Homeowners could save up to £40 per room a year on heating bills by sealing draughty floorboards, according to advice from the Energy Saving Trust.
With colder weather approaching, households looking to cut energy bills without turning down the heating may be overlooking a simple fix beneath their feet. Gaps between floorboards can let cold air into rooms and allow warm air to escape, forcing heating systems to work harder to maintain a comfortable temperature.
Heat loss through the floor
According to the Energy Saving Trust, around 10 to 20 per cent of a home's heat loss occurs through the floor. Sealing gaps between floorboards could also reduce household carbon emissions by around 110kg a year.
Lucas Lar, director of engineered wood flooring specialist Made of Wood, is urging homeowners to check their floors for signs of draughts before winter sets in. While many people focus on gaps around windows and doors, flooring can also be an overlooked source of heat loss.
Spotting the signs of draughts
Homeowners should look out for areas of flooring that feel noticeably colder than the rest of a room, particularly around skirting boards and where individual boards meet. Unusual dust patterns along the edges of carpets could also indicate that air is moving beneath the floor, while draughts around skirting boards may suggest gaps that need attention.
These problems can be particularly easy to miss in older properties, where carpets and rugs may conceal gaps between floorboards. Wood can also expand and contract as temperature and moisture levels change, and over time this movement may leave small openings through which cold air can enter.
Ventilation warning
Lar said: "Gaps between floorboards allow cold air to enter your home and warm air to escape, forcing your heating system to work harder to keep a comfortable temperature."
"Although homeowners often focus on draughts around windows and doors, the flooring beneath their feet can be just as easy to overlook."
Before reaching for sealant, homeowners with suspended timber floors should take care not to block ventilation openings beneath the property. These openings allow air to circulate underneath the floor, helping prevent moisture from building up and causing damp or timber decay. Blocking them in an attempt to keep the home warmer could create a different and potentially costly problem.
Instead, homeowners should focus on unwanted gaps in the flooring itself while ensuring that essential ventilation remains unobstructed. Older homes may be particularly susceptible to draughts because air circulating beneath raised timber floors can find its way through gaps in the boards.
Lar said sealing unwanted gaps before winter could help keep rooms warmer and reduce the temptation to turn up the thermostat. The potential £40 saving is an estimate rather than a guarantee, and the amount saved will depend on the property and the extent of the draughts.
