Those metal shutters, that black out the whole room? They have those in Portugal, Spain, most of the mid-southwest Mediterranean. France also. But they’re basically ubiquitous in Portugal. Pretty nifty actually.
Edit: This was driving me nuts, sorry, but I couldn’t find a single good image of what I mean. Here’s the best I could make the robot monkey do (YMMV):
It sounds like you’re describing “Persianas” – a term used in Portugal (and other Spanish or Portuguese-speaking countries) for a specific type of heavy-duty indoor blinds or shutters. These are not the thin metal or fabric blinds but rather thick, often horizontal slats that can be rolled down to cover windows or doors completely, providing excellent light blockage and insulation.
Funnily enough we call the small thin ones in the picture I posted “Persienner”.
They don’t provide any significant insulation but they can also cover the whole window and block light pretty well. Not perfectly, but good enough for most applications.
If they aren’t enough for you, you can have specific black out curtains that either roll down or slide in front of the window. I suspect black out curtains exist literally everywhere. I am just mentioning it for completeness sake.
I suspect black out curtains are especially common where they get sun 24/7 during the summer.
The worse part is now they’re built cheaply so the screen is only the bottom half. You can still open the top, or from both top and bottom for convection, but now you get bugs
Windows are the kind of thing that are generally built locally for multiple reasons. So your experience will vary greatly based on what the window factory in your area is doing.
Where I live, single hung windows (only one sash) are most common, so only one screen is needed. Double hung windows are less common because people don’t want to pay for the expense of the additional sash (a lot of springs and mechanisms needed for a sash). A screen is an expense too, but nowhere near the expense of an additional shaft. Possibly the intent was to allow for opening the top to making cleaning easier, but that’s usually accomplished by having the top “fixed” portion of the single hung window be able to tilt out because putting all the springs and mechanisms for an additional sash for a feature to make it easier to clean isn’t necessary.
Yeah… I worked at a window factory before. The calculations needed to figure out the tension needed on the springs so that it will counter the weight of the sash was fun.
That window design looks like it would never seal properly.
Here in Germany any window from the last 30 years or more will not let any air in when its fully closed.
And how is it sealed on the sides and the top?
European casement windows actually get pulled into the frame (and seals) all around the frame by rollers which move sideways along sloped ridges when you move the hinge to the closed position.
But will there still be air coming through when there is wind pushing on that side of the house?
I guess they are kind of complicated, but energy efficient windows make it possible to increase the window area and size without losing too much heat.
Energy is also more expensive over here, which probably helps in that decision, as the cost of these windows can be easily recouped in a few years just by needing less energy to heat the house.
It seals. There’s a small recess underneath the window lined with weather stripping that when pressure is applied from closing the window and even locking it, it becomes air tight.
Double hung windows don’t seal quite as well as casement windows, but honestly, unless you’re going to the absolute best energy efficiency possible, like a net-zero house, then it’s really not a big difference. Any halfway decent quality, properly installed window won’t have any noticeable drafts. Plus, as others have mentioned, double hung windows are far cheaper than casement.
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I downvoted because I’m French.
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Touché.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but that style of window doesn’t allow you to open it fully, right?
They open fully. The tilt feature is 10-15 degrees, but they swing open fully like a casement window in the US. At least the ones I used did.
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You can have screens. I don’t understand why everyone thinks these windows don’t have screens
Not if they rotate 90 degrees like others are saying unless it’s some sort of magic screen
The screen just stays in the “hole” of the window. Doesn’t matter if the window is tilted or fully swung open. Very simple.
I was talking about the window in the picture in the comment I replied to.
Opening from the bottom is inherently worse
it’s inherently superior because you can have the window slam onto the fingers of a person trying to crawl in through the window
In Europe we use roller shutters for that
You can have them on residential buildings‽
I live in Europe and I have only seen them in commercial settings to protect store and stuff.
Those metal shutters, that black out the whole room? They have those in Portugal, Spain, most of the mid-southwest Mediterranean. France also. But they’re basically ubiquitous in Portugal. Pretty nifty actually.
Edit: This was driving me nuts, sorry, but I couldn’t find a single good image of what I mean. Here’s the best I could make the robot monkey do (YMMV):
Why? Because they’re amazing.
Funnily enough we call the small thin ones in the picture I posted “Persienner”.
They don’t provide any significant insulation but they can also cover the whole window and block light pretty well. Not perfectly, but good enough for most applications.
If they aren’t enough for you, you can have specific black out curtains that either roll down or slide in front of the window. I suspect black out curtains exist literally everywhere. I am just mentioning it for completeness sake.
I suspect black out curtains are especially common where they get sun 24/7 during the summer.
It’s pretty normal to have them on every window, at least in Germany
Here, integrated window blinders are very common. But if you don’t have them you will probably use some sort of curtains (either normal or roll down).
You can have them where you want. They makes some nice things nowadays.
https://www.maisondustore.ch/uploads/media/Sans CFVGGF.png
They open from the top as well.
At that point why do you even need windows?
The worse part is now they’re built cheaply so the screen is only the bottom half. You can still open the top, or from both top and bottom for convection, but now you get bugs
If you get windows one step above “cheapest available” you get a moveable screen.
Windows are the kind of thing that are generally built locally for multiple reasons. So your experience will vary greatly based on what the window factory in your area is doing.
Where I live, single hung windows (only one sash) are most common, so only one screen is needed. Double hung windows are less common because people don’t want to pay for the expense of the additional sash (a lot of springs and mechanisms needed for a sash). A screen is an expense too, but nowhere near the expense of an additional shaft. Possibly the intent was to allow for opening the top to making cleaning easier, but that’s usually accomplished by having the top “fixed” portion of the single hung window be able to tilt out because putting all the springs and mechanisms for an additional sash for a feature to make it easier to clean isn’t necessary.
Yeah… I worked at a window factory before. The calculations needed to figure out the tension needed on the springs so that it will counter the weight of the sash was fun.
At least you get screens. Where I live mosquitoes are common and yet screens are very rare.
It entirely depends on who installed the windows and what brand. Our windows are amazing and high quality.
Ok, our windows can open from the sides or tops as well :D
Yeah I mean of course not in a prison. Which cell block is that?
That window design looks like it would never seal properly. Here in Germany any window from the last 30 years or more will not let any air in when its fully closed.
Why wouldn’t it seal?
Because its not possible to pull the window into the seal when the window also needs to move up and down.
The seal is on the bottom so it just falls into it using gravity
And how is it sealed on the sides and the top? European casement windows actually get pulled into the frame (and seals) all around the frame by rollers which move sideways along sloped ridges when you move the hinge to the closed position.
The window stays sealed on all other sides. It just slides up and down. Windows in Europe sound needlessly complicated
But will there still be air coming through when there is wind pushing on that side of the house?
I guess they are kind of complicated, but energy efficient windows make it possible to increase the window area and size without losing too much heat. Energy is also more expensive over here, which probably helps in that decision, as the cost of these windows can be easily recouped in a few years just by needing less energy to heat the house.
Americans houses aren’t windy inside, no.
It seals. There’s a small recess underneath the window lined with weather stripping that when pressure is applied from closing the window and even locking it, it becomes air tight.
We actually have the opposite issue. Windows here seal so well that indoor air quality slowly drops if you don’t run the central fan all day.
Double hung windows don’t seal quite as well as casement windows, but honestly, unless you’re going to the absolute best energy efficiency possible, like a net-zero house, then it’s really not a big difference. Any halfway decent quality, properly installed window won’t have any noticeable drafts. Plus, as others have mentioned, double hung windows are far cheaper than casement.
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