is there a solution to long curtains blocking radiator heat?

[littleredsquirrel]

I don't want to change the curtains but at the moment I bundle them up at night and rest them on the windowsill so that the heat from the radiator can get into the room. Is there a better way, maybe with hooks attached to the bottom of the curtains whihc can loop over the curtain pole??

can you not stick the curtains behind the radiator at night

Cardboard and foil. Make a surfboard shape (ie curved over at one end out of card, cover with foil. Stick behind radiator so it pushes the curtains away from the radiator. Eh voila, the heat is pushed into the room. You can always shove it down in the daytime too.

Rather than change them can you get them professionally shortened?

Its tricky. I don;t want the curtains changed or shortened since they match the two other sets in the room. The radiator had no space behind it at all to shove the curtains behind but I do need to be able to close the curtains since its a room at the front of the house.

At the moment I clear the windowledge, gather them up and put them onto the windowledge but that is going to look really messy at christmas!

Get the radiator moved? We did this in DD's bedroom and it made a big difference.

Apparently it doesnt make all that much difference to the overall room temperature anyway

Could you put up a blind to sort the privacy issues - then you could choose if you wanted to draw the curtains or just leave them looking all long and decorative?

yes get a blind and leave the curtains open

I did see this mentioned in a curtain catalogue, they suggest using a deep curtain pole bracket so the heat rises behind the curtains, see second question on this link
www.pretavivre.com/cm/FAQ.html.

Not sure if it really works though, would be good to hear how much heat you lose if you draw the curtains infront of a warm radiator.

Another option is to move your radiator and leave your curtains as they are, this is probably cheaper than you think!
USeful info here
moghulinteriors.com/blog/?p=255

We currently have blinds and leave the long curtains tied back. At our previous house we put short plain coloured curtains (that picked up the colour in the long curtains iyswim) that were window sill length and then left the curtains tied back again.

Thanks ladies.

We've only just had the radiators put in and on the advice of the heating engineer we deliberately put the radiator in front of the window since that's how radiators work best apparently (something to do with cold and warm air currents). Think blinds are probably the solution but that's yet another job that won't get done before christmas!!

We have a thermal blind in a plain colour that comes down in the window recess - this means we can leave the curtains open, at least till bedtime when the heating goes off anyway. Then pull them to, to keep the heat in the room iyswim.

There is some very useful information about curtains, blinds and blackout lining on this site: www.kurtinz.com

We had short curtains made for the window and the long ones became 'dress' curtains at the sides, (as our radiator is 2.4 metres wide, huge I know!) the curtains are on an inner rail and draw automatically on a timer and then recede behind the long ones out of sight during the day, but close at night keeping all the heat in.

I have short curtains which should sit on my window ledge so heat from radiator is free flowing but the curtain brackets (things that the pole sits on) come out too far from the wall. I've been searching for shorter ones so that my curtains are closer to the window but can't seem to find any.Has anyone seen any anywhere?

the idea of putting radiators underneath windows is an old one, and I think outdated.

If you had single glazing and thin or short curtains, then yes, cold air would cascade off the glass like a waterfall and there would be a flow of cold air under the window. You can still experience this in old houses if you try. As the temperature gradient is greatest, putting the radiator there means the maximum possible amount of the heat you pay for will go outside to warm the sky. For energy efficiency and economy it is the worst possible place to put a radiator.

With modern double-glazed windows, or with thick or lined, preferably long, curtains, there will not be such a cold spot next to the windows, so unless you are for some reason forced to sit by the window, there is no need to put a radiator there. It will be more effective at heating the room if it is on the opposite wall.

Cavity insulation, draughtproofing, fitted carpets, absence of fireplaces, and d/g mean that rooms stay generally warmer and do not have such bad temperature gradients as they did in the 1960's.