Reduce Your Home Energy Use With Blinds
By Ana Zuravliova
While energy prices continue to rise and the cost of living remains high, keeping your home warm efficiently has never been more important. Research indicates that up to 30% of a building’s heat escapes through walls, doors, and around windows, making it essential to address unnecessary heat loss. Quality window furnishings are well known for enhancing the style of a space, they also play a significant role in improving thermal efficiency. Today, we’ll explore how the right blinds, curtains, and shutters can help you retain heat, reduce energy bills, and create a cosy, energy-efficient home this winter.
Table of contents
Do blinds and curtains keep heat in?
Thermal Curtains and Roman blinds
Do blinds and curtains keep heat in?
Many homeowners ask how they can keep their home warmer without increasing energy bills. They often ask, do thermal blinds work? The answer is yes, as these blinds make a significant difference in both comfort and energy efficiency.
Thermal blinds and curtains are ideal for rooms that lose heat in the winter, as they form a barrier between your home’s warm air and the cold outside, preventing heat from escaping through windows and, with well-placed curtains, even doors.
Each curtain and Roman blind from Blinds Direct is handmade to your exact measurements, ensuring a flawless fit and beautiful finish. For added comfort, you can choose a free thermal blackout lining, designed to improve insulation and darken your room – perfect for creating a cosy space and a restful night’s sleep. Crafted from multiple layers, our thermal blackout linings act like a winter coat for your windows, trapping warmth, reducing energy use, and keeping your home comfortable all year round.
Using blinds for insulation
Research from the BBSA and the University of Salford’s Energy House Labs has the data to prove exactly how much you can benefit from a range of fashionable blinds!
Any blind or curtain will help to keep the heat you’ve paid a lot for in your home and stop it from escaping through your windows. That said, different blinds provide different levels of efficiency, these are some of the best blinds for insulation. The information below demonstrates window energy loss reduction on a modern double glazed low-e window.
Shutters
Sleek and sophisticated, a quality shutter will refresh the look and feel of any home. Handcrafted from the finest materials and to the highest standards, our shutters are made from wood sourced only from sustainably managed forests, or uPVC faux woods suitable for rooms with high moisture such as kitchens or bathrooms.
While shutters are on the more expensive side of the window furnishings spectrum, a well made one is an investment that won’t only make your home more beautiful, but it will reduce a great deal of heat loss, with data demonstrating shutters reduce heat loss by 28%.
The option to simply rotate the slats, or open the shutters fully, also provides you with the opportunity to enjoy the perfect temperature when it comes to letting warm in from outside during the summer. Shutters are ideal year round.
Honeycomb blinds
A blockout honeycomb blind in a Perfect Fit® framed bead fit system ensures any gaps are minimised. As a result, they can reduce energy loss by a lofty 32%! That said, any standard honeycomb blind will significantly reduce heat loss around the window. These innovative blinds are newer to the market than many alternatives, but they’ve already made their mark.
Sometimes known as cellular shades – honeycomb blinds have been specially designed with thermal benefits in mind and feature a column of cells within the body of the blind. These features make them one of the most effective energy efficient blinds available for modern homes. These cells trap air which forms a barrier to stop heat escaping. As a result, the heating can be put on for less time. If honeycomb blinds aren’t what you are looking for, you can also consider thermal pleated blinds!
Pleated thermal blinds – Enjoyed in stylish homes around the country, our diverse collection of thermal pleated blinds and honeycomb blinds is available in a range of colours, each of which offers substantial thermal benefits! Learn more in our Buyer’s Guide for pleated blinds.
Thermal Roller blinds
Roller blinds are a timeless favourite, valued for their simplicity, practicality, and versatility. Suitable for every room in the home, even a standard roller blind can reduce heat loss by up to 13%, making them a cost-effective way to improve comfort.
For enhanced insulation, thermal roller blinds are the perfect upgrade. Crafted from specialist fabrics, they not only provide better heat retention but are also available in a wide variety of colours and patterns, so you don’t have to sacrifice style for efficiency. This makes thermal roller blinds a practical choice among energy efficient blinds.
