Hardwood floors give a room a beautiful appearance, but at this time of year they can also be unpleasantly chilly.

You'll notice the cold floor when you get out of bed and put your bare feet onto the floor. The chill may also be apparent as you walk around your home in your socks.

Simply turning up the heat is generally not an effective way to warm up the floor, and it can easily ramp up your utility bills. And if you don't use caution while heating a hardwood floor, you might damage the surface. Heating the floor without keeping the humidity levels balanced can create gaps between the floorboards or cause the floorboards to warp.

A hygrometer will show you the humidity levels in your home. If they fall below 30 percent, hardwood floors are more likely to dry out and warp. Turning off the heat or activating a humidifier can prevent this issue.

One way to keep a hardwood floor more temperate is to add insulation in the subfloor. The home improvement site HomeAdvisor says this step will not only make your floor more comfortable, but will also allow for more efficient heating of the home and protect the floor from possible damage by moisture infiltration.

It is usually advisable to hire a professional to install this insulation. They will be able to suggest the best option for your home and know the best practices for installing the insulation.

Unfaced batts are often a good choice for subfloor insulation. This material creates a reliable vapor barrier, and can easily be attached with metal rods, netting, or plywood boards.

Some areas under the floor are more difficult to access, such as crawlspaces or places where pipes are running overhead. In some cases, you might have to insulate this space and put down a vapor barrier on a dirt floor to achieve the effect of insulating your floor.

Reflective foil can also be an effective insulator in tight spaces. Maria Kielmas, writing for SFGate, says this material both acts as a vapor barrier and reflects heat that would otherwise escape through the floor.

Polyester and fiberglass insulation are inexpensive, keep the home quieter, and help avoid floor damage by allowing the boards to expand and contract during temperature changes. However, this insulation will not prevent moisture infiltration and can harm your respiratory system if fibers are inhaled.

Polystyrene insulation can create an acoustic barrier, and it can easily be cut to fit spaces of the subfloor. However, it also creates an additional risk in the event of a house fire since polystyrene produces toxic gases when burned.

Don't expect floor insulation on its own to make the entire room warmer. Tom Silva, writing for This Old House, says the insulation will help avoid drafts and preserve the heat in the home. It may solve the problem of cold feet, but a thermostat set at 68 degrees will still make the room feel like it is 68 degrees.

Your home may require more extensive winterization if the hardwood floors are particularly icy. Jabara's Carpet Outlet, a flooring company in Wichita, Kansas, says gaps or cracks are often caused by major shifts in temperature and humidity levels.

If you are interested in a more significant upgrade, radiant floor heating is a good option. Using electric cables or tubes to circulate hot air or water, this system keeps the floor toasty and radiates heat into the rest of the room. This method also has the advantages of being efficient and avoiding the dispersal of allergens.

A simpler solution to a cold hardwood floor is to put down some carpeting. You likely won't want to carpet the entire floor, but some throw rugs in commonly traveled areas—such as under the bed and dining room table—will provide a barrier between your feet and the floor. Kielmas says carpeting is most effective on the first floor, and that thicker rugs will provide more insulation.

If only certain parts of your floor feel chilly, the problem may be a result of ineffective heat distribution. Jabara's Carpet Outlet says you can use air deflectors, which are plastic components that attach to a heating grate, to direct some heat toward the cold area.

Like the classic remedy of handling a cold home by putting on a sweater, you can also deal with a frigid floor by protecting your feet. You might wear thicker socks, slippers, or clean shoes around the home until winter ends.