Curtains across bifolds instead of blinds

[R.O.S.S.I]

I have been looking at getting some form of privacy and thermal protection across the bi folds we have in our house after moving in and them having nothing installed at present.

Originally I had been set on getting some clickfit/intu/perfect fit blinds for each door and then front it all with a curtain, but after seeing the cost of the blinds i'm wondering if it would just be a waste of money getting the blinds as the curtains should provide much better insulation and draft exclusion than the blinds.

Just wondering if anyone has blinds or curtains across their bifolds and what you would opt for, plus any drawbacks for either that i've not really thought about?
The only thing I can think of is that I would want them to be drawn one side, rather than have a pair that draw to the left and right, and I know a single span of 4m curtain is likely to be pretty pricey.

 

[Deleted User 298457]

I have thermal curtains across a ~4m span. They aren't bifolds just regular patio doors and it works fine.

 

[thezappa]

I think if you are considering a curtain over a set of bi-folds to mitigate a draft or thermal enhancement there is a problem with your bi-folds.
Not saying big windows won’t suck out any heat but certainly drafts would be a concern. Is it worth getting someone round to check the fitting?
Would thermal roller blinds be an option?

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

I think if you are considering a curtain over a set of bi-folds to mitigate a draft or thermal enhancement there is a problem with your bi-folds.
Not saying big windows won’t suck out any heat but certainly drafts would be a concern. Is it worth getting someone round to check the fitting?
Would thermal roller blinds be an option?

Tbh I don't find them particularly drafty at all and could have worded the OP better.
It was more a case of looking at possible areas of heat loss in the room and the 4m span of glass in bifolds is probably going to be where most of the heat loss occurs so want to alleviate that somewhat.

I had looked at roller blinds and they are a possibility but wasnt sure if they were any good or not, always had in my mind a thick heavy curtain would be the best. Don't think the Mrs is keen on roller blinds either, but something to think about.

 

[ci_newman]

Just one consideration is that a 4m thermal curtain is going to be very heavy - whatever you use to hold it up make sure it can hold a lot of weight, especially if you're going to draw the whole length of it to one side instead of a L/R split

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

Your probably feeling the convection draft, where the cold that is happening on the windows directly rolls off drawing in heat.
Its the real difference between triple and double glazed, that is much reduced.

We recently put up some thermal curtains (the sort of rubberised backs) and I was quite stunned the other morning how cold the air trapped behind them was. They just skim the wood floor we have so are pretty well sealed in effect when pulled across (wood floors also increases drafts)

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

Just one consideration is that a 4m thermal curtain is going to be very heavy - whatever you use to hold it up make sure it can hold a lot of weight, especially if you're going to draw the whole length of it to one side instead of a L/R split

Yeh this was already on my radar.

Trying to weigh up pros and cons of each....

Curtains are looking like they will be the most expensive option out of the 3 and unsure if its wise to try a 4m single span to hang. Especially when there isn't much room above the doors for us to fix too, but will be the best for keeping heat in.

The clickfit blinds (non-electric) and roller blinds (electric) are coming in at roughly the same price. I think the clickfit blinds will look the most aesthetically pleasing out of them all, but then my partner did make a point about whether it would be a pain to have to keep pulling them up and down every day. I'm not sure which would be better really at keeping the heat in.

 

[ci_newman]

Yeh this was already on my radar.

Trying to weigh up pros and cons of each....

Curtains are looking like they will be the most expensive option out of the 3 and unsure if its wise to try a 4m single span to hang. Especially when there isn't much room above the doors for us to fix too, but will be the best for keeping heat in.

The clickfit blinds (non-electric) and roller blinds (electric) are coming in at roughly the same price. I think the clickfit blinds will look the most aesthetically pleasing out of them all, but then my partner did make a point about whether it would be a pain to have to keep pulling them up and down every day. I'm not sure which would be better really at keeping the heat in.

For the few full-length perfect-fit blinds we have, I must admit we only actually open them halfway (from the top to the middle) each day. They let more than enough light in that way, and keeps the lower half of the window warm

 

[PC777]

I put thermal curtain liners on the back of my already thick lined office curtains and the thermal liners do an amazing job of heat retention. With a very cold window on the other side the thermal liners are warm to the touch on the room side, with chambers of warm air in the fabric folds of lined curtains on top increasing heat incrementally, so three layers of heat insulation. I have a triple window with a single blind in the middle window too so technically that window has 4 layers. Also will be great in extreme heat waves for keeping the room cooler.

My girlfriend's living room has fitted slat blinds that leaked a lot of light and heat in a bay window, I put up curtain poles and curtains for her recently and the combination of both is keeping the room much warmer, made a massive difference to how warm the room is with the curtains drawn over the slat blinds. This is with just lined non thermal curtains too as you can easily add thermal liners to any type of curtain later on. The liners I use are fairly lightweight, like a polyester softshell, but extremely effective.

Also if you want to cover a 4 metre span with single curtain and pull them over one way, you could potentially still just use a much cheaper standard 2m 2 x set and just pull both to one side when not used, and together in the middle when drawn.

Thermal curtains/liners likely better than blinds for heat retention by themselves, but a combination of both seems to be best overall, you could always choose one and add another type later.

 

[mattyg]

I feel for you. We've 3 sets of 2.7m Tall Bifolds and they just seem to suck the heat out of the room. We've internal blinds in the kitchen and Curtains on the other 2... Curtain are defiantly better

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

Think we are going to try and go the curtain route.

The rails we've seen are good for 40-50kg of weight with an electric opener. I will likely mount it from the ceiling rather than from the wall so should be a bit sturdier too and I can't see them weighing anywhere near the 40-50KG they say they can take.

Biggest challenge will be sourcing some 4m wide curtains for reasonable money! My partner's SIL's mother is a bit of a seamstress and she has expressed an interest in making some for us. Shes done a few "normal" sized ones in her own home but i'm not sure if asking for some 4.5m x 2.2m may be a stretch too far for her, but we shall see!