Tiles are a very common and popular type of flooring material. Let’s take a look at whether do they make floors colder.
Tiles are an incredibly popular flooring choice that many homeowners and interior designers are very fond of. These are flooring choices whose wide range of variations make them especially a favorite kind of flooring material for many homeowners and also for many business owners as well. The availability of such a wide range and types of tiles is one reason why it is such a popular choice. When compared with other flooring options, they are also a very good option when it comes to both maintenance and also versatility of use. They are available in a very wide range of designs, patterns and also colors. It is also not uncommon for designers to make use of a wide variety of tiles in order to create patterns and styles that are very unique to the individual designer, homeowner or business owner.
When you compare it with other flooring options that are available in the market, such as wood flooring or carpets; of course tiles are going to make the floor much colder than those ones. It is the very nature of how they are manufactured that makes them be this way. The reason why tiles make a floor colder is down to a simple fact. That fact is tiles repel heat. That is a quality that makes them very suitable for use in climates that are warmer and where repelling heat is something that is desirable. While there are tiles available that do exude heat, they are more like the exception rather than the rule. Let us take a closer look at the science behind why tiles are colder and also some of the pros and cons of switching to tiles.
The Science Behind It
It is not true that tiles actually make the room any colder, what is true is that they feel colder to the touch in places where it is cold in general. The temperature of the tiles is the same as the temperature that the thermostat in any given home is set at. The reason why tiles have the reputation of making the room colder is that it feels cooler on the feet. The reason behind that can be explained by some basic science and the most important thing here is the transfer of heat. Let us take a look at how all of this works.
The transfer of heat is the movement of heat that happens when it moves from one object to another. When there is a transfer of heat from one object to a colder one, it gives off the feeling of coolness to the object that is warmer. In these cases, that object happens to be our feet. The rate at which this is achieved is totally dependent on the material the object is made out of. This is a specific reason why tiles feel colder than carpet or wood. It just happens to be a much better conductor of heat.
What does all of the above actually mean when you talk about floor covering, that is the real question here. It means that whenever your feet touch the floor, the warmth that is present in your body gets transferred to the object that you are in contact with. This process will happen with other objects as well.
When we touch tiles and feel cold in our feet, it is not because the tile itself is cold, it is due to the fact that heat is being transferred away from your body. As we have mentioned before, it is due to the fact that tiles just happen to be a very good conductor.
This is the reason why flooring materials like carpet, engineered hardwood and cork are considered to be flooring that is much warmer. These flooring materials are not as good of a conductor and they act like insulators. What this means is that the heat does not transfer as well to the material. It is because of this that these are substances that give off the feeling of being a warmer substance.
So, having said all of this, it is just because the carpet or wood does not transfer heat as well that they have a reputation of being a warmer flooring type.
Can They Actually Make A Room Warmer?
This may be a bit of a surprise but tiles can actually make rooms warmer because of the same reasons that they make rooms colder. Yes, the same properties that make them feel cold can actually make it feel warm as well.
When you pair up the tiles with a radiant in-floor system for heating, the same tiles will very easily warm-up and also transfer the heat coming out of the heating system and into your body.
If you are the type of person who lives in a warmer climate and you do not experience very cold winters, this last step may not be applicable to you and it is most definitely not a necessity. But, if you do live in a colder climate, then you must get radiant floor heating underneath your tiles as they can very definitely make your home a much warmer place in the months of winter. If you really think about it, then having a warm floor tile is much better than carpets or other types of flooring options.
Pros and Cons
There are both pros and cons of installing tiles in your home. Let’s take a look at both the pros and cons:
Pros:
- Tiles are much easier to clean and also a better flooring option to maintain.
- It is very durable and long-lasting.
- It is affordable
Cons:
- It is very heavy when compared to other types of flooring
- They are slippery and also hard
- They feel cold unless this issue is specifically solved
Additional Source: https://www.tileclub.com/collections/floor-tile
