Can anybody tell me if I'm reading this corectly? I want to compare
the two materials' heat insulation.

According to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-value_%28insulation%29
1-inch thick hardwood has an R-value of 0.12 using SI unit (not the US
unit).
According to
http://www.carpetinstitute.com.au/do...sh_thermal.pdf
1-cm thick carpet has an R-value of 0.18 in SI.

So 1-inch carpet would have 0.18*2.54=0.4572, about 3.8 times as much
as that of hardwood. Correct?

One more question. Among various types of hardwood, which type is
better (even though none is better than carpet)? I'm going to have the
carpet in the upstair bedroom replaced with hardwood. Considering its
heat insulation is meaningful when the bedroom is above the garage or
car port.

Thanks.


Is the hardwood you are interested in floating type or solid planks you nail.
if it's a floating type like engineered hardwood it may be a bit warmer.
Those hardwood floors can use a 6 mil foam type underlay plus the hdf or
mdf base of the planks might not transfer as much cold either. The actual
hardwood part of engineered hardwood floors is only 3 or 4 mil thick. Solid
hardwood floors might transfer more cold from the garage and the subfloor.


Here's my expierence. I have solid oak hardwood flooring in my bedroom that
is above a garage. last fall I had a brand new garage door installed. R-12
with a really durable yet flexible weather stripping. Made in Canada door
for my Canadian house. Garage door and bedroom window in above bedroom face
west. Great for getting hit by most winter winds.

Before, the garage would get down to as low as 28 degrees but this winter
garage stayed above 40 all winter. My wife and I say that translated into
a 3 degree difference in our bedroom and we no longer need to keep an electric
heater in our room.

Even in this hot hot hot summer our bedroom temp has been lowered from 78
to 76 during the day. With the fan ciculating air around that room settles
down to 75. In other words the best thing we did to get ideal temperatures
for our bedroom was change the garage door underneath.