PERFECT FIT OR INTU BLINDS FOR YOUR CONSERVATORY?
Posted on 10 January 2018 by Phil Coleman
When it comes to blinds for your conservatory the new integrated Perfect Fit and INTU blinds should be your first choice.
There it is your nice shiny brand new conservatory. All ready for the summer, then you realise that you need some privacy from the neighbours and it's already getting a little warm and it's not even summer.
The big advantage of the Perfect Fit and INTU systems is that there is no need for any drilling into your nice new conservatory.
Both systems are installed similarly, by pushing brackets between the beading and the glass.
The difference between Perfect Fit and INTU blinds compared to Roller Blinds or Vertical Blinds is that they look part of your conservatory, as opposed to blinds screwed to the window frames that look like an add-on.
INTU Pleated blinds with matching roof blinds.
There is only one real downside with the Perfect Fit and INTU systems is the price when compared to Vertical or Roller Blinds.
The reason for the price difference is the quantity of blinds you need for your conservatory. As you can see from the INTU picture above you will need one blind per pane of glass, whereas a Vertical Blind can cover several panes as seen in the other picture.
So if you like the look and the price hasn’t put you off then you need to decide which integrated system you prefer.
Most blind companies will either do one or the other, with most offering the Perfect Fit system.
The Perfect Fit system is something most blind makers can make themselves which is why it is more popular with blind companies.
Put very simply it is either a Pleated or a Venetian blind fitted in a frame (similar in looks to a picture frame).
The INTU system does not have a frame, instead it has a rail at the top. Very thin aluminium strips at the sides with nothing at the bottom other than the rail that runs from the top of the blind to the bottom.
The INTU system is not as popular with our trade due to the cost of setting up to manufacture the blinds. That would be around £75,000, whereas Perfect Fit set-up costs are around £5000.
So the INTU blinds are only made by companies who supply the trade and not by smaller manufacturers like ourselves. So they do have a higher price when compared to Perfect Fit.
As a company, we prefer the INTU system because whenever we look at introducing a product we look for the best available and for us, INTU is that.
The INTU system was designed from scratch to do one job and integrate into your windows, whereas Perfect Fit came from a different view, how to fit ‘standard’ blinds into a frame that then fits your windows.
A good example of this is with the Venetian versions of the 2 blinds.
The Perfect Fit Venetian still uses the twist wand to tilt the slats.
The INTU Venetian has an integrated slider to tilt the slats.
In my opinion, it is just better by design.
I hope this has given you an insight into the 2 different systems available, and I would recommend visiting your local blind showrooms to see the blinds for yourself.