Beyond warmth, thermal roller blinds also deliver greater privacy and a cosier environment. For maximum effect, it’s best to fit them outside the window recess, ensuring heat is trapped inside your room rather than escaping through gaps.
Thermal roof blinds
As heat rises, it can be lost through any roof windows or skylights you may have. Premium quality thermal roof blinds provide a stylish solution to this unwanted situation. To find the ideal option, explore our range of roof blinds suitable for manufacturers including Velux, Fakro, RoofLITE and Dakstra. Available in a choice of stylish colours and fabrics, shop our thermal roof blinds and add a stylish yet practical finish to your ceilings.
Thermal Curtains and Roman blinds
Curtains and Roman blinds are both excellent choices for boosting insulation while adding elegance to your home. Even with a standard lining, they create a reliable barrier against the cold. Upgrading to a thermal blackout lining makes a noticeable difference in warmth and energy savings.
At Blinds Direct, every curtain and Roman blind can be made with a free thermal blackout lining, no matter the fabric, colour, or pattern you choose. This means you can enjoy greater thermal efficiency at no extra cost, while still tailoring your furnishings to your personal style. You can learn more about our range of linings in our buyers’ guide.
Roman blinds in particular are a stylish, space-saving solution, perfect for rooms like living areas, dining rooms, and bedrooms. When crafted from thicker fabrics such as wool or velvet, and combined with a thermal blackout lining, they provide both superior insulation and a luxurious finish.
Curtains are a simple yet effective way to enhance warmth and comfort in any room. Crafted from multiple layers of premium fabric, they create a dead-air barrier that helps maintain indoor temperatures, similar to how a winter coat traps heat. Made to your exact specifications in the UK, these thermal-lined curtains not only retain warmth efficiently but also refresh your décor with their weighty fabrics, flowing folds, and quality fittings. The result is a cosy, inviting space that feels welcoming even during the coldest, darkest months. Simply select the thermal lining option when ordering, and we’ll handle the rest.
Some extra tips for thermal blinds
While new thermal blinds will help you keep the heat in during the cost of living crisis, and reduce your energy use, there are some additional tips you can take to improve it even more.
When is best to open or close your blinds?
This relates to the opening and closing of your blinds. When it’s cold in the evening, and the heat is coming from within your home, it’s vitally important to close your blinds to block the heat from escaping. Conversely, as the weather starts to warm up as we head into spring, making sure your blinds are open during warmer days will help the heat enter your home, and reduce your need for having the heating on at all. If the day is cold however, again draw the blinds when your heating is on.
Layering your windows
Finally, you can consider layering your windows. We’ve spoken before about the advantages of layering a window and how it can make your space look more stylish, but by having a blind within the recess of your window, and a curtain covering the recess from above, you can add even more resistance between the warm air in your home and the outdoors. For maximum effect, consider adding thermal lined curtains to a window featuring Perfect Fit® honeycomb blinds.
By investing in a quality thermal blind now, you can help to limit the amount of energy you need to keep cosy during the final days of winter, and for many winters to come. Each of our blinds and curtains comes with a five-year guarantee, so you can rest assured that your new window furnishing will last for the long term.
How do we know blinds improve thermal efficiency?
The data used to inform this blog comes from independent research by the University of Salford’s Energy House Labs, which was commissioned and funded by the British Blind and Shutter Association (BBSA).
The University of Salford’s Energy House is a unique research and testing laboratory which comprises an early 20th century two-bedroom terraced house within an environmental chamber. As part of the research, several blinds were tested against a modern double glazed window.
Each U-Value measurement was made following ISO 9869:1, using a single heat flux plate (HFP) located at the centre on the glazing panel. Each system was tested for a minimum of 72 hours, with the stated U-value being based on the final 24h period.
The BBSA is the UK’s only national trade association for businesses that manufacture, supply and install interior and exterior blinds, awnings, security grilles and shutters and associated motor and control systems.
Shop some of our most popular energy saving blinds:
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