Are your radiators under your windows?

[saltire]

If so, do you ahve short curtains that sit above the radiator, or long ones that go to the floor? If you ahve long ones do you tuck them behind the radiator when they are closed?

[mellowma]

Message withdrawn

[Hulababy]

Many of ours are yes. We still have floorlength curtains, but none of our curtains are particularly thick. The long ones just get close in front of the radiators.

[purplemonkeydishwasher]

we have long ones and tuck them behind.

[saltire]

I have short horrible married quarter curtains in all the rooms. i do think it makes the room cooler when they are shut, as the heat just seems to go out behind the curtains. I did wonder if longer curtains would be an idea

[BritTex]

the curtains in my flat when closed reach just on top of the radiator. I fold the bottom so they sit on the window sill, looks silly but allows the heat to go into the room instead of behind the curtain.

[EricL]

Long ones behind the radiator.

No point all the heat escaping out the window is there?

Bit of a design flaw in houses really.

I did live in a house once that had these plastic shields fitted above the radiators to help direct the heat away from the window - but that was mainly cos the landlord found that to be cheaper than replacing the massive drafty victorian single pane windows i guess.

You can get foil lined shields that fit behind the radiators as well that reflect the heat back into the room but i have never seen these in use anywhere yet.

[chrissnow]

yes tuck the curtains in. We don't have radiators anymore but that's what we used to do.

[BellaBear]

yes, short curtains. I wish the radiators weren't in front of the windows though.

[BibiThree]

Have always wondered about this. We have a normal window and patio doors on the same wall in our livingroom and long curtains on the patio ones, short curtains on the normal one and it looks a bit lopsided tbh. BUT if we put long curtains on the normal window we'd get no heat in the room whatsoever - v draughty windows and that's where the only radiator is. Don't the fixing behine the radiator stop you from putting the curtains behind?

[SmartArse]

Isn't there some scientific reason why it's best to have radiators under the windows? Can't remember it exactly, but someone was explaining it to me recently. Something alone the lines of the cold air pushing the warm air back into the room ... or something!

I would ask DH but he already thinks I'm completely daft.

[Hulababy]

I just assumed that it was to save on wall space. A wall with a window is already a wasted wall when it comes to placing most furnitre, so put the raditaor under it so you don't waste another wall.

Did't realise there was a scientific reasoning.

[EricL]

No scientific reason i think.

It's just because they assume most people don't have items of furniture directly up against a window.

[Hulababy]

There we go:

The reason why radiators are mostly fitted here is to counteract downdraughts. These downdraughts are not draughts from outside - you will have downdraughts even with the most airtight windows. Downdraughts are the result of room air being rapidly cooled on the cold surface of the glass, causing the air to fall and producing a draught. If it were true that radiator shelves direct warm air from radiators to the centre of the room, it would be equally true that shelves direct cold downdraughts to the centre of the room. In fact, neither of these statements is true.

It is also untrue that heat from radiators is immediately lost through windows. This will only occur if the window is open. Radiators are mostly installed under windows because this is generally the preferred position for them.

As ANY radiator manufacturer will confirm, radiator shelves actually REDUCE the heat output from your radiators, typically by around 5%. Therefore, this is hardly a measure to increase your comfort ? or to save energy. Avoid radiator shelves.

'Always tuck in curtains behind the radiator when it's dark'

It's sound advice to close curtains at dusk to help reduce heat loss. However, tucking in curtains behind the radiators is not recommended.

With most modern radiators, at least half of the heat output is from behind the front panel. If you tuck in curtains behind the radiator, you will restrict the free flow of warm air. In some cases, tucked-in curtains will completely block this passage of warm air, and substantially reduce the heat output. Therefore, the best advice is not to do anything that restricts the free flow of air around the radiators, or you will reduce heat output. This also applies to space under and in front of the radiators, where there should be a minimum of 4 inches clear.

If your curtains drape below the top of the radiator, you must consider buying shorter ones. If you are not prepared to do this, consider tucking the curtains onto the window sill when it gets dark.

If the tops of your radiators are very close to the underside of the window sills, ensure your curtains are as short as possible. When drawing curtains at dusk, tuck them onto the window sill. If you're not prepared to do this, it may be better to hang them loose and in front of the radiator, rather than tucking them behind, as this can cause less of a restriction to the free passage of warm air. However, if you have a pelmet above your curtains, then leaving them loose and in front of the radiator is not advised. You'll need to use a bit of judgement. Allow plenty of space for air to circulate freely around radiators.

[ComeOVeneer]

We don't have any curtains in the house. We have blinds on all the windows (inherited from the last owners).

[Hulababy]

So that info I linked sas do NOT tuck curtains behind the radiator.

[chrissnow]

glad we don't have radiators or curtains after that!!!

[bozza]

We have short curtains largely for this reason, although I do think long curtains look better. We have long curtains on the patio doors and on the front door only.

[xtc]

You tuck them into the radiator? lol. Don't they get all squished?

I have long ones but it's hot enough without tucking anything in

[CantSleepWontSleep]

We don't have many under windows, but where we do, we have fitted shutters rather than curtains.

[blueshoes]

Blinds above radiators. They can be unrolled to a longer length but we stop when they are just above the radiators. Looks neat.

[Grindelwaldswand]

Mine are all positioned away from window's now thank God, its a ridiculous massive design flaw having them near or under windows because all the heat just goes out the window even if they are closed and curtains just cause a seal cutting off heat from the rest of the room so you end up paying to heat your garden not the living room massive bug bear of mine never understood the logic behind plumbers who think its a great idea to get you spending even more money on heating

[SillySongsWithLarry]

I always thought that radiators were placed on the coldest wall of the room to avoid condensation and that just happens to be under the window.