To feel baffled as to why buildings don't have shutters in the UK

[DontSingSusan]

I just find it baffling that virtually no buildings in the UK have shutters.

I get that the climate is changing and they wouldn't necessarily have been needed in the past but why don't new builds have them?

Every time there's a heatwave, people are going on about AC, but shutters are a much easier, cheaper and more climate-friendly option.

It's really striking in the UK as everywhere else in Europe seems to have them.

We've got temperatures around 40 degrees all week (not in the UK) and couldn't survive without them.

I'd be wary of investing ... there really is nothing new under the sun.

The biggest "problem" is how to ensure everyone makes a good profit from it all.

Remember the UK didn't mandate double glazing for new builds until 2002, because the double glazing companies needed to make money. Probably better not think about the environmental impact of ripping brand new single glazing out of your 2001 new build to have double glazing retrofitted.

What we need to do is stop the heat before it hits the windows. Closing curtains and interior blinds help, but rooms still get hot. External shutters would work, but are quite cumbersome and expensive and may not be needed/wanted all year round. Some people have been putting external window film on their windows, which I think helps but is fiddly to fit/cut to size etc.

The best solution imo is lightweight external awnings that clip on to windows and direct the heat away from the windows. I am not handy myself, but I believe some people have had success making them with reflective sheets and window clips. Definitely a business opportunity here for someone.

We have internal shutters and they have been a god send in this heatwave. We open the windows and the shutters slightly overnight and close them during the day. Keeps the house fairly cool. We've had these shutters for ten years and it's the first time we've had to use them in this way.

Ok so we know that the reason is that we have outward opening windows. So regarding ‘retrofitting’ shutters, has anyone looked into this in any depth and established if it’s cheaper than having aircon fitted? I imagine it must be when you take into account future electricity bills on top of the thousands it costs to fit the aircon in the first place.

My new build flat (2023) has blinds installed in boxes above all the windows and they're really thick and good quality, keep the heat out and I have sheer curtains on a rail for when I want light and privacy.

I agree. Aircon should be reserved for public 'cool' spaces imo (like schools and hospitals) and most of us should try to avoid it in our homes if possible, though some people may need it due to medical or other reasons. But long term, it's just going to make us all hotter.

We need better measures to keep heat out of homes, and more grass, trees and shade, especially in urban areas. We also need better storage measures to store rainwater. It rained practically everyday from October until April! We've discussed getting a rainwater harvesting system installed in our garden, but it isn't big to begin with and they're quite expensive. But maybe this is something the government should consider subsidising.

We haven't needed them.

I live in Cumbria, a place that hasn't been particularly hot this summer, with a low crime rate and in a house with outward opening windows. They'd be pointless.

We have external shutters where we live. It makes a huge difference. It hit 41 degrees this week and it was around 22-23 inside house. W have no air conditioning, and don’t even use fans as no need.

we also get really cold and snow in winter. We also use the shutters overnight then ( daytime in summer) and it makes a huge difference also to heat loss from inside out overnight as our windows are basically solid. So when it’s -18 at 2am outside in January the house stays warm overnight even though out heating goes off at 9pm.

So external shutters would really help in uk also in winter when it’s windy/rain and cold overnight

Could you possibly link to what you bought to do this? I'd be very grateful.

Of course there's a difference, one stops the glass getting hot and the other doesn't.

If not shutters and not curtains then what are you using? Blinds?

It’s 40C here and I have shutters and aircon. If I were to choose between the two, aircon wins.

Windows open outwards as standard, you can’t retrofit internal opening on already installed upvc windows, so people would either need shutter frames that stick out as much as the full opening distance of the windows, or people would be paying thousands for new windows and then thousands for shutters. Upper windows would also need at least one quick release shutter as a fire escape, I have no idea if that would be more costly.

Windows here open inwards as standard. But even with outward opening windows, you would not need shutter frames that stick out as far as the full opening distance of the windows if you had the electric roll down or electric sliding shutters. You’d close your windows and then push the button.

I live in europe, I rarely see a curtain at a window, I have never seen shutters on a building apart from places like banks for security.. You must not be in Southern Europe? Every building here in southern France has shutters. Manual folding outwards or sliding over or electric roll downs or sliders.

What style of house has windows that open inward in the UK?

Yes thats the point isnt it.

It depends what type of shutter you're talking about. Abroad, you open the window, which opons inward, you lean out and pull the shutters closed, pulling the little latch over, then you close the windows

How would you do that if your windows open outward?

You could have the cassette type aluminium shutters which of course mean you just have a pulley inside the room on the edge of the window frame, you wouldnt need to open the windows to do that

The fact is where housing is concerned the UK is very far behind lots of countries in Europe, and it has been for decades.

Just a couple of very simple examples of this is very few new builds have solar panels (but the government want us to gave electric cars), and a lot of new estates don’t have trees which are good for shading properties, good for the environment and good for MH.

It’s all about cost cutting for the here and now, rather than advancement and investment for the future.

Its like starting a thread being baffled about how people in the Caribbean dont know how to live with cold weather.

You need a cassette at the top and then enough clearance above your window before the bottom of the roof. We dont have that with our windows in any case.

Its a huge job to try to retro fit that

Bay windows wouldnt work for example.

You said we are built for the cold and all the extra insulation is making peoples houses hot.

Insulation shouldn’t trap the heat in, it should prevent it from getting too hot to
start with. I assume there is a limit to that though.

Well of course it will trap the heat in. If it prevented heat coming in, in the first place it wouldnt work very well for cold.

nope, but ok. It might be more complex than this,
with more factors that affect it but basically it acts like a barrier,
in winter it stops the warm air leaving, and in summer, prevents it entering.

I got it slightly wrong (I posted again to mention this) - but my main windows are ones that can tilt inwards or open wide inwards. They all have top windows (I think they're called a 'transom' window) - these actually do open outwards. So I was both right and wrong 😀

Well it is a lot more complex than this which is why its not working!!

Due to people actually living in properties, movement and in particular window heat, heat is not prevented from entering into the property and then it doesnt leave and then it builds up.

Thats not the same with cold.

ok.