Shutter BoysPlantation shutters in Hilo
Homes in Hilo
Hilo is a city of houses: of its 19,265 homes, 77% are detached, 2% are townhouses and other attached houses and 20% are apartments or units in buildings of two or more homes.
The biggest building period was 1950 to 1979, which accounts for 43% of homes standing today; 16% are from 2000 or later. The median home dates from 1978. 66% of homes are lived in by their owners.
Of the 3 Hawaii cities we have census figures for, Hilo has the third-highest share of older homes and the third-highest share of apartments. Nationally, Hilo's homes are older than those in 57% of the 881 US cities we have census figures for.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024. Estimates carry margins of error.
Whole-house orders
With 77% of homes detached, most orders here cover a whole house: bedrooms, a patio door, perhaps a bay. Put every window in one list in the designer so the louver size and colour match from the street, and if you have an HOA, send it the drawings before you order.
Replacement windows
43% of homes went up between 1950 and 1979, and most of them have had their original windows replaced since. A replacement window often sits further into or out of the wall than the old one, so the depth you have for an inside mount may differ from window to window in the same house. Measure every opening rather than copying one.
Out-of-square openings
With 54% of homes built before 1980, many openings have had decades to settle. Measure each one's width at the top, middle and bottom, and both diagonals. If the diagonals differ by more than about ¼ inch, add a mounting frame in the designer, or choose an outside mount so the shutter covers the uneven edges.
A whole house in Hilo
The most common home in Hilo has three bedrooms: 49% of homes. 22% have four bedrooms or more, and 11% have one or none. The median home has 5.3 rooms.
Detached houses are the most common kind of home here. Across the US, the middle home among detached houses has 10 to 15 windows (EIA, 2020). Shuttering that many windows at a typical bedroom-window size comes to roughly $3,200 to $6,000. For scale, that's about 1% of the median home value here, $483,000 (owners’ estimates, 2020–2024).
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 (bedrooms B25041, rooms B25018, value B25077); U.S. Energy Information Administration, Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2020, Table HC2.1 (windows). EIA RECS 2020, Table HC2.1
A typical home10–15 windows
All of them shuttered$3,200 to $6,000
Every window priced as a 36 × 48 in opening in our basic build (flat moulding, paint stage 1, 3½ in louvers), before tax and shipping. Your windows will differ; the designer prices each one.
Price your own windowsHilo weather and your shutters
At Hilo Intl AP, HI (3 mi away), September averages a high of 83.3°F and January a low of 64.1°F. No month averages a high above 85°F or a low below freezing.
About 2 days a year reach 90°F, 0 nights fall to freezing and 120.4 inches of precipitation falls, spread fairly evenly through the year.
Among the Hawaii cities we have climate normals for, Hilo has the most hot days, the most freezing days and the most precipitation.
Daylight runs from 13 h 19 min on the longest day to 10 h 56 min on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 86° above the horizon in June and 47° in December.
Source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, Hilo Intl AP, HI (temperature) and Hilo Intl AP, HI (precipitation, 3 mi away). Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.
Monthly figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 78.7°F | 64.1°F | 7.9 in |
| Feb | 78.4°F | 64.1°F | 10.2 in |
| Mar | 78.5°F | 65.2°F | 12.7 in |
| Apr | 79°F | 66.1°F | 9.4 in |
| May | 80.7°F | 67.3°F | 7 in |
| Jun | 81.8°F | 68.7°F | 7.3 in |
| Jul | 82.8°F | 69.9°F | 9.2 in |
| Aug | 82.9°F | 70.4°F | 11.3 in |
| Sep | 83.3°F | 69.8°F | 8.7 in |
| Oct | 82.4°F | 69°F | 10.2 in |
| Nov | 80.3°F | 67.6°F | 14.4 in |
| Dec | 78.8°F | 65.7°F | 12.1 in |
Wet months
120.4 inches of precipitation a year keeps the air damp for long stretches. Steam and condensation are hard on any joint, so in kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms keep the air moving and wipe water off the sill before it sits.
A mild year
Few days here are very hot or very cold, so louvers spend most of the year on everyday work: angling daylight off the TV, giving privacy from the street, and opening wide on a fine morning. That makes louver size more a matter of view than of shade; bigger louvers leave more open glass.
Fitting them in Hilo
Shutter Boys shutters are made for you to fit yourself: an inside or outside mount takes a drill, a level and our step-by-step guide. If you'd rather hire someone, a finish carpenter or blinds installer can fit them; ask on your quote and we'll tell you if we know one near you. You arrange and pay the installer directly.
More about shutters in Hilo
Each page takes one question further (fitting your windows, room by room, sizes and colours, louvers, or how shutters compare with other choices), using Hilo’s own figures.
For designers, contractors and stores in Hilo
Interior designers, contractors, window covering stores, realtors and property managers in Hilo can sell or refer Shutter Boys shutters: dealers buy at trade pricing with a protected area; referral partners earn a fee on each client they send. No fee to join.
Price your windows
Pick your look once, add every window, and see each one drawn and priced. Send it to us and we reply with your quote.