Thermal curtains are not only winter comfort, but they insulate your windows better in the summer months too. When seasons change, the temperature changes as well, and thermal curtains help your inside spaces to be more comfortable all year round. The great news is that you don’t ever have to sacrifice style with custom thermal curtains to be much more energy efficient than standard curtains.
How Do Thermal Curtains Work?
In the winter months, you most probably put on layers of clothing in order to keep warm and toasty. Thermal curtains work similarly in nature. They can be made of any color, pattern, style, or thickness in fabrics that face the interior of your rooms. Behind them is another layer of fabric to trap the air next to your windows in it, and not allow it to enter your home.
This keeps hot air out of your spaces in the summer and cold air out of your spaces in the winter to save on your heating and cooling costs on your energy bills all year round by reducing the energy you need to be comfortable inside.
What is The Difference Between Thermal Curtains and Insulated Curtains?
Thermal curtains create a dead air space between your windows and the rooms in your home to control your room temperature. This reduces the transference of heat. Insulating curtains over a window in your living room keep heat inside in the winter months, and they reflect the heat from the sun in the summer months back to the outside.
Insulated curtains are energy-efficient window treatments as well as thermal curtains to help block heat transfer, and light and dampen outside noises. Insulated curtains have four layers, with the core layer being high-density foam for insulating your windows. They have a vapor barrier to keep the foam from absorbing moisture, and to prevent mold and mildew.
A Great Alternative to Replacing Windows
Replacing all the older windows in your home is a very expensive item to save energy costs. Using thermal insulated curtains instead will help to reduce heat gain and heat loss through your windows even if they are a bit drafty–and at a much lower price point. Plus, you get the beauty and style of newer updated window treatments to match your decor and suit your style.
For Summer Months
For the hot summer months, you can consider using blackout curtains to keep out all the sun, UV rays, and heat from a room. This keeps you much cooler on a sunny and hot day. If you like to have some natural light in the cooler parts of summer days, you can add a sheer panel as your first drapery layer and then add the blackout curtains on top.
This allows you to have great lighting control as you can open both sets of curtains to see outside and let the sunshine in, or you can close the sheer panel and get filtered light, or close both in the hottest part of the day to keep your inside spaces comfortable. Make sure your thermal blackout curtains cover the sides, bottom, and top of the window for the best results.
For Winter Months
In the cold winter months, use multi-lined curtains or curtains that have a separate lining, such as flannel, to effectively retain heat. These types of curtains block cold air out of your home. The loose weave of flannel fabric creates air pockets between the fibers in the fabric to retain heat inside when it’s cold outside.
Thermal curtains in the winter months can reduce your heat loss by up to 25%. As an added benefit, thermal curtains will also be sound dampening because of the dense lining and block outside noises to keep your home quieter. The more layers of lining on your curtains, the more insulation factor you will have.
Best Practice Installation of Thermal Curtains
To get the biggest bang for your buck in thermal window treatments, you should hang the standard curtain rods above the window frame and near the ceiling to stop drafts from the top of your windows. Your curtains should fall close to the floor to prevent air, heat, and cold from entering through the bottom of the window frame because it is covered. Also, make certain that your curtain rod is placed a few inches to the left and right of the window frame for your panels to cover both sides of the window.
Adding more fabric horizontally with pleats and folds will also add to your insulation factor much better than other styles of window treatments. At least a triple weave product will be very energy efficient.
Fabric Choices
You can choose any fabric you like for your thermal curtains, however, it’s a good idea to choose fabrics that can be machine washable. Then you simply toss them in the laundry and the dryer and re-hang them to keep them looking new and pristine.
Find The Finest Thermal Curtains in Michigan
At Clear Fortress Window Solutions, we have been designing and creating custom thermal curtains for winter and summer with style in mind for over 50 years. We carry the largest selection of fabrics that you can find in the area, and our expert designers can offer you many different options that will satisfy all your needs, and be functional and beautiful, all at the same time. Contact us today for a FREE in-home consultation and estimate for all of your window treatment needs!