that's exactly why i love granite/stone surfaces. it's great for making pastry. huge advantage, IMO, although I see your point about eating breakfast at a cold island.

I'm in Maine, and yes, I had granite in my last kitchen and found it far too cold for my liking. It was great for setting hot pots right on it, and great for pastry/pasta making -- but awful for setting down a hot cup of coffee and having it cool too quickly for my liking, or eating breakfast with elbows resting, brrr. I've gone with a different countertop material in my new kitchen.

circuspeanut...that's my worry. My husband gets up at 4:330am for work with the house kept at 62 degrees overnight and i think it will be just too cold to be usable. I'm sad about it though. I really would like granite but I don't think it's practical. :(

just don't sit bare*ssed on the counter and you'll be fine :-)

Weissman.....lmfao.....

I had visions of sitting at the granite top hung over face down.....

Sorry gemini16....

placemats would work to help buffer your elbows from the cold.

I wonder if quartz is as cold, that might be an option.

Before it could be axed by budget my Mom nixed it based on this fact - we live in central Canada - she didn't want something cold to the touch and she doesn't churn out a lot of pastry. The other factor, that has come up here, is hardness. My boss put it in last year and she lost a lot of glassware initially, she likes it but found it took some getting used to.

It can be very attractive but I really have gone completely off it over the past few months - it leaves me cold in fact - and much prefer the solid surface materials - which she also could not afford. Laminate here we come.

I didn't get granite for a few reasons but the cold factor was number one. Am happy with my solid surface. That, laminate, or wood will be much more comfy.

I have soapstone and realized that it could be very cold, but since it is a great conductor of temperature, I decided that I could warm it up before the kids came down for breakfast. A hot pan--or my preferred method, a couple of warm towels from the dryer, take away the nip and make it a very cozy place for my kids in the morning.

I wanted an electric blanket for it or radiant undercounter heating.

Here is a link that might be useful: This could work

We live in New England and I usually keep the temp at 60 or under at night. I prepare ds's boxed lunch 1st thing in the morning and I've never felt that the stone counters were uncomfortable to the touch. Everything I touch in the morning is cold (coffee mugs, plates, etc.) and I don't notice the counter being any different. As far as the hardness--the first couple of times I set breakable items down on the counter I thought about the hardness. But that's it---the learning curve was done and over after an hour or 2. I don't think anything has broken on our counters in 3 1/2 years.

As far as coffee getting cold quickly on the counter--if it's really the counter sucking the heat out of the mug, use a trivet or coaster. My air temp takes a while to warm up so my coffee gets cold quickly no matter what it's sitting on (if not a heat source.)

So, no, it doesn't bother me and I love our counters all year long.

I know this subject has come up before, and you will hear a lot of folks protesting that they don't find granite cold at all, but generally these folks are living in places where the ambient temperature doesn't go below 45F or so -- not 4 months of below 20 like we have up here. I also keep my house at about 60 overnight, and the granite just never warmed up in the mornings. Just wanted to give you a quick headsup from the North, although I hate to shatter your granite dreams, as it were. :)

Perhaps you could go with stone around the stove, where it's practical, and something warmer for your breakfast bar and sink spaces?

Radiant electric floor heat mats used to warm granite counters--if you don't mind running up your utility bill.

Nuheat

Here is a link that might be useful: Warming up to Granite

Thanks to everyone for your responses. by and large, my suspicion has been proven out: granite's cold when it's cold out!

As much as I'd like granite, I really don't want to spend a ton of money on something I have to work around, i.e. a heating pad, hot pans or even placemats (although all the ideas show ingenuity).

Circuspeanut...good idea about stone everywhere but the island. thanks. I'll consider that. Thanks again to everyone for weighing in.

I had ceramic tile countertops before, now I have granite. I don't notice any difference. I have to wonder why so many people think granite would be colder than any other solid surface. If the ambient temp is 60 deg, granite is going to be 60 deg, tile is going to be 60 deg, Silestone is going to be 60 deg, ad infinitum. Granted there may be a perceived difference to touch between granite and say, wood, but the fact of the matter is that granite is not going to be colder than the ambient temp. It's not some magic "cold sink", it's going to be the same temp that any other material would be at the same ambient. Just my .02:)

A local tile/granite store has a granite counter with NUHEAT mats underneath. It is warm and toasty and very inviting. If I was going to have a granite eating counter, I definitely would have NUHEAT installed.

I mentioned the idea of running my radiant pipes under the granite of the island on this board a couple years ago, and was ripped a new one for my casual curiosity.

But I have access to electricity there, and may end up doing the undermounted mat if I find it a problem.

I am pretty wimpy when it comes to temperature changes. Live in New England and I was never bothered by the granite in our last house with a breakfast bar.

LOL twobengalsandme, I was just going to say the same thing!!

Your laminate, wood, and other counter materials will all be the same temperature as the rest of the room...that also includes your furniture, appliances, walls, etc! That's one of the reasons they tell you not to turn your thermostat down too low if it won't be at least 8 hours...you not only have to reheat the air, but the furniture, appliances, etc.! If the thermostat is turned down for less than 8 hours, it can actually cost & use more energy than if it was left at the higher temperature. (The same goes for A/C in the summer...8 hours at the higher temp or don't turn the thermostat up.)

Your perception of the temperature is what's different.

(There seem to be a lot of perception issues today!)

Yup - someone mentioned me in an earlier post. I still haven't figured out a solution three years later other than always having thick sleeves when sitting at the island and always putting something under my coffee cup and plate of hot food. It's of course not a problem in the summer but we're moving into cold island season in Minnesota now. It may be more of a problem for me than others because we have a setback thermostat and turn the heat down during the weekday and at night - so it seems there is never enough time to really warm the island up all winter. For someone who leaves their heat up all the time I'm sure it would be less of a problem. If I were to do it over again I would seriously consider something else for the island because of this.

