Can a roof lantern have blinds?

Fitted at the start against later

Blinds designed into the lantern at order are neater, because the tracks are part of the frame. Retrofitted systems need brackets fixed to the bars afterwards and they generally look like what they are.

If there is any chance you will want blinds, say so at quotation stage even if you do not buy them immediately. Specifying a lantern that can take the tracks later costs nothing now.

Manual or electric

A lantern is above reach, so manual blinds mean a pole. Most people who fit manual blinds on a lantern stop using them. Electric with a remote is the version that gets used, and on a large lantern with several panes it is the only practical answer.

Blinds are not the answer to overheating

This is the important part. An internal blind stops light, but the solar energy has already passed through the glass and is inside the room. The blind absorbs it and re-radiates it as heat.

Solar control glass stops the energy at the outer pane, before it enters. For an overheating problem it does far more than any internal blind, and it needs no operation at all.

The right order is: specify solar control glass first, then add blinds for privacy, glare or blackout if you still want them. Doing it the other way round is spending money on a symptom.

More on glass on the energy efficient rooflights page.

Yes, and there are four options

None of them is cheap, and the differences matter more on a lantern than on a small rooflight because the glazed area is large and the heat gain is proportionally larger.

Internal blinds

Fabric panels running on tracks within the lantern frame, usually motorised because of the size and position. They control light and glare well, they look good, and they do relatively little about heat, because the sun has already passed through the glass into the room before the blind stops it.

On a north facing lantern, or one where glare rather than heat is the problem, they are the right answer.

External blinds and awnings

Fitted over the outside of the lantern. Dramatically more effective against heat, because they intercept the sun before it reaches the glass, typically stopping the great majority of solar gain against perhaps a third for an internal blind.

They cost more, they are exposed to weather, and they need to be robust and properly fixed. Most retract automatically in high wind, and on an exposed site that is essential rather than optional.

Solar control glass

Not a blind, and frequently the better answer. A coating in the glazing that reflects a proportion of solar energy while transmitting most of the visible light. It works permanently, it needs no maintenance, it cannot break, and it costs a modest premium at the point of order.

Its limitation is that it is always on: it reduces gain in December as well as July. On a lantern over a room that is used year round, that is usually an acceptable trade.

Switchable glazing

Glass that changes from clear to opaque electrically. It exists, it works, and it is expensive. It also needs power to each pane, which has to be designed in from the start.

What we usually recommend

Solar control glass as the baseline on any south or west facing lantern, an opening vent at the highest point so accumulated heat can leave, and internal blinds only where glare or privacy is a specific problem.

That combination costs less than external blinds, needs no maintenance, and addresses the heat before it becomes a problem rather than after.

Decide before ordering

Internal blind tracks are frequently integrated into the lantern frame and specified with it. Retrofitting blinds to a lantern that was not designed for them is possible and it is neither neat nor cheap.

Decide before the lantern is ordered

Internal blind tracks are frequently integrated into the lantern frame and specified with it. Retrofitting blinds to a lantern that was not designed for them is possible and it is neither neat nor cheap.

The same applies to power. A motorised internal blind needs a cable into the lantern frame, and that is run while the kerb is being formed rather than afterwards.

What we would specify on most jobs

Solar control glass as the baseline on any south or west facing lantern, because it works permanently, needs no maintenance and cannot break. An opening vent at the highest point so accumulated heat can leave overnight. And internal blinds only where glare or privacy is a specific problem rather than as a general answer to summer heat.

That combination costs less than external blinds, has nothing to service, and addresses the heat before it becomes a problem rather than after.

Where external blinds are wanted, on an exposed site they need to retract automatically in high wind, and that is a specification point rather than an optional extra.

A note on cleaning

Internal blinds in a lantern sit above head height and collect dust on their upper surfaces over years. Where the lantern is over a double height space, plan how they get cleaned or replaced before they go in, because a pole will not do it.

That is one more quiet argument for solar control glazing over internal blinds on a high lantern: there is nothing up there to maintain.