There’s nothing quite like settling into a warm, comfortable home as the winter cold arrives, but balancing heating expenses with staying cosy can be tricky. Keeping your property’s temperature around 18C to 20C is crucial for health and avoiding frozen, burst pipes.
Heating experts at All the Home have revealed a simple technique to stay warm without keeping radiators on all the time – just keep your curtains open. They said: “One straightforward way to enhance heat retention is to adjust your curtains based on the sun’s position.During the day, open your curtains to let sunlight warm your home.
“Natural sunlight can increase room temperatures by as much as 10 degrees, significantly reducing your heating needs.”
While straightforward, opening curtains throughout daytime allows sunshine to heat different surfaces across your home, including walls, flooring and furnishings, reports the Express.
This raises the room’s temperature by creating a greenhouse effect which traps extra warmth inside, helping you stay comfortable when evening arrives.
How to use curtains to keep a home warm
To begin with, it’s recommended to test this method in rooms with south-facing or west-facing windows, as these areas receive the most direct sunlight throughout the day.
Simply draw back your curtains during late morning when the sun is at its peak, then close them in early evening as darkness approaches.
The expert stated: “As the sun sets, close your curtains to trap the heat inside. This simple routine of opening and closing curtains can cut heat loss by nearly 25%, reducing reliance on your heating system.”
Paler colours will reflect warmth more efficiently, so placing a white or light-coloured rug in the room you wish to heat should yield a noticeable difference.
If you have any furniture such as an armchair placed near your window, moving it can stop it from blocking incoming sunlight.
Make sure your windows are thoroughly clean too, as even a thin layer of dirt can reduce the amount of natural light entering a room.
Taking just a few minutes to open and close curtains can help keep warmth in your home and preserve heat, meaning you won’t need to keep your radiators on continuously.
It’s an exceptionally simple approach to maintain warmer room temperatures whilst cutting energy consumption, enabling you to make small savings with little effort.
