Curtains and vents

[MessySurfaces]

So the days are getting longer and the kids are waking up earlier- so I'm thinking about blackout window coverings.
We already have a blackout blind, and
I am debating putting a great big blackout curtain floor to ceiling over the entire end wall of my kids' room (it's a big window and a small-ish wall. We stayed in a hotel like that last summer, and the blackout was spectacular!
However, this would mean the curtain would cover the air vent in the room (which we discovered when we moved in and removed the wallpaper!!). Even open, the curtain would hang in front of the vent, as it takes up most of the gap between window and corner.

Sorry, baby "helped" post that...
The question is- does that sound like a bad plan? Advice gratefully received!

I wouldn’t have a heavy blackout curtain. I would prefer the vent to be clear and the room to breathe. Try and get the children to play instead of bothering you. Or put them to bed later. Why doesn’t the blackout blind work? Should do.

It works, but not enough! The light around the sides makes enough of a difference, sadly.
They go to bed at 9 as it is- waking at 5 is definitely not enough sleep!
Ouf. Thank you though.

Have a look at a product called Perfect Fit Blackout Cell blinds. They are pretty amazing for blackout, i got mine from a place called Blinds superstore but spoke to them on the phone and the blinds were really easy to fit and do an amazing job on blackout. I have got a Blackout roller to go with them and its pitch black in there even mid day.....cant put a price on sleep haha!

Oooh thanks @RyanGladwin ! Do you mean these:
m.blinds-superstore.co.uk/Blinds.aspx?type=14&range=Aura&color=Aura_White
Hmm we have aluminium windows so I'm not sure they'd work- I'll ring them and ask

when you say "vent" is it an airbrick?

Is there now or has there ever been a fireplace, stove, gas fire, or gas water heater in the room?

gro.co.uk/product/gro-anywhere-blind/

These are amazing!

I have a gro and use it for sleeping in the day after a night shift. It's excellent.

piglet it is a forties/fifties brick build, there is no chimney breast in the room though, and I don't think there was ever a boiler there.
The vent is an oblong arrangement of holes in the wall, I think made of metal like a kind of back to front grater. Each bedroom has one but not the rooms due stairs. Is that an air brick??

I have a gro blind they are amazing!! But I'm sick of un-auctioning it and re-auctioning it every day...

Thank you!

can you post photos? Preferably inside and out.

I have a feeling it is just a ventilator. Often found in small bedrooms. Might be about 9 inches square. The outside one might be iron or brick, the inner one I sometimes be plaster.

Look for any signs of water penetration, e.g. from driving rain. But they are usually high enough to be sheltered by the eaves. It sounds like it will not matter if a blind or curtain goes over it, as air can still diffuse around the gaps.

If you have plastic windows fitted, they often seal tightly and prevent ventilation, unless there are trickle vents.

Bedrooms are prone to condensation if not provided with modest ventilation.

The ones I got I had to call up because they didn't have them on the site . But the link you shared is similar to what I have had 👍

Sorry for the slow reply! Yesterday escaped without me managing to take any pictures...
here are the inside and outside pics @PigletJohn. There are no signs of water- although you can occasionally see daylight (not ideal...). The windows are rather elderly aluminium double glazing, neither totally airtight nor hopelessly draughty, and we do open them. So far no signs of damp (we've been here since june) although one wall of the room in question did have damp, peeling wallpaper before we moved in, presumably from condensation.

I don't recognise the style of the internal one, but you can leave them, they will allow a small amount of ventilation. Unless the door is left open they won't create a strong draught, because there will be nowhere for the air to go. I doubt they will blow a curtain around. You might find they are full of dust and fluff and would benefit from hovering, or taking out and cleaning (perhaps next time the room is decorated)

It's possible to add a plastic hit and miss vent in the unlikely circumstance that ventilation is excessive, but it looks like your internal one has some kind of baffles. Sometimes there is a small regulating lever.

You can feel the wind through them on really bad nights, but I think they do more good than harm! There is no lever- the internal part is made of metal, cut and pushed in to create the holes- you could push it more to make them bigger perhaps, but it would be a permanent alteration!
So do you think if there was a blackout curtain in front permanently (ie covered whether the curtain is open or closed) it would be ok?
Thank you!!

I think so.

You can buy a hit-and-miss cover if you really need to. Usually in white plastic, but metal ones also available.

www.screwfix.com/search?search=Adjustable+Vent+

if you buy one, it has to be bigger than the existing vent so the screws go into the wall.