ᐅ Thermal Curtains – Do They Really Work? – Who Has Experience?

My house (built with ecological timber frame construction) is designed to be quite open, with as few doors as possible. The basement is intended as a living area and can be heated. The problem with this open design is (unsurprisingly): when the basement is comfortably warm, the upper floor becomes uncomfortably hot (well, heat rises).

Since I don’t want to install doors afterward, I’m considering using thermal curtains. Specifically, a thermal curtain at the basement stairway to prevent heat from rising into the ground floor, and another thermal curtain at the ground floor stairway to stop heat from moving up to the upper floor.

Has anyone here had experience with thermal curtains? Which ones would you recommend?

Summer or winter?

I can’t imagine that this would make much of a difference. It should only be able to delay temperature or air exchange during rapid or short-term temperature changes. The curtain will still warm up quickly, take on the ambient temperature, and also transfer it onward.

In modern houses, it is almost impossible to achieve significantly different temperatures in individual rooms or areas compared to the rest of the building.

lastdrop schrieb:
In modern houses, it is almost impossible to achieve significantly different temperatures in individual rooms or areas compared to the rest.

But

That is exactly the problem. The basement area is at 19°C (66°F) and the upper floor area is at 25°C (77°F).

However, this is not because heat rises, as you assume.

lastdrop schrieb:
I can't imagine that this would have much effect. Only with rapid or short-term temperature changes should it be able to delay heat and air exchange. The curtain will still warm up quickly, take on the surrounding temperature, and transfer it onward.

In modern houses, it is almost impossible to achieve significantly different temperatures in individual rooms or areas compared to the rest.

For me, the living room is at 23°C (73°F), the bathrooms at 26°C (79°F), and the bedrooms around 17–18°C (63–64°F)...

I do believe that such curtains can provide some improvement. It’s not about the fabric’s thermal transmission, but rather about reducing any existing thermal air movement (convection).