Warmup Australia

Underfloor Heating Services in Australia

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Wellington Homes Are Cold, Damp and Draughty — And Kiwis Are Finally Doing Something About It

The Healthy Homes Standards changed the conversation. Radiant floor heating is changing the experience. Here's what's actually happening in Wellington right now.

There's a reason Wellingtonians have a complicated relationship with their homes.

The city is spectacular — harbour views, walkable neighbourhoods, character villas with wooden floorboards and high ceilings that were built when thermal comfort wasn't even a concept architects thought about. And then July arrives. The southerly rolls in off Cook Strait. It's four degrees at 7 AM. And every single morning, the same ritual: layers, heaters, arguments about the heat pump, cold tiles, and a bathroom you'd rather not enter.

Wellington winters are not a surprise. And yet most homes in the region are still heated — if you can call it that — by solutions that were never really designed for the way Wellington weather actually behaves.

That's starting to change. And at Warmup, we're proud to be part of the reason why.

The Problem Is Older Than the Houses

Wellington's housing stock is famously old. Across the inner suburbs — Karori, Kelburn, Island Bay, Brooklyn, Newtown — a large proportion of homes are pre-1970s timber villas.

Beautiful, characterful, and about as thermally efficient as a garden shed.

Cold floors aren't just uncomfortable in these homes. They're a health issue. When floor surfaces stay cold, moisture condenses on them. Condensation leads to dampness. Dampness feeds mould. And mould, as any Wellington renter or homeowner knows, is as much a part of winter here as the wind itself.

The New Zealand government's Healthy Homes Standards — fully enforced across all tenancies by 2025 — were designed to address exactly this. Every rental home in New Zealand must now have a fixed heater capable of maintaining a minimum of 18°C in the main living area. Proper ventilation. Underfloor insulation. Draught stopping.

It's progress. But here's what the standards don't fully capture: the difference between technically warm and genuinely comfortable. A home can pass a Healthy Homes assessment and still have freezing bathroom tiles every morning. A house can have a heat pump in the lounge and a bedroom that never quite loses its winter chill.

That gap — between compliance and real comfort — is exactly where radiant floor heating does its best work.

Why Wellington's Climate Needs a Different Solution

Most heating systems were designed for a generalised cold. Wellington doesn't do generalised cold.

Wellington is the windiest city in the world. Its southerly blasts are legendary, arriving with almost no warning and dropping temperatures by five degrees in the space of an afternoon. Its hills funnel wind into suburbs in ways that make the same street feel like different climate zones at different times of day. Coastal suburbs like Lyall Bay and Seatoun deal with salt-air exposure that degrades outdoor units. Inner-city areas like Te Aro and Mount Victoria deal with dense housing, cold concrete, and poor sun angles.

A standard heat pump placed in a lounge heats the air in the room where it sits. What it doesn't do is warm the floor of a bathroom at the other end of the house. It doesn't stop the cold from rising through the tiles of a kitchen that faces the southerly. It doesn't provide the steady, ambient warmth that a Wellington villa — designed for the 1920s, not the 2020s — desperately needs.

Underfloor heating does.

An electric floor heating system — heating cables or mats installed beneath tiles, timber, or vinyl — heats from the ground up. Warmth radiates evenly across the surface you actually stand on. There are no hot air streams. No cold spots. No part of your home that feels like a different country from the part where the heat pump is working. Just a consistent, low-level warmth that Wellington homes have always needed and rarely had.

"We Didn't Realise What We Were Missing"

One of our Wellington installation partners recently shared a story from a family in Karori — a couple who'd bought a 1950s brick home, done the usual work (heat pump in the lounge, new carpet in the bedrooms), and assumed they'd solved their heating problem.

They hadn't. The bathroom was still ice-cold every morning. The kitchen floor, particularly in the tile zone near the back door where the southerly got in, was unbearable for half the year. And the running costs of leaving the heat pump on all day just to take the edge off were higher than they'd expected.

They called Warmup.

An electric under-tile heating mat went in during a bathroom renovation — the kind of thin, low-profile system that sits directly within the tile adhesive layer and adds almost nothing to floor height. A thermostat controller was programmed to run for ninety minutes before they woke up each morning and another stretch in the evening.

