Top tips for keeping your home insulated

Product Management specialist

Written: 20/11/2013

Updated: 05/12/2024

When the winter chill sets in, there’s nothing quite like snuggling up in a cosy and inviting home. To keep your home warm, you need it to be well insulated. Good window dressings play a huge part in this.

In this guide, we talk through our thermal solutions and recommendations to help keep the space comfortably warm.

duette charcoal pleated blinds on french doors in living room

First line of defence

When the temperatures drop, our first instinct is usually to turn on the heating and make sure every radiator in the house is on full.

A good tip that will also help to save on your energy bills is to be smart about your radiator use. It’s recommended to turn off radiators when you aren’t at home or aren’t using a certain room. Consider scheduling your heating to come on shortly before you arrive home.

Also try to keep radiators clear of furniture, curtains, and any other large décor pieces. This will help to keep the whole room heated up and ensure none of the radiator’s warmth is being blocked.

Another practical thing to do is use draught excluders at your doors to prevent chilly air flowing through your house. Door curtains and insulating tape are also great options to keep the chill out at the first instance, especially at your front door.

cley donkey roman blind with collette vixen fringing in a grey living room with an orange sofa and cactii

Keep the cold at the window

Once you’ve sufficiently heated up the room, it’s important to retain the heat. Windows are a significant source of heat loss in the home, due to radiation and air leakage. It’s important to build your defences against this with good window dressings.

A great solution is thermal blinds, which are specifically designed to control temperature. Our Duette® and ThermaShade™ blinds help to reduce heat loss by 55%, due to their honeycomb cells which trap air at the window.

Ideally, your blinds shouldn’t have any gaps around them if you want to preserve heat in the room. This is just a small design error which can have a huge impact.

Get it right the first time with professionally installed made-to-measure blinds. This will help to ensure that heat loss is minimal, and your space is kept warm and snuggly.

White shutters in a living room with a sofa facing away from the windows. A potted plant and bookshelf on the right hand side.

Curtains for a serene space

Curtains are a great way to add warmth and personality to your home, and are especially helpful during the colder months. Heavier fabrics like velvet or thermal-lined curtains provide excellent insulation while adding a touch of luxury to your space.

Another top tip is to close your curtains when the sun sets to trap the heat and prevent it from escaping through the windows. During the day, open them wide to let the sunshine in and enjoy the natural warmth.

Full Height Silk White Shutters in a Bedroom

Layer up

Another great way to manage heat loss is to layer curtains over blinds or shutters. You’ll not only benefit from the additional insulation, but it creates a luxurious and refined look to your space.

A style tip that will not only insulate your room but help with privacy and light control is to pair sheer blinds with curtains. You could also try out blackout blinds with thermal curtains in a bedroom to minimise light levels and create a restful environment for sleep.

Blend different textures, colours, patterns and plains for a finish that’s as cosy as it is stylish.

Top tip from a Hillarys advisor

Shutters are a flexible choice, giving you the option to keep the frames closed and draughts at bay, but still allowing light in by positioning the louvres to suit you.
Mark, Hillary advisor