West facing lanai
 

For those of you who have a west facing lanai, what do you use to block the sun in the afternoon? We are looking at electric blinds and electric awnings, any other options?

We have a simple, but very effective, canvas blind. We also have high quality interior sun blinds at the windows.

As you know anything electric will eventually fail. Since we didn't want to chance having it fail she bought thick double layer curtains. When they're pulled shut the outside light is almost 100 percent blocked.

We installed electric shades through sunshades of Central Florida. They work great and was well worth the price.

We just converted lanai to Florida room with double pained glass.

Only question now is next summer will we need a split A/C

Window tinting
 

If you're looking to block the heat and glare on your lanai, i would recommend window tinting. We would be happy to come out and show you some samples and give you an estimate. Just give us a call at 352-638-7828.
Andy
Tint the Villages

That is assuming your lanai is enclosed with glass. We have a north of west facing lanai and chose not to have tinted glass on our enclosure, we chose double pane argon filled glass as we wanted all the light we could get, it cut down on sound, glare and heat tremendously. On the outside southwest wall of the lanai we planted a large sugar palm, no sun gets through those. Without blinds there are a few hours a day in the heat of summer that it get's hot in there so we use a floor model portable air conditioner that is vented to the outside and it works just fine. During the fall, winter, and spring there is no problem with the sun heating up the room. Another problem is aftermarket tinting voids most of the glass warranties and those panels are very expensive to replace. Just one man's opinion.

Yes, tinting windows does void manufacturers Warranty but LLUMAR takes over the warranty on the windows. So if the windows fail LLUMAR pays to replace them.

West Facing Lanai - Double pane glass, shades and A/C
 

We wanted year around use of our West facing lanai so we added double pane sliding doors (Custom Window), luxury vinyl flooring, non-motorized shades (RK Sunshades) and Mitsubishi ductless a/c (Munn's). The shades were added to eliminate direct sunlight and glare. Non-motorized because there are 4 blinds and the motors are $295 ea. - I can do a lot of pulling for $1,200!

We had our lanai glassed in with double paned glass with a thermal coating and it works very well. We use roll screens for privacy and to further block heat and light in the afternoon. We have not needed an additional air conditioner for the lanai. Our house unit covers the cooling and heating.

However, the homeowner also loses the warranty against rain/water leaking into the lanai and the LLUMAR does not cover that with their warranty. Our lanai windows are guaranteed for life against any failure and it is transferrable to any subsequent owner.

Michelle's screens and awnings installed electric sun screens on our lanai to block the sun which is only a problem about 1 hour during certain times a year. We have had them installed 10 years and they still work and look fine. Each one is about 8 feet long.

Yes you will need the mini split.

I am thinking we will when temps get very high but will wait and see.

Curtains? Isn’t that a pain when it rains? Or are they not fabric?

He didn't say either way but not if what he is covering with curtains are glass and not screens. ;)

Same here, worth it. Love the mini split most of all.

We were very impressed with RK sunshades. Very professional and competitive.

Yes

West facing lanai
 

Cool Breeze roll screens, retractable screen doors, interior motorized shades,privacy-hurricane shutters and awning.

We manufacture our products in Odessa, Fl and have the Longest warranty,quality and service in the industry.

888-896-8935
coolbreezerollscreens@Yahoo.com

We have a glassed in lanai and a roofed screen room. We had tint applied to the glass and we installed Kool-A-Roos from Lowes in both spaces. They block the sun adequately, reduce the heat gain, and allow vision and air to pass through. Ours are manual...electric poses maintenance problems.

We put up nicer vertical blinds on the west. 10’ split in 2, about $600 installed from Lowes. We like them.

In my home all windows are slightly tinted with HuberOptik film installed by The Solar Guys because the sun was turning the hardwood floors to sawdust.
Out in my birdcage, I have cloth shower curtains, so the rain doesn’t bother them.

We installed the blinds for the same reason .... it appeared the blinds would be transparent enough for us to see out. They are not transparent at all when installed. Be careful to see what you are getting. We were fooled.

The curtains are inside the included lani.

Window Tint
 

beware- window tint voids warranty on windows!

We have a screened mansard lanai. Had roll shades for a long time and they eventually disintegrated and were a pain to operate. We had electric screens installed and absolutely love them. Not only do they provide shade, but they also keep most of the rain out. If you go this route, get the darkest screens you can.

WE HAD motorized shades installed by SHADE BROS excellent job and worked great in keeping the sun out as well as the rain

Why would tinting void the warranty?

Shade Brothers. They can install remote control or wireless shades you can operate via your cellphone or Alexa.

Lonnie and Cool Breeze are top notch.

Our lanai faces west where our pool is. 6 years ago we hired Sunesta to address this issue. We had them install three electric shades on our summer kitchen area. We use them all the time and have never had an issue. Added value, in the cooler months we simply close them and have a small portable heater works great. In addition, at night we close them and it provides another layer of security. The company is local and very user friendly. Please note, they are not cheap but the material used allows you to see out and no one can see in. They offer several different colors. Highly recommend over flimsy hand drawn shades especially with high winds. Good luck

Heat buildup between the panes of glass can cause cracking, leaking of the gas in-between, etc. We had a large pane actually break wide open from the heat, it cost $1,200.00 to replace it. The manufacturers know what the tint is capable of doing therefore voids the warranty

Our lanai is smaller and open since we have a Florida room. We had Lowe's install roll-up shades (didn't want to do electric although they would have)...effective and less expensive. In hindsight I would have also covered the door and small section of screen to the left of the door since the sun and rain still come in. We'll have it done after the holiday.

That's kind of what I thought but with single pane its no problem to install a tint.

We're going to have T&D use darker screen when they install our birdcage. Then we'll have Cool Breeze install roll down shades on the lanai.

Why would you install single pane glass on your lanai, it's only good for keeping out rain and dust, has no insulation value, UV protection, or sound deadening.. That being said I would still check the manufacturer of the single pane sliders to see if tint film voids the warranty.

We have manual Coolaroo shades we got at Lowe’s. Three of them cover the entire West facing length of our lanai. I cut the handle off of one of the cranks and use a drill motor. It cost us less the $200.00 and it really keeps the lanai cool.