A cellular shade should do the trick and block the heat and the interior side of the window.

thanks windowsonwashington. i should also add we are in SoCal - and summers here can be brutal. We just had a heatwave last week that almost killed the garden altogether.

What I'm after is how to keep the heat from hitting the glass in the first place - i.e. shading it either with shades or awnings. It seems like this would be more effective?

In the summer the heat rolls off that window like a radiator....;)

What I'm after is how to keep the heat from hitting the glass in the first place - i.e. shading it either with shades or awnings. It seems like this would be more effective?

Yes, it is more effective. Keeping the heat from ever entering the house is the best solution for brutal summer heat. How you can do this depends on the direction the window faces.

It faces northwest. The sun hits the side of the house from 1pm until 7 pm about - the house next door shades us a bit from the very end of the day - but generally it's also cooler here by 5 or so. (Los Angeles).

What do you think would be most effective? The aluminum awnings on our front tenant's house are pretty deep - and really shade their southwest facing window. Though it might be nice to be able to roll a shade away in the winter when our non-insulated clapboard cottage (ca. 1921) benefits from the solar gain? But are they as effective?

As mentioned above, best bet is to keep the heat from even coming through the glass.

If you are going to retrofit your existing units, look into tinting the exterior lite of glass.

Thanks oaktown - yes someone else mentioned the costco awnings - i will check it out!

a manual retractable awning would be great - seems strangely hard to find - mostly they are fixed awnings or roll up shades - why not combine the two, world? ;)

i have half a mind to build one myself somehow....hmmm.....