DIY Heat blocking curtains

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By Phillip Torrone
Posted 2006/06/28 @ 6:00 am
Category General

TheNickboy writes – “Summer is nearing/here, and it’s getting hotter in my house. To save electricity with our super expensive A/C, I constructed reflective curtains to block sunlight from warming our house. Think auto windshield. This is super simple and kind of obvious, but it works well.” – Link.

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6 Responses to DIY Heat blocking curtains

wholepair on June 28th, 2006 at 4:51 pm said:

AWSOME

I made some curtains recently too. I put them in there very own Flickr set.
Check them out -> Computer Card Window Shades

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fxer on June 28th, 2006 at 5:03 pm said:

Will these curtains work inside the window? Once the sunlight comes through the glass, hits the curtain and turns into IR, it won’t go back through the glass readily will it?

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Unomi on June 28th, 2006 at 11:48 pm said:

@fxer:

I thought that as well. For years now, we do the following:
During the night and morning we open all things not facing the sun. So cool air flows in and moist can get out. After some hours in the morning everything gets closed and the side(s) facing the sun get covered like above, but on the outside (if possible that is). That way minimal heat is getting trough the window and open spots.

It works when not having A/C available. When opening doors or windows for airflow, try always the shadowy side not facing the sun. Because the air outside is heated by radiation from the sun too. Shadowy sides are less warm.

- Unomi -

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tms10000 on June 29th, 2006 at 11:53 am said:

“Once the sunlight comes through the glass, hits the curtain and turns into IR, it won’t go back through the glass readily will it?”

Once the light comes in through the glass and hit any dull objects, like the carpet (especially carpet), wood floor, furniture, anything, the object heats up and radiates IR.

Glass is good at not letting that go out (so are your walls) and it is a good thing when you actually want to keep the heat inside.

If you line up the windows with a reflective (the most reflective, the better) the light (well, some of it) will be reflected *as light* through the window, back outside.

Aluminum foil here is particularily well suited, because it is cheap, thin, and highly reflective.

The more you reflect the light back out, the less is absorbed and radiated as IR inside.

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tms10000 on June 29th, 2006 at 11:58 am said:

And for the heat, you can also rig a fan with some copper tubing, an ice/water tank and an aquarium pump. I’ve seen these projects here and there.

Also, a fan will use about 10% of the electricity needed for AC. Then again, a fan only moves air. Only works well when it’s blowing on you and you are sweating.

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George Pepper on November 28th, 2011 at 3:59 am said:

Good idea – like you said, simple and obvious, yet I had never thought of it! The silver lining isn’t exactly to my taste interior design wise, but as a solution to a heat problem, this is great.

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