinds on my south facing patio doors.
I had perfect fit before but found the casing bulky and hated the cords.
I have the hand control ones but you can get motorised. I ordered from vale blinds and fitted them very easily myself.

https://www.luxaflex.co.uk/products/duette-shades/

I am quite tempted by the clip in ones. I might get Hillary’s in to quote as I don’t necessarily trust my measuring skills!

If I were you I would want to get something on the outside of the doors if I possibly could.

If you shade the outside the sunlight never hits the window, so the window can't have the greenhouse effect.

If you shade the window inside, the sun still hits and goes through the window, so it still heats up the room. It does heat it up less but it makes significantly less difference than if you can shade the outside of the house.

Could you use a couple of gazebos to shade the outside somehow? I'll have a look for other options - depends what your budget is, though I suspect the expensive options will be the better ones.

I think my thinking would be (in order of preference):

1. Awning/exterior shutters (too expensive).
2. Shade sail attached to house? Might still be too expensive but worth looking into.
3. Gazebos/big parasols.
4. Anything interior.

The exterior reflective film sounds good but no idea if it works.

These are fantastic and the concertina fabric ones are excellent at keeping sun And heat out in the summer. I got white ones so there's lots of light but no heat.