Does Underfloor Insulation Heat Up the Floor?

Out of all the heat that is lost during the cold winter months, most of it escapes through the ceilings and walls. A small portion, however, will also inevitably make its way through the floor. Is it enough to warrant an insulation investment? How much difference will it actually make? These are questions that home owners are often faced with at the time of construction when they are trying to make ends meet and come up with a viable and balanced building proposal and budget. People living in homes with a raised timber floor may also find themselves wondering the same thing, especially if they’ve been through a few hard winters.

Underfloor Insulation Undoubtedly Has Its Place

As far as thermal efficiency goes, wall and roof insulation are by far the most popular home insulation products, and not without good reasoned – combined, the roof and wall areas probably account for over 70% of a buildings heat loss. But underfloor insulation also has an important role to play. These days many new homes will have a layer of polystyrene insulation lying underneath their slab. The reason this is often used under concrete slabs is because it has an exceptional compressive strength. Homes with raised timber floors may have had a layer of bulk underfloor insulation installed.

Honest Feedback from Recent Pink Batts Insulation Customer

Pricewise Insulation recently sold Pink Batts underfloor insulation batts to a customer in Sydney, to be installed by a professional insulation installer. Interested in some honest feedback on the outcome, Pricewise conducted an interview on the whole experience. Following is a summary of the interview:

Q: What made you decide to invest in underfoor insulation?

A: The house we’d moved into had a raised underfloor, and it was quite chilly to walk on even when the rooms were warm. That, together with the fact that we’d done some research and knew that underfloor insulation can help to reduce our energy costs resulted in our decision to go for it.

Q: How did you experience the process of getting the insulation delivered and installed?

A:  This was actually quite easy. We knew a good insulation installer, so we measured up the floor area, ordered the Pink Batts insulation batts to be delivered to our door, and booked the installer for the following day. It took him less than a day to insulate the entire underfloor area.

Q: Was there much difference did you notice before and after?

A: Definitely. Most of the internal heating in our home comes from the wood combustion heater in the living room. This creates a lot of heat and the lounge room and adjoining rooms are comfortably warm while it’s on. But what was interesting to note was the difference in floor temperature from close to the heater and further throughout the house. Close to the wood combustion heater, the floor quickly warmed up and remained warm. However, in the rooms furthers from the source of heat, the floor was noticeably cooler, despite the insulation. Presumably, if we had heaters running in those rooms also we would have noticed a similar effect to the main living area.

The Conclusion Then?

Underfloor insulation is not a replacement for a heater, but where heaters are in use, it definitely helps to ensure that as little heat as possible escapes through the floor.

Foilboard Green Rigid Insulation Panels

From $ 9.10 p/m2 inc. GST

Buy Now

Knauf Earthwool FloorShield Insulation Batts

From $ 18.16 p/m2 inc. GST

Buy Now

Knauf Earthwool Sound Shield Insulation Batts (Suitable for Underfloors)

From $ 8.38 p/m2 inc. GST

Buy Now

Bradford Optimo Underfloor Insulation

From $ 19.57 p/m2 inc. GST

Buy Now