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I actually invested in automatic window shades! Cost me big bucks to do all my windows but it's worth it to me!
These things can sense the sunrise and sunset and will open and close automatically. They are wired directly to the AC power supply and have a DC battery backup in case the power goes off, in which case I have them programmed to open completely if the power fails.
As the sun rises and the heat starts coming in, the window shades will angle downward slightly to reflect the direct sun back outside but remain open just enough to keep the daylight itself coming in.
At sunset, a sensor opens the shades completely as the sun is going down, then as the sun disappears over the horizon, all the window shades in the entire house close simultaneously and stay that way until sunrise again!
These things can sense the sunrise and sunset and will open and close automatically. They are wired directly to the AC power supply and have a DC battery backup in case the power goes off, in which case I have them programmed to open completely if the power fails.
As the sun rises and the heat starts coming in, the window shades will angle downward slightly to reflect the direct sun back outside but remain open just enough to keep the daylight itself coming in.
At sunset, a sensor opens the shades completely as the sun is going down, then as the sun disappears over the horizon, all the window shades in the entire house close simultaneously and stay that way until sunrise again!
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SomeMichGuy · M
@swirlie This is very important. The radiative losses/gains through windows are really significant. Whenever I see a huge amount of glass, I think about that.
Good for you!
Good for you!
CrazyMusicLover · 31-35
I will never understand people who keep the blinds drawn during the day unless it's above 30°C outside.
I'm the person who likes a lot of daylight in my home but often struggles to go out. I often have to mentally kick myself out of the apartment because I'm in no mood to deal with people in any possible way.
I'm the person who likes a lot of daylight in my home but often struggles to go out. I often have to mentally kick myself out of the apartment because I'm in no mood to deal with people in any possible way.
swirlie · 31-35, F
@CrazyMusicLover
So then, if I showed up at your apartment door trying to flog a Hoover vacuum cleaner to you along with a plethora of necessary attachments, you're saying you'd be in no mood to deal with me in any possible way? I'm shattered!
So then, if I showed up at your apartment door trying to flog a Hoover vacuum cleaner to you along with a plethora of necessary attachments, you're saying you'd be in no mood to deal with me in any possible way? I'm shattered!
gdon39 · 41-45, M
@shannp I do too. I have them pulled up high 24 hrs a day and I work from home, and I don't wear a lot of clothes.
I think my standard delivery people have gotten used to it but I'm not intentionally trying to be disrespectful and if I see them coming up to the porch I wave and try to get out of the way......Sometimes. lol
I think my standard delivery people have gotten used to it but I'm not intentionally trying to be disrespectful and if I see them coming up to the porch I wave and try to get out of the way......Sometimes. lol
AbbeyRhode · F
Slade · 56-60, M
@AbbeyRhode i have to at least diagonally have them drawn. I'm on the first floor with an ocean of foot traffic going by. Sucks, I love the daylight.
Plus I wouldn't have to put on clothes if I was up high
Plus I wouldn't have to put on clothes if I was up high
AlchemyFox · 36-40, F
Carissimi · 70-79, F
Neither one. I’m a wake up slowly, leisurely morning person, who enjoys a nice view with my coffee. I’d like to be a get up and go type, but it’s not my physiology or psychology. I’d like to go out and do more and explore, but between the extreme weather here, and a few other things, I’m mostly stuck at home. I have to say that what the world is doing isn’t very appealing to me these days, so besides enjoying nature, there isn’t much out there to entice me.
Carissimi · 70-79, F
I know. I had too much sodium, and too little water one day, last week, and woke up with a leg cramp that took a few days to settle down. Never mind that it raises my BP if I have too much. I read that anyone over 40, should not have more than 1500 mg/day of sodium. Do you know how hard that is even eating healthy? Even egg whites are high in it, and my veggie burgers. I do my best, even cutting out adding it to my food, but then food tastes so bland. It’s a constant balancing act. @Musicman
cherokeepatti · 61-69, F
scorpiolovedeep · 46-50, M
Musicman · 61-69, M
@scorpiolovedeep It lets you drive, travel explore new places without leaving home. Lol!!! 😂
Musicman · 61-69, M
@scorpiolovedeep My wife and I enjoy traveling in ours, but we also maintain a house too. Our trips are usually anywhere from a week to two months.
Gingerbreadspice · F
WonderGirl · 36-40
swirlie · 31-35, F
@Musicman
[quote]I am sorry to hear that ☹️[/quote]
Now I'm really confused here, Musicman! 😵💫
WonderGirl made 3 separate claims for her rationale in choosing to close her window blinds instead of keeping them open.
- She has northern exposure and she gets morning sun which can be hot in the morning and beside that, it shines directly into her eyes, so she blocks it out.
- In her last place, she said she had southern exposure and consequently baked from presumably the afternoon sun, so she probably blocked it out too which I think most people do anyway if their air conditioning is working against when the window shades are left open to the afternoon sun.
- And then she said that she likes her solitude, which presumably means she likes the inner peace she feels when she doesn't have to see the activity of the world going on outside her window, which is achieved of course by closing the blinds during the daytime and probably at night as well.
