Homeowners might not be heating their homes properly because of the way they use their curtains, interior design gurus have suggested.

Some people have grown concerned that not using your furniture efficiently might contribute to high energy bills, especially in light of April’s price cap increase.

As a result, social media is abuzz with energy saving tips, from using your thermostat wisely to servicing your radiators more often.

One particular video has piqued a considerable amount of interest for the sheer simplicity of the tip it is promoting. Lifestyle blogger Nazia X Home, who provides cleaning hacks, tutorials and reviews on her TikTok page, posted a video showing a quick, easy and less laborious way to heat your home properly.

She advised on keeping your curtains on the window sill so that they do not block your radiators. She demonstrated this tip in action by filming herself lift her bedroom curtains away from the radiator and placing it on her window ledge.

Nazia posted the video in response to another user who asked: “If your window and windowsill get wet, why do you put your curtains that way?? You’d probably be better off with longer curtains than those shorter ones.”

She replied: “They are long curtains. When the heating is on, they go up on the windowsill, otherwise it’s heating the curtains and not the room.”

Nazia elaborated on the tip: “Either on the windowsill or behind the heaters but not in front as it blocks the radiator.” The TikToker was not alone in arguing why curtains blocking radiators will not heat your room effectively.

Jess Steele, a heating expert from retailers BestHeating.com, talked up the merits of using your heating properly and in a cost-efficient manner.

“As the cost of living crisis continues to create budget difficulties, one of the questions we often get asked is, is it ok to hang curtains over radiators?” she wrote on the company’s website.

Jess later explained why moving your curtains away from the radiator will be a better solution, saying: “The reason for this can be explained by how radiators actually heat the room. The process is called convection.

“When the heating is on, the warm air from the top of the radiator rises and heats up the cooler air above. The hot air moves up to the ceiling because it is lighter than cool air.

“As the hot air cools again, it sinks and moves around the room in a convection current. This allows the radiator to heat up the whole space by distributing heat evenly.”

She added: “Now you can picture the circular motion of hot air particles, it is easy to see how long curtains over radiators would block heat and prevent the warm air from moving around the room efficiently.”

Jess added her five-step solution to anyone worried their curtains might be preventing their homes from heating up properly:

• Make sure the bottom of the curtains sit at least 4cm above the top of the radiator
• Always keep the curtains open when the heating is on
• Don’t tuck curtains behind the radiator, use tie backs instead
• Pair floor length curtains with blinds for additional privacy and sunlight control
• Install ceiling tracks to increase the distance from the radiator to the curtains