18 December 2023

The best carpet to help save energy

 

There’s nothing like a thick plush carpet to help give your home that cosy warm feeling, but are they really energy efficient? In this article, we take a look into which carpets are the most effective at helping to save energy.

Saving Energy

What do we mean by ‘saving energy? In carpet terms, a carpet that helps to keep your home warm, and helps to maintain the temperature of your home, will ultimately save energy. The key element to this is tog rating.

Tog Rating

This term is associated with the textiles, e.g. carpet and underlays. The higher the tog rating the warmer it will feel.

Underlays

Ensuring you choose a good quality underlay, will not only improve the feel of your carpet under foot but also help to save energy. To help you assess the quality of an underlay, we recommend checking:

1. Tog Rating
2. Density
3. Thickness

Standard underlays are most commonly made from recycled foam/ off cuts (Polyurethane), and is referred to as PU underlay.

If you are wanting to invest into your underlay choice, there are a range of different types underlay available to choose from. For more information on underlays, check out our Ultimate Guide.

Underfloor heating

Many households are opting to install underfloor heating as a means to help save energy. If you wanting to install carpet over an underfloor heating system, it’s important to choose an underlay specifically designed for this purpose. The type of underlay will have holes to allow the heat to be transferred. We recommend checking the tog rating or thermal resistance on your chosen underlay. This will provide you with the knowledge you need to assess it’s energy efficiency.

Carpet types

When it comes to man made vs wool carpets; wool will be the best option for insulation. Wool is a natural insulator, and so is a great option to help keep your home nice and warm. If you are wanting to chose a man made fibre, choose a carpet with a higher tog rating.

Long fibre carpet may feel thicker and more luxurious but this doesn’t necessarily mean this is the warmest option. The key specification is density. The higher the density (weight) of the carpet the higher the tog.

Recent trends are leaning towards flatweave and loop pile carpets. In this instance, look at carpets with at least 3 ply yarn. This means there is at least 3 strands of yarn per loop. Choosing a carpet that is 100% wool will also help to save energy.