Outdoor Blinds For Your Deck: 3 Reasons To Invest In Motorised Blinds

A deck in your garden or backyard can be a great place to soak up the sunshine in privacy, but during the blistering heat of the summer months, you'll almost certainly want to give yourself some shade from the sun's brutal glare. Installing outdoor blinds that can be raised and lowered as needed is an excellent way to block out unwanted sunshine during the hottest months of the year while allowing you to fully enjoy the sunshine during cooler seasons.

However, if you choose to have outdoor blinds fitted to your deck, you will have to decide between manually operated, hand-cranked blinds and motorised blinds. While automated, motorised outdoor blinds can be significantly more expensive than manually operated blinds, they have numerous advantages that can make them well worth the extra investment.

What are the advantages of choosing motorised blinds for your deck?

Easy to use

When homeowners decide to invest in automated blinds for their deck, it's usually to avoid the laborious process of manually raising and lowering the blinds using a hand crank. Automated blinds are definitely significantly simpler and easier to use than manually operated blinds, and they are particularly useful for disabled and/or elderly users. They are also much easier for children to use, if you choose to give your kids permission to operate the blinds.  

Modern motorised blinds give you a variety of options when it comes to controls. Most models come with standard remote controls (some also feature controls on the blinds themselves), but some motorised blinds can be controlled via dedicated apps that you can download to your smartphone, tablet or personal computer. With some apps, you can even operate your blinds while you are hundreds of miles away from home; this is useful if you want your home to look occupied to deter thieves.

Safer to use

The chains and/or wires connected to the crank of a manual outdoor blind are held under constant tension and can be extremely dangerous if they snap unexpectedly. Exposed wires and chains also present a serious choking hazard, especially for young children. While serious accidents involving manually operated outdoor blinds are extremely rare, you should always choose wire and chain-free motorised blinds if you are concerned about safety.

More compact

To install a hand-cranked outdoor blind, you have to make room for not just the blinds themselves, but also the cranking mechanism and the chains and wires that connect it to the blind. Automated blinds consist of a single, self-contained unit with no separate cranking mechanism, and they tend to be much more compact than manual blinds as a result. This makes motorised blinds easier to place on compact decks, making them particularly useful for urban homeowners with smaller outdoor spaces.