Tag Archives: Summer

Thermalogic

What kind of curtains help to keep a room cool?

With the insanely hot summer here you’re wondering to yourself, “what kind of curtains help to keep a room cool?” Well lets take a look deeper into the real problem of summer as there’s two main schools of thought of whats causing the warmth.

Sunlight and Outside Air.

Lets dive a bit into the problems with Sunlight. During the day for sure sunlight is going to be your main cause of warmth unless you have the windows completely open. Immediately you maybe thinking well if I just buy really dark curtains then it will be much cooler. Yes and No unfortunately. As you see black curtains will just absorb the sunlight and then get warm themselves to the point that you now have hanging heaters near your windows. It’ll reduce heat a bit since the sunlight won’t be able to actually fill up the room but it will still keep things pretty decently warm. Time to move to the upgraded version of curtains, white backed/thermal insulated curtains. These curtains have a special backing to them that faces the outdoors that reflects the sunlight and heat far greater than any other type of curtain. There will be a considerable feeling of difference between these and normal curtains because all the heat from the sun just goes right back out the window. The good thing is these types of curtains aren’t that much more expensive than the normal curtains, you just got to look out for them. Curtains in general also help keep a barrier between the rest of the room and the windows so it does help even with the smallest and thinnest of curtains. But we always recommend going for thermal insulated/white backed curtains for all seasons. Plus for winter they help keep heat in when you want it. 🙂

Another thing to consider along side your curtains is just typical blinds. Usually a type of plastic of sorts these will help even more considerably because they are usually closer to the windows than what a curtain can do. Thus having both curtains and blinds will be a live saver in terms of keeping out the heat especially when you live in the southern states where the summers are brutal.

Outside air can be an issue but its not as big of an issue as sunlight. Any curtains unless they are just pure thin silk will help alleviate warm air from coming in past the window. The thicker the curtain though the more protection you’re going to have. If you don’t get much sunlight but get really warm still. What to do really is not worry about curtains so much as making sure your windows are sealed tight. Feel around the edges of windows and if there’s any sort of air movement get out the calking gun or make sure to push down tight on your windows. Make sure that things completely close as even just a small amount of air flow can make a huge difference. Not to mention an increase in air conditioning costs!! If your windows are really worn down it may be a good idea to get replacements. It maybe a bit costly up front but it’ll save you so much money in the next few years especially if you have long summers. Newer windows in this day and age are wonderful in that technologically they are more weather proof, soundproof, and insulated to keep your summers cooler and your winters warmer.

Thermalogic Ultimate Curtain LinerWhat to avoid: Silk! Silk curtains really won’t do you much good if they are super thin. They will help a bit if you’ve opened the windows and want to keep a bit of sunlight out just to air out the house. But they won’t do anything for you on those super hot days because the sunlight will still find a way right through them.

Other options: Thermal additions like a curtain liner is another good alternative. These go behind your curtains to help insulate without having to replace your current curtain sets. Maybe you have that absolutely lovely set of curtains that work all year round and look great inside but during the summers they really don’t help out. Well you’re in luck because companies like Thermalogic make curtain liners to help out.

You can purchase some of these here: Thermalogic Ultimate Window Liner for less than a typical curtain panel, especially compared to an expensive blackout set.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you all have a fun and cool summer!

Summer is here and so are the curtain sales!

Unless you never leave your house you know that summer is here! This years summer has already been different than most in terms of heat and it’s bringing some crazy weather. Hopefully between the crazy storms or just intense heat you’ll be able to enjoy some time outside.

But even though the weather maybe too much the sales have started online and in stores for new curtains. Will try to post some awesome curtains on sale to look at!

Hope you all have a wonderful summer!

Keep cool during the summer months with curtains!

Summer heat: The good and the bad.

sun beamsAfter spending a wonderful day outside in the summer sun you’ll want to come home to a nice cool home to rest and relax the night away. Perhaps you just need to take a break for a few minutes to get something to drink. In either case when you get inside you’ll want your home to be perfect and relaxing when you arrive.

The unfortunate thing is though, that the summer heat while nice outside is terrible inside and it’ll find its way in if you don’t have good curtains. A room with no curtains and wide windows can heat up a room to well over 100+ degrees without much effort during the summer time on those cloudless days. Even if you crank on the air conditioning this may not be of much help and you’ll be wasting money trying to keep a room cool that you aren’t currently in. Your own sauna in the house that you don’t wish to be there when you arrive home.

Insulated curtains to the rescue!

What kind of curtains will help you in the summer greatly? Insulated curtains as they are specially made to keep out the summer sun and allow you to keep a room much cooler. This can save you a few dollars a month or even more depending on how much direct sunlight the room gets. This cost will be easily recuperated by the savings on lower cooling costs and will be well worth it before the summer even ends. A great deal of curtains sold on any website will be insulated to help keep that room at the perfect temperature you want!

But sometimes curtains won’t specifically state insulated when you see that perfect curtain you wish to buy but there are ways to tell if they will help at least a little bit. The first way is check to see if the side that faces the window is padded with a white “foam” or layer to help reflect light. The next method is check to see if the curtains are blackout as this will stop any sun from getting in especially if they are 99% blackout. No sunlight will always immediately mean less heat and this is exactly what you’re looking for! Another term to of course look out for is thermal though it’s usually paired with blackout or insulated. Not all sites will list the words together but usually if thermal it’s made to help out during the really warm and really cold seasons. Lastly check to see if a heavy fabric is used as even though they may not be stated for blackout or insulated, a nice heavy fabric curtain can still help keep out hot air coming into the house from a window that doesn’t tightly close.

But what about my awesome silk curtains!

While silk curtains have a nice lovely designs and flow freely in the wind they may not help so much in terms of keeping the room nice especially during the summer. However a insulated blackout curtain with a very heavy fabric in the end is best for your room if you wish to keep it cool during the summer and warm during the winter. It maybe a bit costly up front but the savings made overall will be more than worth it! You can always bring out the silk curtains during the spring and fall seasons when insulated curtains don’t have as much use. 🙂