Yet in your response to her, you replied "I am sorry to hear that ☹️ ".
What confuses me about your response is, what exactly are you sorry to hear?
[quote]I am sorry to hear that ☹️[/quote]
Now I'm really confused here, Musicman! 😵💫
WonderGirl made 3 separate claims for her rationale in choosing to close her window blinds instead of keeping them open.
- She has northern exposure and she gets morning sun which can be hot in the morning and beside that, it shines directly into her eyes, so she blocks it out.
- In her last place, she said she had southern exposure and consequently baked from presumably the afternoon sun, so she probably blocked it out too which I think most people do anyway if their air conditioning is working against when the window shades are left open to the afternoon sun.
- And then she said that she likes her solitude, which presumably means she likes the inner peace she feels when she doesn't have to see the activity of the world going on outside her window, which is achieved of course by closing the blinds during the daytime and probably at night as well.
Yet in your response to her, you replied "I am sorry to hear that ☹️ ".
What confuses me about your response is, what exactly are you sorry to hear?
swirlie · 31-35, F
You are sorry to hear that if she feels the need to keep her blinds closed to keep the excessive light and heat out, which is only common sense to do so anyway, that you feel it is your place to remind her that her actions are HER choice and not anyone else's and that you now respect her for exercising her inherent right to use common sense in the day to day functioning of her own home?
Is that really what you meant by "I am sorry to hear that ☹️"? Like, seriously! 🤔
Is that really what you meant by "I am sorry to hear that ☹️"? Like, seriously! 🤔
CrystalSkull · F
ArishMell · 70-79, M
I close the curtain on my front room window at night, but only because this is on the ground-floor and clearly visible from the street only about six feet away.
Venetian blinds on the plain glass window of the combined bathroom / lavatory, located unusually on the ground- instead of first- floor, but at the back of the house. Also on the front (spare) bedroom windows.
Otherwise, no curtains or blinds - the other windows are far enough away from the back room windows of the next street, for reasonable privacy.
Venetian blinds on the plain glass window of the combined bathroom / lavatory, located unusually on the ground- instead of first- floor, but at the back of the house. Also on the front (spare) bedroom windows.
Otherwise, no curtains or blinds - the other windows are far enough away from the back room windows of the next street, for reasonable privacy.
WillaKissing · 56-60
maskedbandit · 61-69, M
4meAndyou · F
Well, I don't have blinds, but it is true that the traverse rod in my living room is inoperative. I have to grab the draperies and hook them over the slider handles to open them. I prefer them open on nice days.
I can't just get out and see what the world is doing whenever I feel like it, because I have an entire month on $20 worth of gas, and that includes doctor visits, bank visits, picking up groceries at times, and, if needed, helping out with food boxes for my neighbors. Sometimes it gets tight.
I can't just get out and see what the world is doing whenever I feel like it, because I have an entire month on $20 worth of gas, and that includes doctor visits, bank visits, picking up groceries at times, and, if needed, helping out with food boxes for my neighbors. Sometimes it gets tight.
Justmeraeagain · 56-60, F
JimboSaturn · 51-55, M
swirlie · 31-35, F
@JimboSaturn
Whatever you do, don't resort to using Saturday newspapers hanging in the windows if you ever change your mind! Saturday newspapers stink like a saw mill when the afternoon sun hits them!
Whatever you do, don't resort to using Saturday newspapers hanging in the windows if you ever change your mind! Saturday newspapers stink like a saw mill when the afternoon sun hits them!
JimboSaturn · 51-55, M
@swirlie haha, I promise to to hang Saturday newspapers.
swirlie · 31-35, F
@JimboSaturn
The advertising flyers with red ink are the worst! They provide an ascetically pleasing splash of color to a room with otherwise bland-colored furniture choices which is not in dispute here, but their sun-generated smell will eventually make your eyes burn to the point of having to keep a window open summer and winter!
The advertising flyers with red ink are the worst! They provide an ascetically pleasing splash of color to a room with otherwise bland-colored furniture choices which is not in dispute here, but their sun-generated smell will eventually make your eyes burn to the point of having to keep a window open summer and winter!
PhoenixPhail · M
CatBlanket · 51-55, F
Musicman · 61-69, M
@CatBlanket My wife is the same way. ☹️
ChipmunkErnie · 70-79, M
Depends on the room.
Musicman · 61-69, M
@ChipmunkErnie Fair enough.
swirlie · 31-35, F
@ChipmunkErnie
I suppose house plants make good curtains and are probably a better option than hanging newspapers in the windows too. I should take my patriotic flag out of my living room window and try a dozen or more houseplants instead to see how well they work! Thanks for the tip!
I suppose house plants make good curtains and are probably a better option than hanging newspapers in the windows too. I should take my patriotic flag out of my living room window and try a dozen or more houseplants instead to see how well they work! Thanks for the tip!
SomeMichGuy · M
@swirlie You could seal some boiled water in used 5-gal water bottles, put them in front of the window, and use them as passive solar collectors.
