Refugee Curtain Workshop This Weekend

NEWS RELEASE Friday, March 06, 2009

Home Energy Advice Centre: Refugee Curtain Workshop This Weekend

The Home Energy Advice Centre in Wellington in partnership with Refugee Services and Lewis’s Curtain Specialists will be running their second free workshop on how to make your curtains more effective this weekend.

Specifically targeted at refugee families in Wellington city, this workshop will be held Saturday 7th March. Anyone is welcome to attend, however places are limited. Please RSVP to wellington@energyadvice.org.nz.

New Zealand houses often have large areas of single glazed windows, which may be responsible for 12-15 percent of the heat loss in a home. The importance of well gathered, heavyweight or lined curtains is often underestimated. According to EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority), heavy curtains that fit snugly at the top and sides of the window frame can halve the overnight energy loss through windows in winter.*

Curtains also: cut down on external noise (important for apartment living) provide privacy and control light levels give a sense of luxury and comfort *http://www.energywise.govt.nz/yourbuildingdes/plan-your-insulation.html

Curtains provide more effective insulation when draughts around the back of the curtains are reduced. It is important that curtains touch the floor to reduce circulating draughts. Consider letting the hems down if there is spare length and the curtains are not too faded. Attaching Velcro strips or dots to the sides of the curtain and the wall can also reduce draughts. The effectiveness of curtains can be increased by adding linings to existing curtains. Detachable linings are easy to make and simply hook onto existing hooks and tracks. You can make detachable linings cheaply, and keep warm in your rental property, knowing that you can take the linings with you when you leave! The Home Energy Advice Centre would like to acknowledge the support received from Lewis’s Curtain Specialists, who have donated several rolls of lining fabric for these workshops. Lewis’s are also providing discount vouchers towards future curtaining purchases to workshop attendees.

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