Cold floors during winter can make a cold room even more uncomfortable, potentially leading to skin infections, respiratory illness, and ailments that are localized in the foot region.
Proper heating and insulation are important if you wish to avoid the effects of a cold floor. This can range from simple home improvement solutions, such as adding a carpet to the more complex ones, e.g., installing floor heaters during renovations.
7 Cold Floor Solutions
Here are seven practical ways to warm a cold room by addressing chilly floors and improving overall comfort:
1. Insulation
Cold floors and drafts often point to insulation. A home energy audit can reveal weak spots in your home’s insulation level and find out if it’s insufficient. If your flooring has insufficient insulation, consider installing insulation to keep your floors warmer all year round.
It’s easy to miss the ceiling when talking about insulation. Other than that you’ll need to pay attention to window foundations, in-between baseboards, window and door foundations, ceiling joints, gaps between wood, marble and tile squares, and wall joints.
Lastly, don’t forget to check the attic and see if it has sufficient insulation to keep the cold out.
2. Use Carpets and Rugs for Warmer Floors
Carpets and area rugs are an easy, affordable way to warm a cold room. Linoleum, tile, or hardwood floors tend to feel colder than carpeted ones because they lack insulation.The reason for this is insulation, which you can use to your advantage.
Choose thick, high-pile carpets or thermal rugs for high-traffic areas to provide better insulation and reduce cool air circulation. These additions can help transform any cold room in your house into a cozier, more inviting space.
3. Buy a Floor Heater
Households with members who stay in one place or room can get floor heaters, which come in several varieties. It’s a cost-effective way to keep the floor warm come winter, and better yet you won’t have to spend as much.
Some of the most common types of floor heaters include:
Radiant Floor Heating System – A radiant heating system can keep all types of flooring materials warm and comfortable but is most effective for tiled floors.
Cove Heaters – Stops heat loss and cold air from coming through the cracks on doors and windows.
Toe-Tick Heaters – You may know them as under-cabinet heaters. These warm-up floors in a wide area.
Space Heaters – Usually portable and can heat up temperatures in a small area. If your basement flooring is a concrete slab, the warm air from a space heater can warm up the area quickly.
4. Underlayment
Flooring options such as laminate, linoleum, and vinyl floors will take on the temperature of the surface they’re installed in. When you have them installed at the subfloor surface then it’s usually a chilly floor come winter season.
One way to stop this from happening is to get an underlayment, which is installed on the sub-floor to prevent inheriting the temperature. Preventing your flooring from inheriting the temperature of the room is great during both the winter and summer months. Types of floor underlayments include rubber, foam or cork, or any natural insulator.
Aside from bringing about a warmer floor for your bare feet during cold times of the year, you also increase the R-value of your home, thereby reducing heating and cooling costs.
5. Check the Sub-Room
If the floor of your home’s first level is freezing, the room below it may be uninsulated or poorly heated. Inspect your crawlspace, garage, or basement and see if it gets temperature regulation. If this is the case, then the solution is a fairly simple one.
Insulating the floors usually does the trick. Install the appropriate type of insulation on the lower room’s ceiling or below the above room’s flooring and you can enjoy a warmer floor.
Additionally, you can use carpeting as a quick solution. However, insulation has the added bonus of keeping away vermin to try to find warmer abodes. Remember, hot air rises. If you warm up rooms below, then the warm air can rise and warm the flooring above the space as well.
6. Check the Windows and Doors
Cold floors can mean there’s a window or door open somewhere in the house.
Try and feel for drafts and you’ll usually find the culprit. Doors and windows will have sealants to keep away the cold during winter, but then these could wear out or simply become ineffective after a time.
To fix this, replace weather stripping material on the doors and windows, or reapply sealants to keep the cold wind from coming in and the hot air from escaping. Your house gets a nice boost in energy efficiency with this move.
7. Have Your Heating System Inspected
Lastly, you can schedule a professional heating system technician to check the state of your heater. A better-running system can go a long way towards preventing cold floors and stopping untimely cramps and unwanted accidents dead in their tracks. Replacing the furnace filter is the easiest way to keep your furnace running more efficiently.
How to Make Concrete Floors Warmer
Because concrete floors have a high thermal mass, the best way to warm up concrete floors is by installing an underfloor heating system. Not only does concrete flooring heat up fast, but it also retains heat very well. Adding an underfloor radiant heating system will help keep your home cozy during the cold winter months.
Additional Reading:
What is the Best Insulation for Floors?
What Is the Warmest Flooring Material?
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