How Does Carpet Make A Room Warmer?

A shocking fact that most people do not know is that uninsulated floors can account for as much as twenty percent of the heat loss in a home. This is when there’s no insulating layer on top of a concrete subfloor, or in a suspended floor. The insulation acts as a barrier of pocketed air to stop the cold air coming up through the floor, and the warm air from the room sinking below the floor. 

A carpet is actually works in a similar way to this though because it’s thinner it won’t actually be as effective, but there is some benefit there. So, even though it won’t create any warmth itself, it will aid in the retention of the heat that is created. Typically, a quality carpet is made up of fibres that are very thin and have a low rate of heat conduction.

Every carpet is made up of millions of individual fibres that trap air, which adds to the carpet’s ability to act as an insulator. The same way a blanket acts as a physical barrier between the cold in your home and your body, carpet flooring also acts as a physical barrier between the heat in your home and the sub-floor below. Compared to hard floor coverings, carpeting is believed to provide about ten times the amount of insulation compared to hard floors.

For example, having laminate over a waterproof layer that’s on top of a concrete sub-floor is a recipe for frozen toes, but a good underlay with a quality carpet on top won’t be anywhere near as bad!

Carpets Are Warmer To The Touch

Due to the fact that carpet cannot transfer heat energy very efficiently, even at low temperatures you will feel warm under your feet and to the touch even when the temperature is quite low. This is because your feet have their own warmth that carpet won’t try to steal the same way laminate can displace heat. As a result, with a carpet flooring you will be able to stay cosy and warm for a longer period of time and you will not need as much heating to keep yourself warm than you would with a hard flooring type.

Carpets And Their Savings

It is a fact that if you use carpets on your floors, you will be able to save money on your energy bills for several years to come. There is a general consensus that a home that has carpeting will pay between six and twelve percent less each month on their heating bills if they have carpeting instead of hard floors. It may seem like a small amount, but with the current price of energy, it can be an important consideration, especially when you consider the overall amount involved, and any savings are a benefit!

The use of less energy will also help you contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, one of the leading causes of climate change! It is also important to note that one of the major advantages of carpet flooring and its ability to maintain heat is the fact that it often allows you to turn your heat on later in the season and turn it off earlier for extra savings.

Top Tips for Maximising Your Home’s Warmth

You can generally increase the heat retention of your carpet by choosing one that has a thicker pile. There is a direct correlation between the thickness of it and the amount of insulation it provides. 

The amount of insulation that is provided by carpet will also be increased if it is installed over an underlay or cushioning. In addition to this, carpets with a higher stitch count will have a denser covering, which will also make them more durable. 

If you’ve already got a hard flooring in place and can’t afford new carpets then you can settle for small rugs and putting them in places you regularly stand or walk across – this will keep your feet warm, however the ambient room temperature would be higher if you’re fully carpeted as there’s a bigger surface area of its insulating properties. If you’re struggling to pay outright for a carpet, we can help! Keep reading and we’ll explain how. 

There is also a difference between the material from which it is made. Wool carpeting, for instance, is well known for its warmth, so it’s no surprise that it’s so popular. 

You can read about underlays here too! – “What Does Carpet Underlay Do?”

In Conclusion – Does Carpet Make A Home Warmer?

When compared to a hard flooring type, carpets do make a house warmer, in a sense. A carpet wont generate heat, but it will raise the ambient temperature of the room. 

It does this by insulating the room against the floor and helps keep the warmth that’s already inside the room, bouncing around instead of sinking below the floor. It’s also warmer to the touch because unlike laminate for example, it won’t try to displace the warmth of your feet.

An extra benefit is that you can save on using your heating because the rooms are more comfortable to be in. Homeowners with laminate will need to turn their heating on sooner in the year than carpeted homes. It’ll also make your heating more efficient by reducing heat loss, so it has a two pronged approach to reducing your energy bills! 

We mentioned earlier that it can be a struggle to replace flooring with how the economy is at the minute, and we’re here to help. We’ve had thousands of people use our Pay Weekly Flooring Plans now, and over 2500 of them have left us amazing 5 star reviews on Trustpilot! 

In a nut shell, our plans let you pick whichever flooring type you’d like, such as carpet, vinyl or laminate, which we have wide ranges of options in each to choose from. With carpet and laminate, you get free underlay. With carpets we offer 8mm underlay as standard, but you can upgrade to 10mm or 12mm too! Just remember that with a thicker underlay, you might have to adjust your doors to avoid scraping on the carpet! With each flooring type we’ll include everything we need to fit it for free too, such as under door trims and carpet grippers. 

We don’t charge interest, we don’t perform any credit checks and there’s no hidden fees. The cost of the flooring is all you pay, whether it takes you a few weeks or several months – the overall amount stays the same, and prices start from £10 per week! Fill in the form below to learn more!