Our homes are the haven we turn to when it is hot outside or when a dramatic heatwave hits Melbourne. This is the area that provides sheltering from those scorching UV rays, offers relief from scorching winds, and provides comfort when you feel worn out.
While any rooftop can bring some relief, the right home features can make your home even more comfortable even before turning on the air conditioning unit. Engineered timber flooring is one of these home features that can have a dramatic impact on the natural room temperature inside your building.
Let’s take a look at the different cooling effects that these advanced flooring systems offer.
Cool To The Touch
Engineered timber has a smooth top surface that is devoid of heat-absorbing fibers that are used in carpeted flooring. It doesn’t have any rubber underlayment that can absorb heat. The floors will stay cool to the touch even on the hottest of days. This provides a nice and chilled feel when you are walking barefoot inside your house or sitting down on the living room floor.Low Thermal Conductivity
Wood has a very low thermal conductivity meaning it won’t warm up or cool down as much when it comes in contact with objects of extreme temperatures. Because of this wood isn’t as likely to adopt the same temperature as the rest of the room and typically stays much cooler to the touch when it is warm or warmer to the touch when it is cold.
Insulative Qualities
The wooden materials also have insulative qualities and will create any warmth or coolness you create inside the room trapped inside for longer.
When you do run the air conditioning unit, your interior spaces will cool down faster and the coolness you create inside will stay trapped indoors for much longer. Thanks to this insulative quality, you won’t have to continuously run your air conditioning units and you can keep your energy bill relatively low, especially if you combine an air conditioning unit with a standing or ceiling-mounted fan.
Light Wood Absorbs Less Warmth
Engineered wood floors come in many different shades and selecting the right colour can make interior spaces appear and feel cooler.
Lighter wood colour is especially likely to create a cooler interior temperature because light wood tones don’t absorb as much warmth as dark wood tones when exposed to direct sun.
Colour Psychology
Wood floors with a lighter, greyer, or blueish undertone will also create the illusion that the room is cooler compared to wood hues with a warmer yellow, reddish, or golden undertone.
Strategies to Keep Wooden Floors Even Cooler
Once you have these floors installed, there are quite a few things you can do to keep your floors cooler.
For starters, close all of the exterior doors and windows so hot air cannot enter your room. Now open all interior doors so air can flow through all of your rooms and keep heat from getting trapped in certain areas.
Opening your windows at night is also a good strategy since it will allow some of the heat to escape your home. It is also best to install blackout blinds in any windows that receive direct sun. If the sun shines directly onto wooden floors it will eventually cause discolouration and your floors will become warm.
Choose Engineered Wooden Floors for a Cooler Summer Home
If you want to reduce your home’s interior temperature without using energy then it is best to switch over to engineered timber flooring. These floors are not just more efficient, they will also beautify any room instantly.
At Wooden Floors Melbourne we specialise in engineered timber flooring and we have many wood colour tone selections to choose from including quite a few lighter shades that are perfect for creating a cooler summer home. Give us a call to find out more about our flooring or to get your floors professionally installed.