B-O-Bs your uncle

[BeninReading]

Afternoon all!

 

Recently, we added blackout-blind material to all our curtains on the boat, including a curtain that hangs over the back doors for insulation. I had never seen this stuff before, but my mum and girlfriend knew all about it. It is white and not black and is quite thick making the curtains ‘hang’ better. Fortunately my mum offered to pay for the material (costs between 33-6 a metre) and sew it into our existing curtains. The change is amazing – it is so much darker on the boat so our sleep is better. Allegedly it keeps the boat cooler on hot days and I am looking forward to saving money on fuel this winter. I have been on the boat for several years, and regret not doing it earlier. I highly recommend blackout-blinds…

 

Ben

[Gibbo]

(costs between 33-6 a metre)

 

?

[Nickhlx]

I also have come across this in the last couple of years for use in the home, and not considered it for the boat - It seems counter-intuitive to have a "white" black-out curtain, but certainly is 100% lightproof as far as I can tell - seems like it might be a laminate with some rubber membrane in the middle - good stuff !

 

Nick

 

 

[Ex- Member]

It a good idea, lots of heat escapes through windows. If you can keep the curtains tight to the lining they will work better. Will be using some thermal curtains across the inner cratch doors in the winter, they will Velcro to the door frame either side to keep heat in draughts out.

 

We also have portholes and an even more efficient way of Blacking out saving heat and keeping cool in the summer is porthole bungs. There's a e-bay seller that makes these bespoke between 12 and 15 quid each, these are Faux leather with 2 inch foam insert. We originally had some made from cotton but they weren't finished as nice as and were thinner and needed cleaning, with the faux you just wipe them with a damp cloth to clean.

 

 

Edited July 13, 2011 by Julynian

[Dekazer]

My lovely Mum made us some new bedroom curtains and lined them with black out lining. The difference was incredible and I wouldn't be without it now. You need to keep the curtains tight to the window to get the benefit, but it makes a noticeable difference to the light and temperature in the bedroom both in summer and winter.

 

I will definitely use the same when I re-do the living room curtains as the sunshine on the telly drives me mad Probably not in the bathroom though, as I like a bit of ambient light and obviously need to keep the curtains shut for privacy

[Pretty Funked Up]

one of the 1st things I did was ditch the flowery curtains for blackouts

I do like a lie in

The get very hot though in black, you need something reflective behind them

Edited July 13, 2011 by Pretty Funked Up

[Gibbo]

I'm still trying to work out what "33-6 a metre" means.

[Nickhlx]

I'm still trying to work out what "33-6 a metre" means.

 

 

27 ?

 

;-)

 

Nick

 

I took it as £3-36/mtr but that doesn't say waht the width is - probably a standard "54" or something....

Edited July 13, 2011 by Nickhlx

[Gibbo]

27 ?

 

;-)

 

Nick

 

I took it as £3-36/mtr but that doesn't say waht the width is - probably a standard "54" or something....

 

 

But OP says

 

costs between 33-6 a metre

 

And I simply can't make any sense of what that was supposed to be.

[BeninReading]

3-6

[Bones]

IKEA do blackout blinds too which is what I use on my boat.

 

 

[Nickhlx]

 

But OP says

 

 

 

And I simply can't make any sense of what that was supposed to be.

 

 

No - me neither...

 

I guess he'll be along to explain before long...

 

Whilst you're around...

I have just ( 3 weeks ago) fitted the Smartgauge, but the bank isn't getting much more than maybe 10% discharges from full charge/floating ( wet cells - Trojan T-125s) as we are not spending evenings/nights on the boat at moment.

 

So, the question is does the SG need to have deeper discharges to get into sync or will it do it eventually (how long?) with these light discharges ? It's on float from a Victron 12/3000/120 when we are not aboard...

 

Thanks,

 

Nick

Edited July 13, 2011 by Nickhlx

[stuart]

Just make sure any curtains over doors don't block any ventaliation grills !

[Gibbo]

So, the question is does the SG need to have deeper discharges to get into sync or will it do it eventually (how long?) with these light discharges ? It's on float from a Victron 12/3000/120 when we are not aboard...

 

It will actually handle that fine. Will only take a few cycles.

[Nickhlx]

It will actually handle that fine. Will only take a few cycles.

 

 

Ok - many thanks for the response... It may already be close to being in sync and accurate...

It's rare for the bank to be even discharged by 30% from full charge as heavy loads are done with the engine

running to minimise deeper discharges, in the attempt to squeeze as much longevity from them as reasonably possible.

 

Thanks again,

 

Nick

[Ex- Member]

Just make sure any curtains over doors don't block any ventaliation grills !

 

Not a problem on our wide beam as vents are either side of the door so vents not affected, good point though for those with vents in doors.

 

 

 

[Grace and Favour]

I'm still trying to work out what "33-6 a metre" means.

 

33/6 could be 33s 6p

which = £1-13-6

or £1.68 in modern money

[JJay]

Suggest shift key was not fully depressed for the first "3", making the reality £3 - £6 per metre (cheap though - it's £7 pm in John Lewis...)

[blackrose]

I made these for my 15" portholes.

 

 

They're made of 8mm (or 9mm?) ply bonded to 1" thick high density polyethylene foam, so as well as blacking out they keep the heat in overnight too.

 

 

They live in here when not in use - made from a couple of garden plant containers screwed together one on top of the other.

 

Edited July 14, 2011 by blackrose

[Ex- Member]

I made these for my 15" portholes.

 

 

They're made of 8mm (or 9mm?) ply bonded to 1" thick high density polyethylene foam, so as well as blacking out they keep the heat in overnight too.

 

 

They live in here when not in use - made from a couple of garden plant containers screwed together one on top of the other.

 

 

They do look neat I must say, I was very tempted to do the same and cover with material pleated over the back and foam circles adhered. The only problem we thought was the foam would end up bobbling and fraying with use unless we covered that as well, in the end we went all soft LOL We plan to hang each bung on a hook under the gunwale so their always at hand. Hence the small tabs visible on the top of the bungs. Would have liked leather rather than Faux but they are so easy to clean and leather is very pricey and might discolour, these might too though we'll see.

 

I note you have small peg clips to hold them in, if the ply was an 1/8 inch smaller in diameter and the foam the correct size wouldn't the bungs be self securing and the securing not needed, just wondered?