• facebook
    • instagram

How Do Roller Shutters Work?

While their roots are difficult to pinpoint, it’s safe to say the first roller shutters appeared as early as the 1850s. However, the modern roller shutters we know today appeared in the 1980s with improved efficiency, varying materials, customisation, and ease of use. Let’s look closer at how roller shutters bode now and how they actually work.

Why We Use Them

Roller shutters are primarily external shutters, and you get several key benefits when you install them. These shutters are typically made of aluminium or steel, offering improved security in residential and commercial solutions.

Whether you are getting roller shutters for your home windows and doors or your shop front, burglars will see it as a difficult target with protection that takes a power tool to cut through.

Additionally, roller shutters protect against harsh weather conditions and bushfires, enable complete light control, and help with noise pollution. Ultimately, they provide excellent thermal insulation too, with energy savings in summer as in winter.

An Analysis of Crucial Parts

With advantages covered, let’s take your roller shutter apart to understand what goes into making it. We’ll start with the most obvious parts! This includes a curtain of aluminium or steel slats, guides on both sides, the bottom rail, and the so-called roller assembly.

The guides and the roller are held in place and supported by flag posts and cheek plates, respectively. These are welded and fixed to the building, making for an impenetrable barrier. The roller is actually a tube with a tubular motor attached, featuring a safety brake and an operational brake to keep the curtain in place when needed.

It’s important to note that anodising and powder-coating make for a better finish than liquid paint alone. Powder-coating will add to your shutters’ durability, resistance to weather conditions, and even abrasive chemicals.

Manual & Electric Solutions

Just as you’d find it with our retractable roof systems, manual roller shutters are cheaper but electric solutions have several other advantages. They are automated or semi-automated, easier to operate, and faster, but electric shutters also offer improved security and insulation.

How to Operate Roller Shutters

With electric shutters, you have a switch with three positions, allowing you to start the tubular motor and pull your curtain up, down, or stop it. The roller will automatically stop when it reaches its limits, though, and you can also go for wireless/remote controls.

You can operate manual shutters with either a cord or a winch. With a winch, you’d turn the handle to lower or raise the shutter curtain slowly. A cord you’d pull down to open or hold and carefully pull up to close the shutter.

Final Thoughts

Roller shutters have changed how we protect our shops, garages, and homes. More recently, automation made it even easier to use as we get increased security and privacy, as well as light and thermal insulation. Powder-coated aluminium also allows for customisation, making roller shutters a perfect solution for residential and commercial buildings.