Blinds and Curtains                  

Zap Energy Save Rating

Windows are essentially holes in the side of buildings.
While we all love the light they let stream in, they're also brilliant at leaking heat.

Even if you have double-glazing, heat leaks out through the average modern double-glazed window 5 times more readily than the rate that it leaks through the surrounding wall – so thermally-speaking, it's still a hole in the wall.

Feel your windows on a cold day and your hand gets cold. That cooling is exactly what will also be happening to the warm air in the room as it convects by, making the room colder. The upshot is that your heating has to run more to top up the loss.

So what can we do ?

 

POSITIVE STEPS:

Obviously if there’s a draught coming through a poorly-fitting window hot air will be escaping and cold coming in. Blocking up the draught should be a first priority.

Equally, if the sun is shining, windows can provide a boost to heating the house. Sunlight streaming in provides what’s known as passive solar gain, warming up the fabric of the building naturally and for free.

Cats seem to know this instinctively…

So if you’ve got a nice south-facing window and fancy some gorgeous free heat, clear the window and let the sunshine in. On an average house, letting in solar gain will save you about 5% of your total heating requirement. And the more south-facing glass you have the greater your saving will be.


 

  CURTAINS and BLINDS

Curtains and blinds are a much underestimated tool in the Carbon zapper’s armoury.


They are basically insulation for windows. As well as being a “blanket” for the window helping keep the heat in, they also help block draughts. Pulling the curtains / blinds at dusk will keep more heat in where it's needed. The colder the night outside, the greater the benefit.

One point to beware of is pulling curtains over radiators. If you have long curtains that cover a radiator when pulled, you will be blocking its heat from coming into the room.

On the other hand if you can tuck the curtains behind the radiator you’ll help block heat from going into the cold outside wall. This is another simple but effective saving method.

NB: NEVER pull curtains over electric radiators as this is a serious fire risk !
Central heating radiators only contain hot water. Electric radiators on the other hand (eg: convection heaters, storage heater, radiant heater etc) contain elements that glow red hot inside and should NEVER be blocked with anything, especially anything flammable.