Floor insulation: Keep your floors warm this winter

Your home’s heating and cooling systems contribute the most to your home’s energy expenditure, almost as much as 46%. And your energy bills tend to be at their highest during the summer and winter months when the weather is at its most extreme. 

And while your furnace may be sufficient to keep your rooms warm during the winter, your feet are still going to feel cold unless you have adequate floor insulation. Let us introduce you to your floor insulation options so you can choose what works best for your home.

Why floor insulation is important

Prevents heat loss

While your home’s HVAC system may be efficient in keeping your home warm, a lot of heat still escapes through small cracks, crevices, and the floor. In fact, almost 10% of a home’s heat loss happens through uninsulated floors.

Insulating the floor of living spaces creates a thermal envelope that allows for greater heat retention, which in turn increases the energy efficiency of HVAC systems.

Keeps moisture at bay

Moisture damage is something homeowners with wall-to-wall carpeting, hardwood, and cork floors have to deal with, especially the threat of mold and mildew infestation. On the other hand, anti-microbial, moisture-resistant flooring like rubber creates a vapor barrier and prevents this type of damage from occurring.

Prevents pipes from freezing

If your home has pipes laid underneath the floor, they could freeze over during the winters, and this could lead to them bursting or cracking. And in most cases, this kind of damage goes undetected until winter is over.

A freeze-thaw surface or an insulating layer between the pipes and the floors is a great way to ensure the pipes have extra protection against freezing over this winter.

Reduces cold drafts

Homes that are built above ground level and have crawl spaces underneath them are likely to have potential air gaps between the floor joists that allow cold air from the outside into the homes. This can get especially harrowing during the peak winter months.

A surefire solution to this problem is to invest in floor insulation.

Helps in the summer as well

Insulated flooring is not limited to protecting you underfoot during the winter alone. It helps with energy savings during the summer as well. Just like an insulated floor helps prevent heat loss in the winter, it prevents cool air from escaping during the summer. This in turn will mean your air conditioner will need to work less hard to keep your home cool.

Floor insulation choices

Now that we’ve established why floor insulation in a living space is important, we’re now going to take you through what types of insulation options you have, as well as the pros and cons of each of them.

Read more: Getting your furnace ready for winter

Carpeting

Wall-to-wall carpeting is a great choice for multiple reasons. Carpets feel warm and luxurious underfoot. Being a poor conductor of heat, they’re efficient in both keeping your home warm during the winter and cool during the summer.

Pros

• Carpets add visual appeal to any room they are a part of.
• They act as efficient sound barriers since they are adept at absorbing vibrations.
• Other than providing insulation, carpets reduce the risks of slipping and falling, creating a safe surface in a living space.

Cons

• They are difficult to clean and maintain, especially in homes with children and pets.
• The risk of carpets trapping moisture means you will need to avoid all types of spillage.
• Dirt, dust mites, allergens, and pathogens can easily hide in carpets, causing respiratory illnesses and compromising indoor air quality.

Underlayment

Hardwood floors require the underlayment to add insulation between the floor and the subfloor. This could be spray foam insulation, fiberglass insulation, polyfoam, rubber, stone wool, mineral wool, silicone, or rigid foam. Often, these are coupled with radiant heat floors for an extra layer of insulation.

Pros

• Roll insulation is energy efficient and great for retaining heat.
• Works great with ceramic tiles, concrete floors, laminate and hardwood floors.

Cons

• With time, the materials tend to compress and warp, becoming less effective. This is especially true with fiberglass roll insulation.
• Underlayments are not waterproof, which means they will not be very effective if you live in a high rainfall area or have hot water piping underneath the floor.
• The time and effort needed to install foam insulation or fiberglass insulation is considerable.
• Foam insulation is quite expensive, and can increase the overall cost of your insulation project.

Radiant heat floors

This is a luxurious way to use an underfloor heating system to keep a space warm. There are two main types of radiant heat insulation.

• Electric, where a network of wires underneath the floor keeps it warm.
• Hydronic, where the floor is heated using hot water tubes under the floor.

Pros

• It is a great way to heat an area evenly without the heat being wasted on surrounding surfaces.
• The system is easy to operate.

Cons

• The system is expensive to install, because of which it may not be ideal for larger areas or for entire homes.
• Installing this will mean you will need to plan for an entirely new floor. This is a whole home improvement project in itself.
• The room height will decrease at least by ½ an inch.

Rubber surfaces

This is a flooring option that works really well for both indoor and outdoor flooring. 

Pros

• Rubber is a great insulating agent that does not allow heat to escape.
• It is moisture and stain-resistant.
• It is easy to install and can be installed for an entire house in around only two days.
• Rubber flooring is slip resistant and easy to clean. It also has a cushioning effect. This makes it an ideal choice for homes with kids, pets as well as elderly people.
• It is durable and capable of handling rigorous wear and tear.
• It is an antimicrobial flooring option.
• It is available in a number of design options and finishes.

Cons

• The initial cost of installing insulated rubber flooring is high. However, thanks to its durability, the floor pays for itself over the long term.
• It has a peculiar smell to it when installed that takes time to fade away.

We hope this draws some light into flooring insulation. Make the smart choice for you!

Read more: Best flooring for your home this year

Written by Narayan Shrouthy. December 1, 2023

Narayan is a content writer for Kukun. With experience in both content writing and editing, Narayan mixes his writing and love for reading with his passion for music. As an active musician, He aims to be a key player in Kukun's content experience.