Summer is just around the corner, which makes it peak garden season! While you’re enjoying the heat and the sunshine, with a garden building or two to make the most of the space, it may not be as fun when it’s time for bed and your house is even hotter than your garden! With the weather getting warmer, it’s never been more important to keep an eye on how hot your home can get.

We’ve taken a look at our range and come up with two great solutions for you, Brise Soleil and Thermal Shutters.
And it’s all thanks to solar shading.

What is Solar Shading?

Solar shading, also known as “sun shading”, is a way to manage how much sunlight enters your home. It includes a range of solutions designed to minimise the amount of heat and light from the sun. This helps create a more comfortable indoor environment. You can see it sometimes at work in large high rise buildings.

For home use, solar shading is for improving comfort and reducing the need for air conditioning. While sunlight naturally warms and lights a home, too much of it (especially through large windows or glass doors) can cause overheating and glare. This not only makes rooms uncomfortable but can also lead to higher energy bills as cooling systems work harder.

By controlling sunlight, solar shading helps maintain a pleasant indoor temperature and reduces glare. And as it works by blocking sunlight, it also cuts down on energy use. We have a range of options to help you take advantage of solar shading, both our garden buildings here and our home improvement products over at windows and doors.

The two main products we’d like to show you are the Brise Soleil and our Thermal Shutters.

What is a Brise Soleil?

Brise Soleil, which means “sun breaker” in French, is a type of solar shading system designed to control the amount of sunlight and heat from entering a structure. Traditionally used in large commercial buildings, brise-soleil systems are increasingly being adopted for home-use. In homes in homes that enjoy sun-catching French doors, a brise-soleil presents an effective way to reduce overheating and glare. By limiting solar gain during the hottest parts of the day, these garden structures help to maintain a more stable and comfortable indoor temperature. This reduces the need for artificial cooling through fans or air conditioners. This in turn lowers your energy consumption and your room temperature!

A brise soleil consists of horizontal cantilevered louvre panels which are designed to shade windows from high-angle summer sun while still allowing lower-angle winter light to enter. Most Brise Soleil consist of fixed louvre panels which sets the use solely to shading. At Dunster House, we’ve improved upon the standard structure with our uniquely designed adjustable cantilevered louvre panels. This makes our Brise Soleil’s more versatile by letting you adjust the panels, if you wanted to allow more sun or shut them completely, you can!

Our Brise Soleil range is designed to work with a pergola, easily added at the back of your home. A great way to both break the heat and give you a stylish architectural look. For more details check out our introduction to Brise Soleil.

What are Thermal Shutters?

Thermal shutters are window coverings designed not just to block light, but heat as well. Unlike standard shutters, thermal shutters are built from 5mm composite panels with PIR insulation inside to reduce heat transfer. This means it can keep warmth inside during winter and blocks heat during summer. Our shutters are designed to be mounted internally and are particularly useful for homes where temperatures can pose a great concern. Our tests have shown we can reduce the temperature inside a home by 2.9 degrees!

In day-to-day use, thermal shutters provide a practical way to enhance comfort and energy efficiency. Closed at night, they help trap heat indoors, reducing the demand on heating systems. During hot weather, they can be closed during the day to keep sunlight and heat out. And by minimising the spread of dust or allergens by HVAC systems, can improve indoor air quality considerably! For a full run down of the benefits, check out this video to learn more about our innovative thermal shutters!

With summer round the corner, fitting some thermal shutters now can help you keep your house cool and they’ll still be helpful come winter to keep your house snug.

Managing the hot weather is no easy feat but we’re here to help. Why not check out our range of uPVC windows which have been A-rated for energy efficiency? Or make the most of the sun with our new range of potting sheds?