I am exploring getting indoor solar shades for my office (or what is marketed as solar shades). My question is, are they worth it, or are they a rip-off?
I have a small, 9x12-ish office with three floor to ceiling windows that are 36 inches wide. Because of the nature of my desk, and my own personal preference, I sit inches away from the windows. My office faces west. The windows are already tinted black. In the afternoon it gets hot in my office, but not in the other three (one that is the same size, and two which are executive-size). My building has a zone-type heating/cooling system, so we cannot adjust the temp in our office.
I’ll have the super come and look at my office to see if there is something that needs to be adjusted in my particular office first. There are no shades/blinds on the windows in any of the four offices. The other three stay cool and don’t get as much sunlight as mine. I’m the only one who wants/needs them (also for glare due to how the sunlight comes into my office).
I have a cheap boss. I’m sure he’d want me to get cheapo mini-blinds, but my hope is that I can get something that is opaque so I can still see outside, that looks nicer than mini-blinds, and blocks a bit of the heat.
Solar shades seem to be fairly expensive, but man, it’s hot in there! Are they worth it? Do indoor solar shades actually have heat-blocking/aborbing properties?
Self tinting sunglasses were popular in the 1980’s but I don’t know if I would buy some now especially for work unless you work in a bookies office or have a serious marijuana problem.
We have a home office (10’ x 12’) with only one window (4’ x 6’) that faces due west. We use a solar shade on that window and it makes a noticeable difference in the temperature. The shade was ordered from Home Depot; shades have to be custom made and it was somewhat expensive but I don’t remember exactly how much it cost. Bear in mind that these types of shades lose their effectiveness over time; ours are about due to be replaced. IMHO, they are worth the cost.
How do indoor solar shades work? My boss claims that there’s no way they could be effective since the heat’s already come through the window, it has to go somewhere…
As I recall (and I invite more knowledgable Dopers to update me on this), what comes in the window is radiant energy. This transfers its energy to large dense objects in its path – typically the far wall, but can also include furniture and couch potatoes – causing the objects to warm up. The air conducts / convects the thermal energy away, causing the room’s ambient temperature to increase.
So (if I’m close to right) what solar shades probably do is capture / collect the radiant energy in a way that doesn’t lead to significant warming.