Curtains for insulating windows. How to sew warm curtains for windows - master class

Landscape design and planning 03.03.2020
Landscape design and planning

Can blinds be both a beautiful interior element and save energy and heat? It turns out that they can! Developed by the British company Duetto, energy-saving blinds ideally combine beautiful blinds and unique technologies for retaining heat in your home.

Unfortunately, prices for electricity and gas tend to increase annually, which cannot but upset those who like to live in comfort - active users of electric heating devices in winter and air conditioners in summer. But the incoming three- and four-digit bills still force us to think about energy efficiency as a way to reduce electricity costs. About 50 percent of the heat loss in a home occurs due to old windows, but even if you replace the old windows with new ones with two or three glazed units, this will not solve the problem of heat loss 100%.


If you are thinking about keeping your home warm - energy-saving blinds are for you


Sleek, stylish and sophisticated, energy-saving blinds can reduce heat loss in your home by up to 46%. This will create comfortable conditions and will add comfort to your home, there will be no need once again turn on the heater, which means paying extra money on bills. Agree, it’s not enough!

How it works?

In essence, energy-saving blinds are unique honeycomb heat traps that prevent heat loss and provide comfort and coziness to those around you. Interesting fact– the cellular structure of such blinds performs a role similar to climate control. In the cool season it retains heat, and in the hot season it retains coolness. In addition, the honeycomb structure perfectly absorbs sound (up to 45%) and perfectly prevents the penetration of UV rays (up to 99%).


The secret of energy-saving blinds is their cellular structure

What rooms is it suitable for?

Most often, energy-saving blinds are installed (according to manufacturers) in children's rooms, large halls, greenhouses, where the issue of heat conservation is most acute.

Prices and analogues

Perhaps the only disadvantage of this type of blinds is their price. It is high even for buyers with a thick wallet. Expressed as a percentage, they are 100 percent more expensive than pleated blinds, one of the most expensive types of blinds. The main obstacle to the spread of Russian market energy-saving blinds, despite all their obvious advantages, according to most experts, their price is comparable to the cost of windows made of expensive wood.

It should be noted that the same UNI pleated or roller blinds presented in our company will be no worse in terms of the characteristics of energy-saving and soundproofing types of blinds produced by the British company. In addition, the catalogs of fabrics for roller blinds are extensive, and their prices are two to three times lower.

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With the onset of frost, the issue of energy saving comes to the fore. And even if you don't think about pollution problems environment And global warming, it is still worth thinking about heating efficiency, as this will allow you to save significantly.

It's no secret that a large number of Heat is lost through cracks in windows and doors, as well as through glass. In winter you can feel the cold literally blowing from the windows.

You can correct the situation with the help of special insulated curtains, which will let less cold air into the room.

The design of such curtains is very simple - they are multi-layer panels according to the size of the windows. The materials used for sewing curtains are approximately the same as for making oven mitts.

Materials and tools for sewing warm curtains:

  • special heat-reflecting material (similar to felt)
  • opaque fabric
  • meter, scissors
  • decorative fabric
  • sewing machine or needle and thread

How to sew curtains with your own hands

Measure the window. Decide how much material you will need to sew each curtain. Don't forget about allowances. In our case, the window dimensions are 100×150 cm.

We will need a sheet of heat-reflecting material of the same size. But opaque and decorative fabric should be taken with a small margin (about 2 centimeters for each seam).

Fold the panels opaque and decorative fabric right sides facing in. Stepping back 1.5-2 cm from the edges, sew three sides. Turn the resulting cover inside out and iron the seams.

Insert a piece of heat-reflecting fabric into the case.

Advice: First, you can turn the cover inside out, and then, inserting your hands inside, grab the corners of the panel. Much the same way you put a pillowcase on a pillow.

Pin all three layers together, and then sew the remaining edge, tucking the excess fabric inside.

Winter is just around the corner and energy bills from using electricity, gas, coal and other fuels in household, will crawl up again. On cold winter evenings, everyone dreams of a warm and cozy home interior. What can be done to competently and effectively manage the heat produced in the house?

Window openings are weak points in the thermal insulation of a house and a path for heat leakage. In cold weather, in the immediate vicinity of them, everyone will feel the breath of cool air. Through ordinary windows, heat leaves the house very quickly.

More modern and widely used metal-plastic PVC ones retain heat much better, mainly due to the absence of cracks, but we must not forget that this is just a double layer of glass (mostly a single-chamber double-glazed window is used).

Window insulation can be achieved by installing roller shutters and (or) blinds, which will significantly reduce heat loss. The main function of the window is to sufficiently fill the interior of the house with natural light, and therefore, unlike walls, they cannot be additionally insulated with a layer mineral wool or expanded polystyrene. This is the Achilles heel of the entire house and the weakest point in terms of thermal insulation.

As a result, we have significant losses of energy generated central heating in autumn winter period. An analysis of heat leaks from a house shows that from 15% to 25% of the generated heat goes into window openings.

