Long before radiators hummed in every room, households in draughty Victorian homes hung heavy fabric where cold air crept in, trusting cloth and carefully placed drapery to hold their warmth. Now, as energy prices climb and families weigh every pound spent on heating, that old practice has drifted back into conversation, offered up by a company that sells home upgrades. It is a reminder that people have always found ways to live with the cold, and that the question of what truly keeps a home warm has never had only one answer. The claims themselves remain untested, so the wisest reader will tr
Victorian draught-proofing tricks could keep homes warm without switching on the heating
Heavy curtains, door drapes and pelmets might seem old-fashioned
Mark
Why is a Victorian trick being talked about now?
Mimi
Energy bills keep rising, and people want ways to stay warm that don't depend on running the heating more.
Mark
What exactly is being recommended?
Mimi
Floor-length thick curtains with pelmets, placed at windows and beside doors to colder rooms, plus draught excluders or thick door drapes at the door itself.
Mark
And the reasoning?
Mimi
Victorian homes were draughty and coal was precious, so people used fabric to trap warm air inside.
Luke
Who is saying this, though? It's My Home Improvements, a firm that sells home upgrades. That's not independent research.
Mimi
True. The article quotes their spokesperson saying heat loss through windows and doorways is underestimated.
Luke
Underestimated by how much? The piece gives no figures at all. There's no stated saving in pounds or percentage of heat retained.
Mark
So the claim that it works is plausible but unmeasured?
Luke
Right. "Incredibly efficient" is the company's description, not a verified result. The idea is cheap to try, but the savings are unconfirmed.
Il Polso
- Rising energy costs are squeezing households, pushing many to search for cheaper ways to stay warm.
- Heat is escaping through windows and doorways, and many homeowners barely notice how much.
- The remedy is an old one: floor-length curtains topped with pelmets, plus draught excluders or door drapes at colder openings.
- The advice comes from a home-upgrade firm, with no independent verification of how much money it actually saves.
Long before radiators hummed in every room, households in draughty Victorian homes hung heavy fabric where cold air crept in, trusting cloth and carefully placed drapery to hold their warmth. Now, as energy prices climb and families weigh every pound spent on heating, that old practice has drifted back into conversation, offered up by a company that sells home upgrades. It is a reminder that people have always found ways to live with the cold, and that the question of what truly keeps a home warm has never had only one answer. The claims themselves remain untested, so the wisest reader will treat the advice as a starting point rather than a verdict.
The advice begins with a simple piece of fabric hung where the draught tends to arrive. Thick, floor-length curtains, crowned with a pelmet, hang not only at windows but beside doors that open onto colder rooms. It is a Victorian arrangement, and according to the home-upgrade firm My Home Improvements, it still works.
The suggestion arrives as households across the country search for cheaper ways to stay warm. Modern insulation and central heating can do the job well, but both cost money, and many people are now looking for approaches that are easier on the bills.
The firm, which describes itself as an expert in home upgrades and energy efficiency, points out that Victorian homes relied on exactly these methods before central heating became common. Those houses were drafty, and occupants used heavy curtains, door drapes and pelmets to trap warm air without burning precious coal.
The components are straightforward. Curtains reach the floor, pelmets sit on top, and draught excluders or thick door drapes block the gap at the foot of the door. A company spokesperson stressed how often heat loss through windows and doorways goes unnoticed, and argued that these simple methods can keep a home cosy without pushing up bills.
The central message is that modern households can borrow the same approach. Yet the advice comes from a company selling home upgrades, not from independent research, and no figures are given for what a household might actually save. A sensible first step is to find out where the draughts are in your own home before deciding what to do.
The advice starts with a piece of fabric hung where a draught tends to arrive: thick, floor-length curtains, topped with a pelmet, also called a valance, and placed not only over windows but beside doors that open onto colder rooms. It is a Victorian arrangement, and a home-upgrade firm called My Home Improvements says it still works.
The suggestion comes as households across the country look for cheaper ways to stay warm while energy costs keep climbing. Modern insulation and central heating can heat a house effectively, the report notes, but both are expensive, and that has led many people to look for alternatives that cost less to run.
According to My Home Improvements, which describes itself as an expert in home upgrades and energy efficiency, the method was a common feature of Victorian households before central heating became widespread. Those homes were draughty. To keep warm air in without burning through precious coal, occupants combined heavy curtains, door drapes and pelmets to trap it.
The components are simple. Thick curtains reach to the floor. Pelmets sit on top of them. The curtains go at windows and also next to doors leading to colder rooms. The last element is a draught excluder at the foot of the door. The experts recommend either a fabric excluder in the shape of a sausage dog or a thick door drape, both of which the report says were common in many Victorian homes. The Express carried the same advice.
A spokesperson for the company stressed how often heat loss through windows and doorways is overlooked. "Many homeowners underestimate just how much heat escapes through windows and doorways," the spokesperson said. "The Victorians didn't have central heating, yet they managed to keep their homes warm with these simple, effective methods."
The spokesperson added that heavy curtains, door drapes and pelmets might seem old-fashioned, but that they are an incredibly efficient way to reduce heat loss and keep a home cosy without raising energy bills.
The report's conclusion is that modern households can adopt the same approach to hold on to warmth and trim heating costs. One caution is worth keeping in view: the advice comes from a company that sells home upgrades, not from independent research, and the article gives no figures for how much a household might actually save. Anyone weighing it up has a sensible first step in checking where the draughts are in their own home.
Citazioni salienti
Many homeowners underestimate just how much heat escapes through windows and doorways.— Spokesperson, My Home Improvements
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