Thermal curtains can be a cost effective way to increase the temperature in your home with a few degrees during cold winter days. Although it is rather hard to believe, movable insulation means such as lined thermal curtains, thermal shutters, blinds or shades are contributing in such degree, that they can improve the R-value of your windows surface with 5-6 points. I can’t tell how much this means in degrees, but I promise you the difference is obvious.

In order to be more clear, let me tell you that the R-value is a parameter which defines the thermal insulation efficiency. An R-value of 1 is very poor, and that’s exactly the case of single glass pane windows. So, if you have such windows and you don’t have enough money to replace them with double glass panes, low-e ones, or to add another set of windows on either the interior or the exterior side, you could consider investing in insulated curtains. These are probably the cheapest window coverings with insulating properties.

Thermal curtains won’t make your rooms look strange, as they are just like any other window covering, but features additional thermal insulating properties. The lining has a major contribution to preventing the temperature change between the room air and the cold window glass. Another factor that matters is the fact that such curtains are fixed at both their top and bottom edges. As the cold air is heavier than the hot air, it tends to escape through the bottom end of the curtain, therefore this seal plays an important role in providing the thermal insulation.

In future articles, I’m going to detail more on the types of fabrics and linings used for thermal curtains, on how to make your own insulating curtains and on where to buy them, in case you don’t like sewing that much. I’ll also try to seek for coupons and promotions from retailers and stores and I’ll publish them here, in a special section of the site.

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