For many home owners that have skylights in their home, as the weather heats up, a project to install skylight blinds can seem to be a pretty compelling way to keep your home cool. Similarly, for those that have homes in cooler areas, heat loss through a skylight is also a periodic concern that can cause homeowners to want to add a window covering.
Choosing a Skylight Blind
Skylight blinds come in a dizzying array of designs, styles, and systems. If you are looking for a inexpensive option to install, at least one manufacturer has come up with a solid shade that you can attach to the window opening via the shades spring-loaded sides. It requires no installation tools and can be just put into place and left there. Of course it is important to make sure that you measure your skylight perfectly before you purchase it.
Other manufacturers use a different approach. The rollup blind is one that is installed on your skylight just like it is on a window, except it is held up on the sides of the window. Homeowners typically use long poles with hooks to adjust these blinds.
Other types of blinds come with a motor so that you do not have to open the skylight blind yourself. The motor will automatically open it on a timer or when you turn it on remotely.
Whichever type of blind that you end up choosing, make certain that it is compatible with your goal. If you want to completely shut the outdoors out, you can get a different fabric or type of textile to do so than if you want the effect to be one of filtered light coming through. If you want your shades to be easy to open on a difficult to reach skylight, consider getting motorized shades. One company even offers a system that builds the blinds into the skylight between layers of double-paned glass, according to the Consumer Energy Company.
Preparing to Install Skylight Blinds
Your skylight normally needs very little preparation to properly install blinds. The most important part of the installation process will be ensuring that you have a stable way to reach the skylight and perform an installation. Using a solid ladder or a scaffold if a ladder won’t reach the skylight are the most common approaches.
Installation
Take your blinds, lay them out and measure them, comparing the measurement with that of your window to ensure that it will fit correctly. Once you have your blinds measured, take them up to the skylight and screw the header or top part of the blind into the wall or the window channel, depending on the hardware that you have.
You can then take the blind and stretch it out so that it covers the entire window by only holding one end up. When you are satisfied that it meets your expectations, get the brackets that came with the blind and screw them into the sides of the window well or wall, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Fit the support areas of the blinds into the brackets and then fasten the other end of the blinds to the end of the window using screws that fasten into the wall.
Installation Considerations
One of the most time-consuming parts of the installation process is trying to match a shade size with your window size. It is for that reason that a lot of manufacturers of skylights offer shades that will match your windows perfectly. They might cost a little bit more, but you won’t need to make modifications during the installation.
If you plan to install skylight blinds that feature a motor, you will likely need to account for space for the motor and for it’s power source. Many motors will operate on a battery. Having a battery that is attached to an outside solar panel through the wall, not the window can be a good combination.
Another installation consideration is how to handle louvered blinds. For some skylight models blinds that have louvers are shipped with a vinyl frame that will support the entire system and can be screwed into the wall as one entire unit. This saves on installation time as well as maintenance.
Related Resource: How To Install Shutters
Skylights are one of the most popular ways to brighten up a home. Unfortunately, when they do not have a window covering, they can leak hot or cold air- or impact your personal privacy. Because manufacturers have helped to make it easy for a homeowner to install skylight blinds themselves, it makes for a good weekend project that will pay dividends for years to come.
