Draw your curtains to save energy

Second Summer

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Just thought of something to save on energy bills, and googled a bit to find out if I was right. Which I was, I think! Apparently, drawing your curtains on cold nights does really help stop the heat from escaping out your window, and the thicker the curtain, the better it works. Also, it really helps to have pelmets. See the top score reply to this question on Yahoo! Answers:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090918052844AA0xdKm

Thought it would be worth sharing that idea here.
 
I thought this was well known but yes, curtains REALLY help. If you have blinds, consider exchanging them for curtains at least for the winter.
 
Or, you could be like us and crack the windows open in the winter and sleep under lots of blankets. Great for sleeping with a partner, not so good for getting up. :)
 
I actually have cloth Roman blinds in my rabbit room, which have the honeycomb things and a coating on the window side to help them block heat coming in, in the summer as well. That room gets direct afternoon sun, and it's important to keep it cool in the summer for the rabbits. I've had a huge difference in year-round temperature control since I put the cloth blinds up.

My house came with blinds in all rooms except the dining room (has a sliding glass door and a heavy curtain over it, as it gets direct sun in the morning) and the master bedroom (which has pathetic, ugly curtains that I don't like but haven't gotten around to replacing yet, as the bay window is all odd sizes). Kitchen windows have no window treatments at all. The living room has a giant picture window, but only wood blinds over it.

Master bedroom is a converted garage, and even though it's got two vents it doesn't get as warm in the winter (or as cool in the summer) as the rest of the house. I really should look into swapping out the curtains for something that will be more energy efficient.

I do have a suspicion that if I put curtains up in all the other rooms, they would never get opened and I'd turn into even more of a sun-intolerant hermit than I already am.
 
You know that plastic "bubble-wrap"packing you often get when you get a package in the mail? A friend tapes it to his windows in the winter to provide extra insulation.
(And it is free.)
 
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I have blinds that do a pretty good job, though not needed as much as I have triple paned windows (replaced the original single paned that came with the house about 3 years ago) and the attic is well insulated. When I get around to remodeling my basement I'll insulate those walls as well... why in the heck they didn't when it was first finished I'll never figure out. I know energy costs weren't that big of a factor when they did it, but damn just the comfort factor. I did get my new budget bill for next year, only $107/month for gas and electric.
 
Don't even get me started. I had nice lined curtains in my bedroom that I got cheap at a discount store and curtains on my sliding glass door. Enter kittens! And all they did was swing on them. They actually pulled the living room ones down, bent rod and all. I guess I will have to wait until they are much older to hang curtains again. And yes they really do help.
 
We have blackout curtains in our bedroom and they keep a lot of the heat in. We had insulation done in our attic earlier in the year and that is supposed to help with keeping warm.
 
Too many animals here, with fur, feathers and dander, for curtains. I got rid of all curtains and carpeting years ago, when Sassafras developed severe asthma. Fabric is at a minimum around here, so that everything can be washed weekly.