The answer turned out to be simple - install blinds on the windows. Blinds do not have direct contact with the surface that is cooling and therefore they are able to create an additional barrier to cold air. Blinds with an additional layer of insulation (rubber layer or silver coating), excellent remedy For window insulation and a barrier to low temperatures.

Thick curtains and curtains, to a lesser extent, of course, can also take part in protecting against heat loss. However, permanently closed blinds cannot be taken into account.

Managing the heat produced in the house is based on two simple principles: during the day, the blinds must be open to sunlight passing through the glass raised the air temperature in the room, and in the evening and at night the blinds were closed.

In addition, it is also advisable to additionally close curtains made of thick fabric (plush, velvet) at night. But keep in mind that under the windowsill, where the most cold air in the room, installed heating elements heating systems - batteries. A mistake to avoid is not installing curtains that are too long.

For normal circulation warm air, curtains should not cover radiators. Long curtains do not allow air to circulate throughout the room; the heated air will be trapped between the thick material of the curtains and the heat source, as a result of which the heat does not spread throughout the rooms in the proper amount.

Small material costs Insulating windows by installing blinds with an additional layer of insulation will pay off with interest at the end of the cold period of the year.

Window structures made from polyvinyl chloride are self-sufficient products that do not require additional thermal insulation.

If you are increasingly thinking about PVC, because in winter they still allow the cold to pass through, then there is definitely something wrong with some of the structural elements. Let's look at this issue in more detail.

What does a PVC window consist of?

Any plastic window structure includes the following components:

  • profile;
  • rubber seals;
  • glass unit;
  • adjustment fittings;
  • there is a window sill at the bottom and slopes on the sides.


If a breakdown occurs in one of the listed components, there will be blowing.

What does thermal insulation come down to?

Insulation of plastic windows consists of slopes. In the context of other elements, this is only about troubleshooting. Due to the profile, for example, drafts never occur. Modern high-tech plastic is not wood. The material cannot dry out or move.


Double-glazed windows lose heat if depressurization occurs in certain areas of the product. If you don’t want the windows to let the cold in, insulate the slopes or look for the cause of the breakdown. Let's start looking at the insulation of window structures with slopes.

Protecting slopes from the cold

For plastic windows, it is advisable to make slopes from plastic. It is best to line them with hard plastic. Why? The material is excellent for additional thermal insulation.

In this case, the opening that appears between the wall surface and window frame, filled with special foam. Other options are foam insulators or slabs made from basalt fiber. Choose a material that suits your current tasks.


External and interior wall also needs to be insulated. Only this time the materials are no longer insulating, but protective properties. From negative impact various external factors protects the insulator directly.

Elimination of sash misalignment

Window and wall structures sometimes shrink. Unfortunately, nothing can be done about this. New buildings especially suffer from this “illness”. Shrinkage, in turn, leads to a slight distortion of the valves, which negatively affects the thermal insulation of the structure. The solution to the problem is debugging the hardware.


Tool

Adjustment of the pressure of the sashes with your own hands is done using special eccentrics. When turning the hand, they go behind the “calling pads”. These elements are installed along the frame perimeter. To ensure tight pressing, the eccentric is rotated clockwise.


Each element described has a risk. When she “looks” towards the street, this indicates a weakening of the pressure. If the pointer is facing the rubber seal, the sash is pressed well against the frame structure.

Loops

The hinges of a plastic window also have their own mechanism responsible for the pressure. The device is adjusted using a hexagon. The rule is simple: a strongly retracted tongue means a tight fit of the sash. To extend it, you need to turn the hexagon counterclockwise. When the loops are located on the right side, the turn is made in the other direction. This time clockwise.

As you can see, there is nothing complicated - the misalignment of the valves is eliminated easily and simply.

If the described actions do not help, and the cold does not go away, it means that more serious problems have arisen. In this case, you will have to contact the experts.

Preparing the window for winter:

Replacing the rubber seal

What is a rubber seal? Its main task is to ensure a tight fit of the sashes to the frame. For greater reliability, it is made of rubber and does not allow cold to pass through when closed.

If you properly care for it and regularly treat it with special compounds, the seal will last quite a long time. However, few owners of PVC windows take care of the element, which is almost always hidden by the sashes. Many people don’t even know that it needs to be lubricated with special mixtures.


So it turns out that in about five years the rubber seal loses its density. And when a product becomes unusable, it must be replaced.

To perform the replacement, the glass unit is removed from the sash. We remove the glazing bead and take out the required element. Rubber compressor changing is simple: the old one is removed, the new one is inserted through the groove. If desired, secure the product with adhesive. Don’t be confused by the color difference - insulation is made from black and gray rubber, but there are no differences.

Attention! Be extremely careful when removing and inserting the bead. The element is easy to break as it is very fragile. If the glazing bead becomes unusable, it will not be possible to install the double-glazed window back.