The change, they said, was immediate. Not just physically. Psychologically. Stepping into a warm bathroom on a Wellington winter morning — a bathroom that was actively, reliably warm before you got there, not one you were hoping might have warmed up a little overnight — is a different experience entirely.

"We didn't realise what we were missing," they told the installer. "We thought this was just how Wellington homes were."

That line — I thought this was just how Wellington homes were — is one we hear far too often. It isn't. And it doesn't have to be.

The Thermostat Controller: Small Device, Big Difference

One of the reasons past generations of underfloor heating systems underdelivered was thermostat quality. A basic heating thermostat with no scheduling ability, no floor sensor, and no remote access is a system you're constantly fighting with.

Modern thermostat controllers for radiant floor heating systems are a different thing entirely. A quality smart thermostat learns your schedule, responds to actual floor temperature (not just air temperature), and can be adjusted from your phone when plans change. It lets you pre-warm the bathroom from bed before your alarm goes off. It can be programmed room-by-room, so you're not running heating through the whole house when only the bathroom and kitchen need attention.

For Wellington homeowners who've spent years either over-running heating systems for marginal results, or under-running them and suffering through cold mornings, that level of control is genuinely life-changing. We've heard clients describe a kind of quiet relief — the realisation that they don't have to think about their heating anymore, because it's simply working. Reliably. Silently. Invisibly.

Heated Tiles: The Most Searched, Most Underrated Upgrade in Wellington

If you've been researching home heating improvements in Wellington recently, you'll have noticed that heated tiles and under-tile heating are among the most commonly searched terms for bathroom renovations in the region. And for good reason.

The bathroom is where Wellington's cold is felt most sharply. It's also where a targeted electric underfloor heating system makes its strongest case: the room is small, so the running costs are genuinely low (electric floor heating costs a matter of cents per square metre per hour to operate). The impact is immediate and daily. And unlike a heat pump or wall heater, there are no visible components taking up space — just warm tiles, every morning, exactly when you need them.

For homeowners planning a bathroom renovation in Wellington — particularly those in the older villas of Karori, Kelburn, Brooklyn, Aro Valley, or the Hutt Valley — this is the upgrade that pays back not in energy savings (though those exist) but in quality of daily life. Every.

Single. Morning.

What About Whole-Home Heating?

For new builds and major renovations where full-home radiant floor heating is on the table, hydronic systems — circulating warm water through pipes beneath the floor — are the gold standard in Wellington's climate. Wellington's gas network is unusually well-developed by New Zealand standards, which has historically made hydronic systems connected to gas boilers a popular choice. Air-to-water heat pumps, increasingly efficient and now standard in the most forward-thinking Wellington installations, are the future-proof alternative.

Warmup's range covers both approaches: electric systems for targeted room-by-room comfort, and hydronic-compatible solutions for whole-home installations. The thermostat heating controls work seamlessly across both, giving homeowners the kind of room-byroom precision that a single heat pump simply cannot provide.

Why Warmup, and Why Now

We're not going to pretend there aren't options in the Wellington market. There are.

But when a client calls us in crisis — a thermostat controller that died mid-winter, a system installed by another company three years ago with no local support, a warranty claim that went nowhere — we see the real cost of choosing the wrong system. Not the upfront cost.

The cost of another cold July.

Warmup backs its heating cables and mats with 25-year warranty coverage. Our thermostat controllers carry multi-year guarantees. And when something needs attention, the support is real — not an offshore number that rings out.

For Wellington homeowners, that warranty isn't a nice-to-have. It's the difference between an upgrade you can trust for the next decade and a product you're quietly hoping doesn't let you down.

Wellington's housing deserves better heating. The technology to deliver it exists, it works, and it's more accessible than most people assume.

You don't have to keep starting your mornings on cold floors.Warmup New Zealand supplies electric underfloor heating systems, radiant floor heating, heated tile solutions, and smart thermostat controllers across Wellington, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Porirua, Kāpiti Coast, and beyond. To find out what's right for your home, visit warmup.co.nz.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

Your Gas Heater's Days Are Numbered — Here's Why Australians Are Rushing to Heated Floors Instead

The gas ban is real, the bills are rising, and a quiet revolution is warming homes from the ground up. This is what's actually happening on the ground.

