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

Created on: 13 Apr 2018 09:24
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Andreas48
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?
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haydee
13 Apr 2018 14:25
What heating system do you have?

In our case, even in the unheated attic, which is separated by a door, the temperature is 19°C (66°F).
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Andreas48
13 Apr 2018 14:49
Mycraft schrieb:
But that’s not because heat rises, as you assume.

What is the reason then? Could you please explain that in more detail?
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Andreas48
13 Apr 2018 14:52
haydee schrieb:
What heating system do you have?

Wall heating. Also in the basement.
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haydee
13 Apr 2018 17:31
Can’t you regulate them separately?

I don’t think curtains help much. In our case, the attic is within the thermal envelope and, despite having a door, is unheated but not really cold.
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Meicel
13 Apr 2018 20:48
I didn’t even know something like that existed. Our basement stairs are also open. In winter, it gets very cold going upstairs. Would a thermal curtain placed either at the bottom or top help at all?
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ypg
15 Apr 2018 08:26
Knallkörper schrieb:
So, I have 23°C (73°F) in the living room, 26°C (79°F) in the bathrooms, 17-18°C (63-64°F) in the bedrooms...

...

Similar in our house. Who actually started the idea that you can’t set different temperatures in different rooms? Was it the people trying to save on heating costs???

Regarding curtains: a simple, thicker curtain can act as a temperature barrier, yes. You often see this in old houses at entrances, also on pub doors.

I don’t know of any special thermal curtains.