Warm Up Your Chilly Tile Floors With These Helpful Tips

In cold weather, you're always looking for ways to make your living space as comfortable as possible. You might bundle yourself up and close the window to prevent drafts from coming in, but if you have tile flooring, it might still be uncomfortable to move around your home. To make things easier, keep your tiles warm by putting down insulating rugs or installing floor heaters and weather-stripping.

Warming up chilly tile floors can be done in various ways. What it generally boils down to is how long-lasting you want your heating solution to be. Things like rugs and heated mats can only cover certain sections of the room, but insulating the room as a whole does a more thorough job so that you don't have to worry about cold tiles anymore. Whatever type of heating solution you choose, it should be well-executed so that your floors are insulated properly and therefore pleasant to walk on.

If you suddenly realize that your floors are too cold to walk on, here are two quick fixes that can bring you immediate comfort. The first is to get thick area rugs or carpets in an insulating material. Wool is a good example of an effective insulator because it has great thermal properties, as noted in a 2016 report released by AgResearch (via ResearchGate). The material also needs to be thick, so consider the pile height when shopping because that corresponds to the thickness. Wayfair has a gorgeous, rust Bucklin wool rug with a pile height of 0.78 inches, which should be thick enough to retain warmth. The 8x10-foot size costs $326, but there are other many other size options and designs available.

You can also get some electric heated floor mats for your feet. Home Depot has a 14x21-inch mat that can warm and dry your feet, and even improve blood flow. The mat retails for about $48. It is safe for use on tile floors because it doesn't get too hot and has flat edges, which lessens the chance of tripping.

An approach that involves a bit more work is to weather-strip your windows, doors, and any other entry points to the room to prevent cold air from entering and cooling the tiles. To do this, measure the gap you want to cover and cut the weather-stripping to match it. Insert it according to the instructions and then check that it has adhered properly and that the door or window opens normally. A toe kick or kick-space heater is another option. Installed at floor level on the bottom of a cabinet, they will circulate warm air evenly and can be controlled independently.

Of course, an up-to-date HVAC system will help boost any attempts you make to keep your home warm and cozy. It controls both the heating and cooling of your home to maintain a balanced temperature, so it needs to be running as effectively as possible. An HVAC technician will be able to check this out for you.