With temperatures dropping and heating bills on the up, homeowners are looking down to find a cold-busting, bill-saving solution. As much as 10% of a home’s heat can be lost through the floor, experts say, making your choice of flooring even more crucial.
In this article, we’ll examine the best flooring for cold weather and which floor type is best for keeping a home warm.
What is the Warmest Type of Flooring?
Carpet is the warmest floor as it keeps the heat in a room effectively and feels warm to the touch.
While it withstands temperature fluctuations, it’s prone to mold and staining, particularly from salt burns in snowy conditions. It’s also not ideal for most living areas, like bathrooms, kitchens, hallways, and laundry rooms.
Cork flooring is the next best when it comes to warmth.
Panel Town flooring guru Adrienne says cork is “highly insulating and hypoallergenic.”
She has plans to install cork in her bedroom.
If you’re interested in cork flooring, you can reach out to her through our contact form.
Resilient flooring, like laminate, luxury vinyl or hardwood, offers similar insulating properties to carpet. Though it’s not quite as warm, it’s more durable and isn’t prone to aesthetic destruction.
With laminate flooring, a good cork underlay can also boost insulation, like our warm and quiet cork sheeting.
Luxury vinyl has padding under each plank/tile, making it warm and durable with a degree of soundproofing. Underlay isn’t usually necessary for luxury vinyl. Learn more about underlayment for vinyl flooring.
Solid hardwood is made from real wood, and, as a natural insulator, this means it prevents heat from passing through it. This leaves both the floor and room warmer for longer after turning the heating off.
Engineered wood is designed to be just as aesthetically pleasing as solid hardwood, but with a sturdier and more damp-resistant core. Both are considered premium flooring options, with solid hardwood being the slightly more expensive choice.
Top Picks: Best Flooring for Cold Weather
Luxury Vinyl Flooring (Planks & Tiles)
Most luxury vinyl, including our Happy Feet range, has an insulating, cushioned layer that sits just beneath the planks. This acts as an underlay which keeps the floor warm and soundproofed.
Adding additional underlayment to luxury vinyl flooring often isn’t necessary. If the floor already has a padded layer (not a cork layer), underlay creates too much cushioning, which can compromise the integrity of the floor itself.
Available as planks or tiles, luxury vinyl is often warmer than ceramic tiles. It’s also more affordable and easier to install compared to solid hardwood and engineered wood, yet it offers a similarly tough finish.
With wear layers up to 30 mil, luxury vinyl is extremely durable and long-lasting. Click-lock joins and ceramic beading creates a waterproof finish that’s both scratch-resistant and unaffected by humidity.
Engineered Hardwood
We recommend engineered hardwood in high-traffic rooms, like lounges and hallways, that you want to keep warmer for longer while achieving a real wood look.
Engineered hardwood is constructed of multiple layers of wood with a real hardwood veneer layer fitted on top. This gives it the well-favored appearance of solid wood with a more universally stable structure.
Engineered wood isn’t necessarily stronger than solid hardwood, as hardwood is very strong and can last more than a century. Yet it responds better to changes in temperature and humidity. So if a property is prone to dampness, engineered hardwood is the better choice.
The wood itself, combined with the multi-layered construction, also gives the floor good insulating properties. During temperature fluctuations, engineered wood retains heat, making the room warmer and creating a warmer feeling underfoot.
Solid Hardwood (Prefinished & Unfinished)
We recommend solid hardwood if you want a distinct, natural and durable floor that doesn’t get cold easily.
Solid hardwood is a premium flooring that feels warm and prevents heat loss indoors. Wood has a cellular structure where small air pockets form. This stops heat from escaping easily, so the heat stays in the room instead.
The main choice you have to make before choosing hardwood is whether you will choose prefinished planks or a sitefinished floor.
Thicker hardwood tends to be more insulating, but it’s important not to make generalizations when it comes to the capabilities of hardwood. Each species is different and offers unique benefits in line with its Janka rating. Read our hardwood floor buying guide here.
Solid hardwood is a pricier option compared to luxury vinyl or laminate. Yet it’s the preferred choice when you want a unique and long-lasting floor that can potentially add value to a property in years to come.
We recommend laminate in any room that you want to keep warm and achieve a real wood look for an affordable price.
Laminate flooring is very easy to clean and won’t stain if ice or snow is tracked onto the surface. Provided it’s installed correctly, it caters well to temperature fluctuations, so it won’t crack in extreme weather or get moldy.
Available in various colors and patterns, laminate mimics the look of solid hardwood for a fraction of the price. It’s also strong and durable, with high water resistance and a finish that’s hard to scratch.
Laminate is a popular and versatile choice for the home. It’s budget-friendly and easy to install, making it a great option for families and pet owners.
FAQs
Is LVT Colder Than Laminate?
Both luxury vinyl tiles (LVT) and laminate are considered warm and insulating floors. With a good underlay, laminate is slightly warmer than LVT, but the difference is marginal.
LVT with padding (not cork) has an insulating, cushioned layer that retains heat exceptionally well. Once a room is heated, it stays warm to the touch for long periods.
This is unlike ceramic tiles, which are considerably colder than luxury vinyl tiles or laminate flooring. Ceramic takes the heat away from your body which makes the floor feel cold. Luxury vinyl tiles mimic the appearance of ceramic but feel warmer under your feet.
Which Flooring is Best Suited to Cold Climates?
Hardwood floors are well-suited to homes in cold climates. When temperatures drop below freezing and the house isn’t routinely heated, poorly fitted flooring can suffer due to expansion and contraction.
When installed correctly, laminate and luxury vinyl can withstand extreme temperatures well. However, hardwood floors are the most resistant to fluctuations in warmth and humidity. Even in cold climates when temperatures drop significantly, hardwood flooring remains strong, sturdy and completely intact.
Engineered hardwood performs slightly better than solid hardwood in these conditions, but provided the weather isn’t too extreme, both are viable options.
What is the Coldest Type of Floor?
Stone or ceramic tiles are the coldest type of floor. As excellent heat conductors, they take the warmth from your feet as you walk on them, which is why they feel so cold. This feature does, however, make them highly efficient when paired with underfloor heating, which, of course, makes a tiled floor feel warmer.
A warmer alternative to ceramic tile is luxury vinyl tiles. Its pre-fitted cushioned layer offers better insulation. Since LVT looks like tiled flooring, minus the heat loss and cold feeling, it’s often seen as the better, more contemporary solution.
Any hard floor can be made warmer with a rug or underfloor heating. Get help from an expert to find the perfect rug for your choice of floor.
Summary
Resilient flooring is suitable for cold rooms or homes that need extra insulation, but it’s worth researching each option further.
Every floor type has its benefits to suit different requirements, climates, and budgets.
Aesthetics come heavily into play, too. Flooring is instrumental in creating a certain décor in a room or home, so the floor needs to deliver exactly what you want look-wise as well as heat-wise.
Explore our flooring range or test different styles using our room visualizer and discover your perfect choice of floor today.
