While it may be summer now winter will soon enough roll around again, much to dismay for most of us. Now is the perfect time When the weather gets colder we inevitably put turn our heating up to stay cosy. This however causes our bills to increase too and with Christmas bang in the middle of the chilly season, this is most peoples yearly struggle. However, there are measures you can take to better insulate your home and floors to put an end to those troublesome monthly bills.

Underlays

One key way of retaining heat in your home is by using an underlay. An underlay is a sheet of material laid underneath the boards of your floor to not only protect, but insulate too. Floors that can be laid using an underlay are known as ‘floating floors’. Underlays offer your floor that added bit of insulation and generally speaking the thicker the underlay, the more insulation your floor is provided with. If your property has underfloor heating however, we’d recommend using an especially thin underlay that will allow the heat to pass through the underlay as opposed to to trapping it.

Engineered Floors

If you’re looking for a floor that in itself is a great insulator of heat, an engineered floor is perfect. Engineered wood is made up from layers of either plywood or MDF and finished off with a surface layer of solid wood. It's thanks to the layers of the lower quality wood that help to contain heat and keep your floor feeling warm underfoot. Engineered wood is a floating floor, and as previously mentioned this means that it can be used with an underlay for even more heat retention. Unlike a solid wood floor, engineered floor has the ability to withstand changes in temperature meaning that it won’t expand and contract dramatically. Ultimately this means that the floor can safely be used with higher heating settings for those especially cold nights.

Laminate Floors

Laminate flooring is made from layers of different materials. The bottom layer, the backing, keeps the product water resistant and stops the product from warping. Following this is the inner core made from high-density fibreboard reinforced with a special resin to further contribute to the water resistance of the material. The next layer is the image layer where a high-resolution image of wood or another material type is printed to give the illusion of the real thing. Finally the wear layer protects the floor from everyday wear and tear. It’s thanks to all these layers that laminate floors are excellent at retaining heat, plus, laminate floors are also floating floors meaning you can use an underlay to further increase the warmth of your floor.

Have Your Say

Do you have any knowledge to share with us? Let us know in the comments!

Remember to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest news and discussions. We’re always finding new ways to improve our stock, so keep up to date!