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?