Best Blinds for West-Facing Windows in Calgary

West-facing windows are the ones people complain about. The TV is unwatchable at five o'clock, the living room heats up right when you're making dinner, and in June a west bedroom is still bright at nine at night.

Here's when the sun actually reaches a west-facing window in Calgary, why these windows are harder to manage than any others, and which blinds handle them best.

When the Sun Hits a West-Facing Window in Calgary

A west wall starts getting direct sun shortly after midday and keeps it until sunset. On a clear day, with nothing in the way:

• June 21: from about 1:45 pm until sunset at 9:54 pm. That's eight hours of sun, and at 5 pm the sun is still 43 degrees above the horizon. By 7 pm it's down to 24 degrees, low enough to shine straight across the room.
• September 22: from about 1:35 pm until sunset at 7:33 pm. The sun is only 22 degrees up at 5 pm, so fall glare comes in lower and earlier in the evening.
• December 21: from about 12:40 pm until sunset at 4:31 pm, with the sun never higher than 16 degrees on that side of the house.

These are clear-day times worked out from the sun's path over Calgary. Your own house changes them, which we'll get to below.

Why West Windows Are the Hardest to Manage

• The sun comes in low. Morning sun on an east window is gentle and short. Evening sun on a west window comes in nearly level, reaches deep into the room, and lands straight on screens and in people's eyes.
• It arrives at the worst time. The west sun peaks in the late afternoon and evening, after the house has been warming all day and exactly when everyone is home, cooking and watching TV.
• It lasts for hours. In summer a west room can have direct sun from lunch until nearly 10 pm. That's also long enough to fade floors, furniture and artwork over a few seasons.
• Winter is the exception. From November to February the west sun is short and low, and on a cold afternoon that sun is free heat. The right blind lets you use it in winter and block it in summer.

Your Street Changes the Numbers

Neighbouring houses and trees block a lot of that sun, and how much depends on the neighbourhood. We ran three real Calgary houses with a west-facing side through our sun report, using the City of Calgary's 3D building and tree data:

• A 2017 house in Carrington. The back of the house faces west over young trees that don't block anything yet. On June 21 the west side gets 8.3 hours of direct sun, from 1:30 pm until almost 9:45 pm. That's close to the full, unobstructed amount.
• A 2011 infill in Richmond. With houses close on either side, the west wall gets about 5 hours in June, from 1:45 pm to 9 pm with gaps. In September that drops to about two hours in the early afternoon.
• A 1988 house in Deer Run. Without trees, the west side would get 8.5 hours in June. The mature trees cut that to about 5 hours and block the evening sun after 6 pm. In December, with the leaves gone, most of the winter sun still gets through.

The pattern is clear: newer suburbs with young trees get the most west sun, while mature trees in older neighbourhoods do some of the work for you in summer.

Want your own numbers? Our free sun report shows when direct sun reaches each side of your house on any day of the year, with your neighbours' houses and trees included.

The Best Blinds for West-Facing Windows

Zebra blinds: the best all-round choice. Zebra blinds have alternating sheer and solid bands. Line up the sheer bands for soft daylight at lunch, shift them to solid when the glare starts mid-afternoon, and open them again once the sun drops behind the houses across the street. That flexibility suits a window whose light changes so much over one afternoon.

Sunscreen roller blinds: when you want to keep the view. A roller blind in a sunscreen (solar) fabric cuts glare and heat while you can still see outside. A 3% openness is the usual balance for a west living room; 1% is better for a TV wall or home office. See sunscreen blinds for the openness levels.

Room-darkening rollers: for west bedrooms. A west bedroom in June is bright until almost 10 pm. For anyone who goes to bed before sunset, a roller in a room-darkening or blackout fabric keeps it dark in a way a zebra blind can't.

Let Motorized Blinds Handle It

The simplest automation is to open the blinds at sunrise and close them at sunset. Apple Home, Google Home and Alexa all have sunrise and sunset triggers, so you set it once and the blinds follow the seasons on their own.

West rooms benefit from one more rule: lower the blinds to their sheer or closed position in the early afternoon from May to August, when the glare runs longest. Or just ask your voice assistant when the sun comes around. Voss motorized blinds use Matter over Thread, so they work with all of these without a separate hub.

What to Check Before You Buy

• Look at samples in the late afternoon. A fabric that looks fine at noon can glow or glare at 5 pm. We bring samples to your home so you can see them in your own west light.
• Test it against the TV. If a screen faces or sits beside the window, check it with the sample in front of the glass.
• Decide how dark each room needs to be. Living spaces usually want light control; bedrooms may want room-darkening.
• Think about who is home at 5 pm. If nobody is, a motorized schedule does the job while you're out.

The Bottom Line

West-facing windows in Calgary get long, low afternoon sun from early afternoon until sunset, up to eight hours in June on a newer street. For most homes the answer is zebra blinds for the living spaces, a room-darkening roller for any west bedroom, and a simple sunrise and sunset schedule if you go motorized.