Roof blinds or a new roof?

Roof blinds are the first thing most people buy when a conservatory gets too hot, and for some rooms they are all that is needed. For others they are money spent shading a roof that is failing anyway. The deciding question is simple: is summer heat and glare your only problem, or one of several?

Are conservatory roof blinds worth it?

They are worth it if all of these are true:

• the roof is sound: no leaks, no yellowed or brittle sheets
• your main complaint is heat and glare on sunny days
• you like the light and the view of the sky the rest of the time
• the room is comfortable enough in winter for how you use it

They are probably not worth it if the roof leaks, is cold in winter, drums in the rain or has discoloured. Blinds treat one symptom, and you would be paying to shade a roof you may replace in a few years. Temperature is the most common conservatory complaint: in Which?’s April 2026 member survey, “the temperature is difficult to regulate” was the top regret, named by 24%.

What roof blinds can and cannot fix

Problem	Roof blinds	Solar control film	Solar control glass roof	Tiled roof
Summer heat	Reduces it (Which?)	Can significantly reduce heat build-up (Which?)	Lets 18% to 70% of the sun’s heat through	No direct sun through the roof
Glare	Cuts it when closed	Reduces it	Tinted or reflective glass reduces it	Removes overhead glare
Winter cold	Thermal blinds may help a little; no figures found	No evidence found	U-value 1.0 to 1.2	U-value 0.15
Rain noise	No evidence found	No	Quieter than polycarbonate (Which?)	Much quieter (owner reports)
Leaks	No	No	Yes, as a new roof	Yes, as a new roof
Daylight	Blocks it when closed	Cuts some, all the time	Keeps most of it	Loses the roof light
Typical cost, medium conservatory	£700 to £3,500	Around £1,000	£3,500 to £7,000	£7,400 to £12,100

The blinds figure covers roof and window blinds together (MyJobQuote), and the roof prices are typical fitted ranges for a medium conservatory. Installers usually quote including VAT, but check. For the full list of heat fixes, including vents and air conditioning, see conservatory too hot.

How much do conservatory roof blinds cost?

MyJobQuote’s 2026 figures cover blinds for the roof and windows together:

Conservatory	Budget roller	Pleated	Electric pleated
Small (8 to 10 blinds)	£500 to £900	£900 to £1,600	£1,500 to £2,500
Medium (10 to 14 blinds)	£700 to £1,300	£1,300 to £2,300	£2,000 to £3,500
Large (14 to 20 blinds)	£1,000 to £1,800	£1,800 to £3,200	£3,000 to £5,000

GreenMatch puts thermal blinds at £50 to £200 per blind. The more roof panels and windows you have, the more blinds you need, so faceted Victorian and P-shaped roofs cost more to dress than a simple lean-to.

If you keep the roof: getting the most from blinds

• Pick the right type. Which? singles out blackout and thermal regulation blinds as the ones that cut heat.
• Close them before the sun hits. Once the floor and furniture have soaked up the heat, closing the blinds will not take it back out.
• Pair them with vents. Hot air collects between the blind and the glass, so an open roof vent or top window lets it escape instead of spreading into the room.
• Open them on winter days. Low winter sun is free warmth, and open blinds let air reach the glass so it dries out rather than feeding mould.

Doing the sums: blinds against a new roof

Look at the top end. Electric pleated blinds for a medium conservatory, at £2,000 to £3,500, cost about the same as insulated roof panels (£1,800 to £4,600) or the lower end of a new glass roof (£3,500 to £7,000). Panels stop the sun coming through the roof and cut winter heat loss and rain noise too; solar control glass keeps the light and blocks much of the heat.

So if you are looking at premium blinds for a polycarbonate roof that is ten or more years old, price a new roof before you order. If the roof is sound glass and heat is the only issue, budget blinds or film are the cheaper answer. The cost calculator gives a range for your style and size.

When a new roof is the better buy

• It leaks. No blind or film fixes that; see leaking conservatory roof.
• It is cold in winter. Blinds make little difference against a roof that loses heat at a U-value of 1.7; a solid roof at 0.15 loses about a tenth as much per square metre.
• It is loud in the rain. We found no evidence that blinds help.
• The blinds keep going mouldy. Blinds near cold glass stay damp in winter; our page on conservatory mould explains why.
• You want to use the room all year. Owners on the MoneySavingExpert forum who fitted a solid roof reported a room they could use year round, though with less daylight.

A tiled roof solves all of these at once but makes the room darker. A solar control glass roof keeps the light but can still get warm on a south-facing site, so you may still want blinds.

When you get quotes, get a blinds quote and a roof quote side by side, and ask each roof installer for the g-value or U-value of what they propose in writing, so you can see what the extra money buys.