What we are comparing
Storm panels are removable panels — steel, aluminum, or clear polycarbonate — that bolt over your windows using tracks or studs mounted around each opening. You store them and put them up before each storm. Permanent shutters — accordion, roll-down, Bahama, and colonial styles — stay on your house year-round and close in minutes. Both meet the Florida Building Code when properly rated. The choice is about money, effort, and lifestyle.
Cost: panels win big
Storm panels are the cheapest code-approved protection you can buy — ballpark $8–$15 per square foot installed (for the panels plus the mounting hardware). A full-house panel job often costs half to a third of permanent shutters. If budget is the barrier between you and protection, panels get your home protected now instead of someday. Our cost guide has ballpark numbers for every style.
Effort: permanent shutters win big
This is the real trade-off. Putting up panels for a whole house takes several hours of physical work — carrying panels, climbing ladders, bolting each one. Then you do it in reverse after the storm. Permanent shutters close in minutes to an hour: slide accordions shut, roll down the roll-downs, drop the Bahamas. Ask yourself honestly: before every storm, for years, will you do the work? If the answer is "probably not," panels are the wrong choice no matter how cheap they are.
Speed when a storm is coming
Forecasts shift fast. A storm that looked like a miss on Monday can threaten Orlando by Thursday. With permanent shutters — especially motorized roll-downs — you can secure the house the morning the forecast turns. With panels, you need a free half-day, daylight, decent weather, and help. If you travel during hurricane season, panels are a non-starter unless someone reliable can put them up for you.
Storage
Panels need a home: a garage wall, a shed, under a bed — somewhere dry where a full set of panels for every window can live for years without warping or corroding. Measure your storage before you buy. No storage space? Permanent shutters solve the problem by staying on the house. Fabric screens are the middle ground — much lighter and easier to store than rigid panels.
Looks
Permanent shutters are visible year-round — Bahama and colonial styles look great, accordions are neat but noticeable, roll-down boxes can be color-matched to blend in. Panels are invisible 99% of the time (just small tracks around the windows) but make the house look boarded up during the storm. Clear polycarbonate panels fix the "dark cave" problem by letting light through.
Protection and insurance: a tie
Here is what surprises people: code-approved panels protect just as well as permanent shutters in a storm, and they earn the same wind mitigation insurance discount. The rating is what matters, not the style. Our insurance guide and code guide explain why.
Who should pick panels?
- Budget is tight and you need protection now
- You are able-bodied, home during storm season, and honestly willing to do the work
- You have dry storage space for a full set
- Your HOA requires panels to come down after storms anyway (check our HOA guide)
Who should pick permanent shutters?
- You travel during hurricane season
- Anyone in the home has limited strength or mobility
- You have second-story windows (ladders + panels = a bad combination)
- You want storm prep to take minutes, not a Saturday
- No good storage space for panels
The hybrid approach
Many Orlando homeowners split the difference: permanent shutters on the hard openings (second story, big sliders) and panels on easy ground-floor windows. You get most of the convenience for much less than a full permanent job. See our storm panels page and our full types comparison.
Talk it through with us
Tell us about your home, your budget, and how you handle storm prep — we will give you straight advice on panels, permanent, or a mix, with written quotes for each. Send the free quote form below.