Alternative insulation methods

In addition to all the methods listed above, some tricks can help prevent the cold from getting in. Let's look at a few of them.

Wool blinds

It's slightly unconventional, however effective method insulating windows with your own hands. Regular blinds are simply wrapped in strips wool fabric, thanks to which they become reliable protectors from the cold penetrating through the windows in winter.

Heat-saving film


Insulation of plastic windows can also be done with heat-saving film - a fairly budget-friendly and at the same time effective option. But you need to glue the film so that there is no air left under it, that is, “bubbles”; not only will this depend on appearance windows, but also the quality of thermal insulation.

This is the most modern way insulation of the room. With such a system, it is placed on the windowsill oil heater, and an electric heating coil is installed in the glass itself.


But if you decide to use just this heating method, then it is better to complete the installation while the double-glazed windows themselves are still being installed, but you can do this later by purchasing the system in a specialized store.

Curtains

It may sound strange, but curtains can protect you from the cold. They serve as an effective barrier to air and keep out the cold in winter if it does penetrate through the windows. In addition, when passing through the curtains, the air, although not significantly, warms up.


Window sill insulation

Cold air can also penetrate through the joints between the adjacent parts of the window sill. They need to be sealed well. Also, if the work is done poorly, “black holes” may remain under the window sill itself, so it must be dismantled and the joint between the slab and window block further process.

To do this, we open the small plugs on the window sill, unscrew it with a screwdriver, and all possible cracks open to us from where cold air can come.

Results

Remember one simple thing - if a plastic window loses heat, there is a problem with one of the elements of the system. Eliminate the problems, the structure will regain its lost properties.

The only thing that requires full insulation is the slopes and, possibly, the window sill. No other thermal insulation work is required. PVC windows are already protected from the cold to the highest level, as they were originally designed to create a comfortable atmosphere in any room.

Modern methods of preserving heat indoors are varied. If this is a house, the external walls can be lined with foam plastic, which will allow the lion's share of the heat to be retained inside. In an apartment, it is recommended to replace window frames and doors to avoid heat leakage to the street. How to keep warm inside a garage or store? The smart answer is to install a door. But, in some cases, it is more advisable in combination with door leaf use a thermal curtain. What kind of structure is this, and what role does it play in the process of maintaining heat indoors?

Thermal curtain

To prevent the front door in a store or the entrance gate in a garage from becoming covered with a thick layer of frost in winter, it is necessary to create a thermal curtain. What it is? This is a structure that is built with your own hands on doorway. To begin with soft insulation, you should cut 2 strips 10 cm wide and equal to the length of the opening, and two more for the top and bottom of the opening. Then, using nails and a hammer, we fix the insulation along the outer perimeter of the door frame. On top of the insulation strips it is necessary to fill wooden blocks. The result should be a rectangle with insulation.

With your own hands

Thermal curtains and curtains on doors or gates must be made of high-quality, dense material. It can be tarpaulin, PVC, dermantin. You can also use ready-made strip curtains. If a sheet of material is used for manufacturing, it is necessary to measure the width and length of the frame with insulation. Since the insulation will be attached to wooden beam, you need to sew rings at the top of the sheet that will fit on the top crossbar. At a distance equal to the diameter of the ring above the bar, you need to fasten a self-tapping screw, 60 mm long, leaving 20 mm on the outside. Next, we attach a meter-long wire through the rings of the insulating fabric, parallel to the sheathing, and fix it with a self-tapping screw. We attach two springs to the left side of the door. On the contrary, we sew eyelets on them to the curtain. It is better to move the curtain behind the door. In this case, the canvas will not be covered with ice. The result is a high-quality thermal curtain for the front door.

Thermal curtain

To keep warm, you can take advantage of the achievements modern science. Or rather, use an electric thermal air curtain. This is a design that is metal case elongated shape with gratings at the bottom and side. A fan heater is hidden under the housing, which sucks in cold air from the room, heats it and pushes it out under pressure. The warm air mass is evenly distributed inside the housing and creates a reliable thermal protection near front door or window opening.

Please note that thermal curtains and air curtains for openings are not an alternative to full heating. But as an auxiliary tool for maintaining heat in a room, it can be used quite successfully.

Thermal curtains for gates, as well as electric curtains, are often used in shops, garages, and all kinds of workshops, where there is a large flow of people passing through the doors during the day. If the use of an electric curtain is not possible due to various reasons, on the doors you can use PVC curtains, strip or roll products. If plastic windows allow heat to pass out, electrical thermal curtain Can also be used above a window.

Summing up

If there is a need to prevent heat leakage through door or window openings, it is recommended to use thermal curtains.

Such designs are widely available for sale in finished form. Thermal curtains for doors and windows are made from PVC tapes, whole panels, or in the form of rolled products. Also, there are electric thermal air curtains, which will not only prevent heat loss from the room, but also decorate the interior design.

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