I live in a cold climate (Minnesota) and have not noticed the granite counters being any colder than my old formica counters. But then again, I actually heat my house! If we were sitting outside it would be a totally different story.

i've never sat on a counter to eat. we have stools.

Maybe it takes longer for a stone to come to ambient temp than it takes laminate or solid or wood? Seems to me that is possible. The stone is certainly heavier, so more dense so it kind of makes sense that it "holds" the cold longer. I don't think it's all in our heads!

On the other hand, I love the warm towel idea!

We had solid surface countertops in my last kitchen and at first I couldn't believe how cold they felt. After a while, I didn't notice it at all. Not Fargo, but still, northern Indiana gets pretty chilly!

New house will have Zodiaq on the perimeter and brushed granite on the island . . . interesting to see if I notice the cold. Of course, we're in Tennessee now, so it may not be as much an issue anyway.

Arlene

I have granite on the perimeter and wood on the island. My entire family loves the feel of the wood when sitting at the island.

Not at all...I actually love it! It reminds me that it's a natural stone. I hated the warm feel of our old laminate.

ahh ... but in the summer, the cool granite is delightful!

We'd need a real "science" person to answer this (or maybe one fo our stone experts) but my theory is that the cold feeling is because granite is such a good temperature conductor/dissipator. Your warm body touches room-temp granite, granite draws some of that warmth out making it feel colder to you. I'm probably not explaining this very well.

I have no complaints about it, though. I LOVE this property in the granite as it makes for really quick and easy thawing. We don't eat at the bar (long story behind that...), though so for us the cold feeling isn't really an issue.

Here's an article that says it better than I can. I also have it linked below.

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/newscripts/86/8619newscripts.html

And whether or not a material is the same temperature as ambient is really not what's important here.

Think of water. If you're outside on a sunny 50* day you are generally safe. But on that same day if you jump into a lake that is 5* warmer you can be in trouble from hypothermia very quickly, even though you're body is now exposed to temperatures that are 5* warmer.

So some materials can feel cooler than ambient, even if they are warmer. And this difference can be very important if you are man overboard in 55* water.

Just an example and some food for thought.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link

Different materials conduct temperature differentley. Wood won't conduct or hold heat like metal ceramic tile or stone. A lot of solid surface materials are very resin heavy, which I wouldn't think transmits or holds temperature like granite would.

Cool stone\tile is great when your hung over, very soothing. I think if I had granite I might drink more to take advantage of this, I like to get my money's worth out of my purchases.

Ci lantro: Thanks very much for that link ! We're definitely going to install a mat under our granite. I think that our island will turn into an excellent source of additional heat in the winter.

Just beware! If you heat your counters do not leave the butter sitting on them (unless you like a pool of melted butter)! Along those same lines, don't put your ice cream on the counter either!

I'm thinking we'll crank it up to 'High" and use it as a griddle ;)

LOL SailorMann...it would be a great way to make a large amount of scrambled eggs in the morning!

A house temp set at 60 degrees in the winter will have cold surfaces , no matter what; it would be interesting to run a test in such a house and determine how much warmer laminate would be, a few degrees maybe ?

my patio door is open right now and my caesarstone is cold feeling on my elbows...... granite could not be worse.

This string has made my day. All the great ideas...heating the counter tops and using it as an extra griddle - FANTASTIC! And of course I'll drink more now since I'll have a built in ice pack in the counter. :)

Seriously, I got up this morning and felt my laminate. It too feels cool to the touch although probably not as cold as granite and it's not the dead of winter. I usually choose function over form but I'm now leaning towards form over function for this one item.

Thanks again for all the serious and entertaining posts. This is a great community. :)

definitely pick the granite you like and live with the cold factor; sometimes we overthink issues, lol.....

On a slightly more serious note, if i were going to heat it, I'd buy a pet warming mat. they have the electric elements sealed in a rigid plastic board so the animal can't scratch or chew them. Would be very simple to attach to the bottom of the granite with a good heat resistant adheasive. Plus, they are usually used with a dial to control the heat...

But I've had granite tile for years, never found the coolness to be a problem. Oh, and I'm in Montana, so we know about cold...

With this thread in mind, I did a little experiment this morning. We haven't turned on the heat yet (two humans and three dogs snuggled under a down comforter in a closed-off room works well enough for the chilly nights) so everything in the rest of the house gets rather chilly. Our granite definitely felt much, much colder than the wood cabinets and the wood cutting board that sits on the counter.

Yes, I'm bothered by how cold (& hard!)my granite counter island is. I have granite at home and corian at the weekend house so am constantly going between & comparing the 2. Love the "soft" (room-temp) feel of my corian, but the granite wins on looks. Just leveled the weekend place (rebuilding to move there permanently) and can't decide what to use for the new counters. Tough decision. I like the granite everywhere else but wood for the breakfast counter suggestion. BTW, hate the cold tile floors vs. wood too!

I am in socal so I love the feel of cold stone. In the kitchen countertop, on the travertine floors, marble floors etc. in winter we use rugs and slippers.

The only problem I've had with "cold" granite is realizing that I shouldn't put my bread dough bowl directly on the counter during the rising period. The stone keeps the bowl too cool for a good rise. Now I raise the bowl off the counter about an inch using stacked trivets.

We use placemats on our marble breakfast bar and don't notice the "cold".

I put in some film electric radiant meant to go under tile. It’s 5 W per foot and I used 7 feet of it. There is a hot and a neutral on either side of it with little alligator connections hard wired with an in-line switch. I turn it on in October and I turn it off in May.