If your radiator is below a window , what do you do ?

[WinterBerry40]

In the spring / summer we don't draw the curtains as our garden is long,enough for people not to see in .
Come Autumn / winter and when the heating gets turned , what do you do when you draw the curtains ?
To keep as much heat coming into the room we lift / tuck up the curtains so they rest on the window sill .
What do you do ?

We have curtains that only come to the window sill.

I have curtains which are shortened so they end just above the radiator. I'm sure some heat finds it's way behind them, but most comes into the room.

Tuck the curtains behind the radiator.

Radiators are positioned under the window to enable convection. The cold air coming off the window meets the warm air rising from the radiator and distributes it around the room. Thus, you don't really want to seal the window off from the radiator.

The ideal is for a little hot to go either side of your curtain, and, as long as there is a gap at the top as well, you'll get good heat distribution around the room.

This assumes you have fairly modern windows with that don't have huge drafts of air coming through them.

The effect is also minimised with the thermal efficiency of modern windows.

My curtains sit on the windowsill. I think long curtains over a radiator look silly.

I made Roman blinds that stop between the window sill and the radiator. Don't want to block the heat

NB with radiators under the windows.
We have both shutter blinds & full length curtains.

In the summer, we close the blinds and pull the curtains to keep the rooms dark & cool.
In the winter we close the blinds only unless it is mild and the heating won't come on in which case we pull the curtains as well.

Have short curtains so they don't cover the radiators

I just don't pull the curtains ever! I have those blinds that can be pulled up from the bottom or down from the top, so I can see out but the bottom part is covered and no one can see in. Perfect for me. And allows the heat to circulate from the radiator better since the curtains are never closed.

We never close our curtains although not because of the radiator issue but because they make me feel really claustrophobic.

Fit a radiator shelf to deflect heat out into room rather than up against the window and have short curtains or blinds

I never close curtains at all. Solves the problem....however, there's no-one to look in as it's just fields outside. And I hate the "hemmed in" feeling of closed curtains anyway.
(Same with internal doors, I don't close those either, except for the bathroom).

This what I mean, taken towards the front of the room

They look good @socool . Could you tell me what are they called /where did you get them please?

We don't have any windowsills so can't tuck our curtain onto them. It's a real pain. DH has stuck some wooden spoons down the radiator so the spoon bit holds the curtain back against the wall.

ETA we have old, large single glazed sash windows which are very drafty. We've bought thermal curtains for all our rooms since moving in. The previous owners left their old curtains for us which were really thin and unlined. I don't know how they coped.

I can't remember offhand, it was a few years ago now, I would need to look for the receipt etc. In the meantime, this is a similar product -

www.bottomupblinds.co.uk/how-they-work-bottom-up-top-down-blinds/

They are called Perfect Fit blinds.
Thin metal brackets slip under the internal trim and the tracks fit to these.

Had them on the roof of our conservatory in our old house and on the french doors & side panels of our current house (with the french doors we have curtains as well as it makes it feel more cosy).

I tuck the curtains over our radiator, DH thinks it looks weird but I maintain it keeps the heat in!

Thanks @socool and @Nourishinghandcream

I tuck them on top of the radiator. We don’t have sills, so it’s tricky. I have thought about pinning them shorter just for winter and removing the pins come spring. I absolutely loathe short curtains, though - they just look stupid.

We have shutters.

You need shorter curtains. I’ve always thought it was really odd when people buy curtains that cover their radiator! They only need to cover the window. Long curtains are designed for big windows that reach the floor.

We have blinds which cover the window and go down as far as the windowsill.

We also have curtain poles with floor-length curtains (the curtains match the blinds, although I can see that it might look fine to have them made out of a different fabric, if that's easier). We never, ever close the curtains. They are only for decoration, because the rooms look a bit bare and comfortless with just blinds.

@HappiestSleeping is right about this being the optimum position for a radiator. It warms the room better. I hate it when a room has the radiator on the wall furthest from the window - it makes the external wall colder, with less air circulation, and sometimes even encourages mould. We've actually had a few radiators repositioned to underneath windows and it makes the rooms much more comfortable.

We have a Roman blind which we close at night - the curtains stay open

They don’t look as stupid as long ones over a radiator.

if they rest on the sill they look fine.