Magenta · F
Nooo, I love the curtains open, I invite light and sunshine in. But at night they are closed up tight.
swirlie · 31-35, F
Just a short story for your post...
When my grandmother passed away, I ended up purchasing her property to keep it in the family. I would go to her house as a child and every window in the house back then was covered with 3 layers of drapes, sheers and horizontal window blinds as if she were preparing for a nuclear attack.
It never occurred to me as a child nor as a curious teenager, that her window blinds were always closed, because I figured it was either to keep the sun out or to keep the cold out during the deep freeze of winter. Therefore, she had good reason to keep them closed all the time, is what I deduced.
After I purchased the property following her passing, the very first thing I did was take down every drape, sheer and window blind from every window in her house because they'd all been installed in the early 1970's about 5 years before the end of the Vietnam war!
As each drape, sheer and blind came down, something magnificent happened! It suddenly occurred to me 'why' my grandfather had built that house where he did on the property and why he had purchased that property in the first place!
The property itself I've since discovered, contains the highest quantity of commercial aggregate (sand and gravel) still buried in the ground within 100 miles of itself. The property location is the highest point of land within 20 miles in all directions, which means rain water flows in all directions 'away' from my grandparents lawn!
On that farm at the peak of it's highest point of land, is where my grandfather built their house by hand, which my own mother was born and raised in. As soon as I removed all the window blinds and opened the entire house up, suddenly all those open windows revealed a 360 degree vista looking in all directions at the surrounding countryside which slopes downward and away from their house! The house itself was designed with 4 complete sides comprised of giant windows, almost looking like a greenhouse on 4 sides.
For all the time my mom lived in that house growing up and for all the time I spent there as a child, neither one of us were aware of the scenic vistas that house afforded anyone who was sitting inside looking out, because my grandmother wanted her privacy!
Despite living in the middle of a 100 acre farm, she thought the neighbors were all staring at her with binoculars, so she closed off THEIR view by having window blinds installed after my grandfather passed, which kept the neighbor's view blocked from scrutinizing her activities in her own house from that day forward!
When my grandmother passed away, I ended up purchasing her property to keep it in the family. I would go to her house as a child and every window in the house back then was covered with 3 layers of drapes, sheers and horizontal window blinds as if she were preparing for a nuclear attack.
It never occurred to me as a child nor as a curious teenager, that her window blinds were always closed, because I figured it was either to keep the sun out or to keep the cold out during the deep freeze of winter. Therefore, she had good reason to keep them closed all the time, is what I deduced.
After I purchased the property following her passing, the very first thing I did was take down every drape, sheer and window blind from every window in her house because they'd all been installed in the early 1970's about 5 years before the end of the Vietnam war!
As each drape, sheer and blind came down, something magnificent happened! It suddenly occurred to me 'why' my grandfather had built that house where he did on the property and why he had purchased that property in the first place!
The property itself I've since discovered, contains the highest quantity of commercial aggregate (sand and gravel) still buried in the ground within 100 miles of itself. The property location is the highest point of land within 20 miles in all directions, which means rain water flows in all directions 'away' from my grandparents lawn!
On that farm at the peak of it's highest point of land, is where my grandfather built their house by hand, which my own mother was born and raised in. As soon as I removed all the window blinds and opened the entire house up, suddenly all those open windows revealed a 360 degree vista looking in all directions at the surrounding countryside which slopes downward and away from their house! The house itself was designed with 4 complete sides comprised of giant windows, almost looking like a greenhouse on 4 sides.
For all the time my mom lived in that house growing up and for all the time I spent there as a child, neither one of us were aware of the scenic vistas that house afforded anyone who was sitting inside looking out, because my grandmother wanted her privacy!
Despite living in the middle of a 100 acre farm, she thought the neighbors were all staring at her with binoculars, so she closed off THEIR view by having window blinds installed after my grandfather passed, which kept the neighbor's view blocked from scrutinizing her activities in her own house from that day forward!
swirlie · 31-35, F
@Musicman
At the time, my mom said she really never noticed the place being always closed up like that because that's what she got use to seeing while she lived there. Her mom was outside most of the day anyway, so she also got all the sunshine she ever needed!
But for some reason her mom got it in her mind that if she could see a farm in the distance that was 3 miles away, there'd be a good chance that they'd be looking at her standing in her living room looking at them! I don't think my grandfather took into account that they'd never lived in a place before that had such open views, which was now totally foreign to my grandmother when all she could see was everything around her!
My grandfather designed and built the house based on the views the property offered to those inside the house, not to those looking at the house from 3 miles away! lol!
At the time, my mom said she really never noticed the place being always closed up like that because that's what she got use to seeing while she lived there. Her mom was outside most of the day anyway, so she also got all the sunshine she ever needed!
But for some reason her mom got it in her mind that if she could see a farm in the distance that was 3 miles away, there'd be a good chance that they'd be looking at her standing in her living room looking at them! I don't think my grandfather took into account that they'd never lived in a place before that had such open views, which was now totally foreign to my grandmother when all she could see was everything around her!
My grandfather designed and built the house based on the views the property offered to those inside the house, not to those looking at the house from 3 miles away! lol!
