Curtains or drapes can help insulate your rooms as they reduce the amount of air exchange between a cold window and the rest of the room.
Thermal curtains feature a layer of acrylic foam between the double or triple layers of fabric to provide insulation, making these curtains ideal for winter months or drafty windows. Thermal curtains can also dampen sound, block out sunlight, and reduce energy bills.
Curtains help with heat retention by limiting the flow of air between the warm and cold areas of a room. Even double-glazed windows will afford heat with a chance to escape, but a set of heavy curtains will form a barrier that'll limit the flow of air from the main room to the window.
It's important to try to use as much natural - and free - heat (in the form of sunlight) as possible. Window shades and curtains should be kept open during the day, advise Age UK. Closing your curtains as soon as dusk falls will maximise your house's potential to retain that heat.
Closing curtains at night can reduce heat loss by up to 17 percent. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, using curtains with thermal lining can reduce heat loss by up to 25 percent. Using curtains with white plastic backings can reduce heat gain by up to 33 percent.
Your curtains aren't just useful for controlling the temperature in the summer. Like all types of insulation, they will help keep rooms cool in summer and warm in winter.
For example, lightweight materials, such as linen, lace and sheer cotton, are loosely woven and allow chilly air to penetrate your rooms. Choose thick curtains in heavyweight, tightly woven textiles -- velvet, tapestry, tweed, denim, suede -- to provide a dense barrier against chilly outdoor air.
Prevent heat loss in the winter
During the day: Open your window coverings during the day to let the sunlight warm your home naturally. In the evenings: Prevent heat loss in the evenings by closing the blinds and keeping the cool air out.
If passersby can see into your house and either valuables are on display, or the room visible is a functional, private, family space, by all means you should keep your curtains closed.
Close your curtains at night
During the day, your windows let in more radiant energy than gets out; sunlight can enter through the glass, but the window is opaque to the infrared radiation trying to escape.
Ideally, you should use both types of curtains and change them from the cold to the warm season. Blackout curtains will keep your house cooler during the sizzling hot summer days, while thermal curtains will keep warmth from escaping out of the windows.
There's a lot to love about blackout curtains: They keep the light out so you get a great night's rest, they help keep your home cool in summer and warm in winter (saving you money and helping the environment), and they can even reduce noise if you live in a busy area.
Blackout curtains are made from a lighter triple weave fabric which is designed to block out light, compared to Thermal curtains which are made from 3 layers of thick fabric, in most case using 100 % cotton, polyester, or wool, and to protect them from UV rays, the back part of the curtains are coated with acrylic foam ...
Not only do they offer daytime privacy, diffuse bright light and offer a degree of insulation against heat and cold, but they do it all at the same time as softening rooms with their floaty, textural appearance. They're also ideal for layering, partnering perfectly with blockout roller blinds and plantation shutters.
Good curtains stop cold air from entering your home by creating an air gap between the room and the window. Ideally, they also prevent any flow of hot and cold air which would create a draft.
Dominique Kemps, CEO and founder of The Glassperts says, 'Drafty windows allow warmed-up or cooled air to escape your home while giving way outside temperatures. This defect appears around the outside edge of the window frame, where panes of glass overlap, move, or open.
Whether to keep curtains open or closed is always a tricky decision. Leaving them closed during the day makes it look like there's no one at home so best to leave them open and get security lighting. Try not to leave valuable items, such as your TV, stereo or computer, where thieves can see them.
Smart Home Cooling Tips. Close your blinds and curtains. Keeping your blinds closed during the day will reflect a surprising amount of heat radiating in through windows, especially during the time of day when the sun's rays shine directly on your home.
Blinds can help control home temperature. So, if you want to keep the house cool in summer: you close them during the day. If you want to keep the house warmer in winter: you open them during the day. If you are going away for an extended period (vacation): closed.
Curtains offer better insulation and soundproofing.
In warm weather, however, blinds beat curtains in energy efficiency. Because blinds leak more heat from a room, they also decrease indoor heat gain more efficiently in the summer, by around 45 percent, which can lower your AC bills.
A Vacuum. A vacuum is by far the best known insulator for keeping things cold. Wikipedia gives it an R-value of 14-66 per inch. Compare this to white styrofoam with an R value of 3.6-4.7 and you can see just how incredible a vacuum is at keeping things cold.
Thermal insulated curtains, also known as blackout curtains, are often used to optimise the levels of heat in any room of your home in which you choose to install these types of curtains. Due to the specific insulated fabric, these curtains help less heat to escape from your home windows, increasing energy efficiency.