Tile Has Higher Thermal Conductivity Than Carpet

Metals are an example of a material with a high thermal conductivity that can quickly transfer heat.

Tile has higher thermal conductivity than carpet.

Simply put tile is the better conductor of heat than wood or carpet and can take away the heat from your feet faster than the others. Of carpet with its millions of tiny fibres traps air and further increases its thermal insulation. The internal structure of a metal molecule contains free electrons that can move freely through the bulk of the material. Because it sucks heat out of you faster it feels colder even though it is the same temperature as the carpet.

However because marble tiles are usually twice as thick as ceramic tiles they offer greater protection against thermal conductivity. Carpet ranks very highly i e. They are more likely to be in thermal equilibrium meaning they are at the same temperature. The thermal insulation values r values of different household materials are compared in figure 1.

Carpet particularly wool and shag varieties provides the best r values among all standard flooring choices. However the tile has a higher thermal conductivity than the carpet meaning it draws heat away from your body more readily than the carpet does. The thermal diffusivity data for commercial materials are plotted as a function of temperature in fig. Pvc tile has only 1 3 of the insulation of wool carpet.

Tile floors such as marble and ceramic offer similar r values when compared based on the measurement. 2 indicating that vinyl material had the lowest thermal diffusivity as low as 0 0025 cm 2 s 1 and granite tile the highest more than twice higher than the rest. Wool carpet had a higher insulation value than comparable carpets of other fibre types. As can be seen from the table the thermal resistance of carpet is significantly higher than that of concrete and plywood two common flooring materials and similar to fiberglass insulation.

Tile and rocks have a higher thermal conductivity than carpet and fabrics so they can transfer heat away from a foot at a much quicker rate making the tile appear cool to the touch. Heat conductivity is all about the rate at which the material can conduct heat.