Winter is oftentimes the most expensive time of the year for your utility bills. This is because of the amount of heat loss that a home undergoes through the winter months. Your heating system will then compensate by warming up the inside of the home, causing your gas bills to rise. Does carpet flooring keep a home warmer in the winter? If carpet is a good insulator, how much of a difference can a carpet make to your heating bill?
Does Carpet Keep Your House Warmer in the Winter?
How Houses Lose Their Heat
It’s a known fact that people lose most of the heat through the top of their heads and the bottoms of their feet. This is something that people often think of as applying to their bodies, but not too often imagine applying to their homes.
Houses lose most of their heat the same way.
The average house has several spots that are notorious for losing heat in the winter months and increasing your heating bill. You may feel cold air around doors and windows and might be losing heat through your floors.
Proper insulation is important for any home to reduce heat loss. If there are gaps in insulation material that’s supposed to be solid, you can expect that your home will not trap air and retain heat as it should, thus resulting in energy bills skyrocketing.
How to Measure Heat Loss
Heat loss isn’t just a random figure that someone guesses when a house is built or furnished. Home building industry professionals can calculate heat loss – the amount of heat that your home absorbs versus disperses.
Heat loss figures matter and are used when houses are built – or when furnishings such as carpets are chosen.
If you don’t want to do the math, you don’t have to. The most important information that you should take from this section is that the answer is yes, carpets can keep a home much warmer in the winter. There’s a logical way to calculate by just how much. Keep reading to learn more about calculating your home’s heat loss.
Measured Through the Floor
The floor is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to heat loss in the home. Experts suggest a house can lose as much as 15 to 25 percent of its total heat through an unprotected (or underinsulated floor).
If you leave your floor naked, then you could lose as much of a quarter of your home’s warm air as a result – and increase your heating bill as a result.
Adding carpet to cover your floor can prevent the majority of this heat loss (assuming that you choose the right carpet for the job) and keep the temperature in the room stable.
If you use carpet to cover your floor, it can prevent the majority of this heat loss (assuming that you choose the right carpet for the job) and keep the temperature in the room stable.
A simple area rug can help your living space feel warmer. When considering carpet, factors to consider include carpet pads, and the thickness of the carpet if you want to keep your house warm and your feet warm as well.
Putting Carpets and Warmth: Put to the Test
When it comes to carpets and their warmth, insulation is measured by what’s called the R-value. Experts calculate the R-value of the carpet and its material to know just how well it will retain heat.
The most important thing that readers should take from this is that the answer is, again, yes, carpet does retain heat better than other flooring covering options, and can help keep your home or a specific room warmer.
Carpets can make a huge difference to the warmth of the home. The right type of carpet can keep your home feeling warm this winter season – again, with the added benefit of a much cheaper heating bill and saving money in the long run.
Additional Reading: Seal and Insulate: Identify the Problems You Want to Fix (Energy.gov)
Thermal Insulation: The Quick Secret
If your carpet doesn’t give you enough heat retention, then there’s one more secret you should know about, thermal insulation.
Thermal insulation looks much like a space blanket and can ensure that you retain more heat than lose in the winter.
Thermal insulation is easy to source and fits right underneath carpeting or flooring. It works to trap most of the heat where you’d like it: right inside the home.
Related Articles:
What is the Warmest Flooring Material?
What is the Best Insulation for Floors?
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