cold floor

[j j]

Any reason why a hardwood floor would be cold when it's 22 Celsius in the room, the floor is above a very hot basement (26 celsius) and the basment ceiling (floor of above room) is insulated?

[Joseph Meehan]

Chances are the floor is not really cold. However the hardwood finish is a good conductor of heat. Your body is about 37º which is a lot warmer than the floor. On carpet you will not feel much of a difference, but one the hardwood, it will cool your feet (or hand) much faster and it will "feel" cooler.

[John]

Try checking along the baseboards and plug outlets for air leakage. It may be that incoming colder air is wind washing the floor and cooling it down.

John

[Martin]

The heat conduction explanation is probably the answer. Lay a thermometer on the floor, with a towel over it to shield it from the heat in the room, and see what the floor temperature actually is.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Not probably, it is the reason.

Heat seeks a cooler space. It is one of the laws of physics that it is always seeking equilibrium. The floor is smooth compared to carpeting. As Joseph pointed out it "feels" cooler because the smooth surface give a lot of contact to your warmer body. You body temperature is always warmer than a heated room in winter so you feel the heat leaving your body to the cooler floor.

Put some ink or paint on the hardwood floor and on some carpet. Put your hand on them and you will see the smooth surface of the floor transfers much more of the ink than the carpet. Same with heat. Ed

[Tom Baker]

I have seen instances where a floor / ceiling cavity is not fully sealed and insulated. That, in addition to the conductivity of the floor, might account for the cold floor. TB

[Edwin Pawlowski]

In some cases, yes, but look at the temperatures here. The room below is warmer than the room with the floor. Both are below body temperature of a live person. Ed

[Charles Spitzer]

except if the cavity is tied into the wall and isn't sealed, and the wall acts as a conduit to the outside temps. in that case, the floor/ceiling could be significantly different temperatures than the surrounding two rooms. i believe that's what tom is alluding to.

regards, charlie cave creek, az

[Martin]

I say probably because it is still a hypothesis which conveniently seems to fit the OP's description of the problem. Very unscientific! It needs to be proven by measuring the floor's actual temperature before discounting other causes.

Case in point: We had a cold floor which we found was due to cold breezes leaking under the sill and between the ceiling in the heated basement and the floor in question. Cured by caulking.

[Alan]

Why do you want the basement ceiling insulated? Without the insulation, your floor would be receiving more heat which is exactly what you want.

[AJScott]

You know, you'd be a lot warmer if you weren't on metric.

For the levity-impaired, I was just funnin'.

AJS

[j j]

when the ceiling wasn't insulated you could hear someone talking in the basement as if he was next to you

[Alan]

Did the floor feel cold before the insulation was added?

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I've seen new home built with basement ceilings insulated. I know of a person that had to insulate their house in order to sell it under some government mortgage program the buyers were using. Does not make sense to me for the reason you mention, but it seems to be a practice today. Anyone know the specifics? Ed

[j j]

I don't remember.