Are the Best Exterior Shutters Louvered or Panel?

Louvered Shutters

• Common in both functional and non-functional formats, louvered shutters provide adequate coverage for your windows while also adding an old-world feel to your home. Louvered shutters look like window blinds in that they have horizontal slats. The most basic types of slats are permanently positioned at an angle; however, there are also slats that can be opened or closed, just like window blinds.

Panel Shutters

• As their name implies, panel shutters are essentially nothing more than panels of wood used to cover the outside of the windows. The design can be as simple or as intricate as you want, and there are a variety of different wood types available, along with paint, natural wood colors, sealers and stains. Panel shutters are more functional than aesthetic and are not as common as louvered shutters.

High Winds

• Both types of shutters are susceptible to high winds; but if you live in an area that is prone to stormy weather systems, such as hurricanes, your best bet is to go with panel shutters for simple physics. Since panel shutters are made of solid wood, there is less surface area for high winds to get behind the shutter and rip it off the wall, whereas with louvered shutters there are many slats that the air can get in between, providing more leverage for air pressure and lift off.

Rain

• Although louvered shutters are considered more aesthetically pleasing than simple panels of wood, they don’t provide the same protection against heavy rains that panels do. Because the slats can never be closed completely, there is always the chance that high winds can whip the rain up under and through the wood slats in louvered shutters, leading to excess over-spray and window damage. Panel shutters, on the other hand, are solid and don’t have that issue.