Does insulating the floor in your house make it warmer?

Question

I have a small house that is 3 feet off the ground on a permanent foundation (insulfoam block). It is completely enclosed and has a vapor barrier on the dirt under the house. The floor is a standard wood floor with floor joists and has carpet and pad on it. I notice that the house is warm....but the floor is cool and it feels "breezy" at floor level. I was wondering if insulating the floor under the house may help?

Answer 1

If you didnt have that vapor barrier those wood floors would have already buckled.

Answer 2

The floor is cool and "breezy" due to natural convection.  Warm air raises, cool air sinks, so the coolest part of your house will be the floors unless you have radiant floor heating.

I am not familiar with the insulfoam brand, but this sounds like an insulated concrete wall.  This being the case, your house is probably fairly new and insulated better than an older house.  The insulated foundation should be adequate for floor insulation in terms of efficiency.  Adding floor insulation may improve the temperature of the floor in heating season by just a bit, but not enough to make a huge difference.

Short version, if you want to insulate to get a marginal improvement in the floor temperature, go for it.  Don't expect to recover your cost through a lower heating bill.

Answer 3

A possible shortfall to insulating the floors would be the water lines in the crawl freezing in cold weather.

Answer 4

Most homes with a crawl space have it atmospherically vented underneath to prevent moisture buildup from the earth. Insulation under your floor joyces will be emensly helpful. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

WOULD BE THE SAME IF YOU WALKED AROUND BAREFOOTEDFOR A WHILE,THEN PUT ON SOCKS&SHOES AND WALKED AROUND IN THE SAME AREA,WHICH WOULD BE WARMER?