Let me paint you a picture.

It's a Tuesday morning in June. Melbourne. Six degrees outside. You drag yourself out of bed, shuffle to the bathroom, and — as you do every single winter morning — brace for the cold tile shock the moment your feet hit the floor.

Now imagine that never happens again.

That's not a sales pitch. That's what thousands of Australian homeowners are discovering right now as they make a switch they probably should have made years ago: ditching their ageing ducted gas heater and moving to a radiant floor heating system with proper thermostat heating controls they can actually trust.

The timing, as it turns out, couldn't be more relevant.

The Gas Era Is Ending — Ready or Not

Here's something a lot of homeowners haven't fully absorbed yet: Australia is actively phasing out residential gas.

Victoria banned new gas connections for most new homes from January 1, 2024. The ACT moved in a similar direction. New South Wales and Queensland are watching the same playbook. From January 2027, new Victorian homes must be all-electric — no exceptions. Other states are following the same trajectory.

This isn't distant policy. It's already reshaping renovation decisions across the country.

What it means practically is that if your ducted gas heater is ageing — and most are, given average system lifespans of 15 to 20 years — replacing it with another gas system is becoming an increasingly short-sighted choice. You'd be investing thousands of dollars in infrastructure that your state government has effectively put a use-by date on.

The smarter conversation, the one more and more Australian homeowners are having right now, is: what do I replace it with?

Why Radiant Floor Heating Is Winning That Conversation

The answer, for a growing number of people, is underfloor heating — specifically electric radiant heat systems paired with smart thermostat controllers.

And the reason isn't just politics or policy. It's physics.

Ducted gas heating works by warming air. That warm air rises — immediately — toward your ceiling, while your feet stay cold and your thermostat keeps cycling. You heat the room from the top down, which is the opposite of how human comfort actually works. Our bodies feel warmest when our feet and lower body are warm. Our heads can handle the cool air.

A radiant floor heating system flips that entirely. The heated floorboards, heated tiles, or mats beneath engineered timber warm the surface you actually stand on. Heat radiates upward, evenly, across the whole room. No cold spots. No hot ceiling. No air being pushed through dusty ducts.

The result is a room that feels warmer at a lower thermostat setting — which means less energy used, and lower bills.

The Smart Thermostat Difference Nobody Talks About Enough

Here's where a lot of homeowners get surprised.

They assume an underfloor heating system is "set and forget" — and with the right heating thermostat, it genuinely is. But the key word there is right.

A quality thermostat controller for your radiant heat system should know your schedule before you do. It should warm your bathroom floor at 6:15 AM so that by 6:30, when you step out of bed, the heated tiles are already at 28°C. It should be adjustable from your phone when you're running late. And when something's off, it should tell you — not make you guess.

Modern smart thermostats for underfloor heating systems do exactly this. They learn. They adapt. And for homeowners who've spent years fighting with basic heating controls or unreliable programmers, the experience of using a genuinely responsive heating thermostat is — frankly — a bit emotional.

We've heard this from client after client. The moment they realise their floor heating system is simply working, quietly, invisibly, exactly as promised, every single morning, something relaxes in them.

That's not a small thing.

"I Wish We'd Done This Five Years Ago"

That line — or some version of it — comes up in conversation with new Warmup clients more often than almost anything else.

Recently, a family in Adelaide who'd replaced an ageing ducted gas system with Warmup electric underfloor heating in their main bathroom and kitchen described the shift this way: the old system was loud, inconsistent, and had started costing them more every winter as gas tariffs climbed. The new underfloor heating system runs on electricity — which their rooftop solar partially covers — and their thermostat controller shows them exactly what it's spending, in real time.

"We went from dreading the winter energy bill," they said, "to actually looking forward to winter."

That's the kind of sentence that makes working in this industry feel worthwhile.

Is Electric Underfloor Heating Actually Affordable to Run?

This is the question that stops most people mid-sentence when they're considering the switch. And it's a fair one.

The honest answer: it depends on the room, the system, and how you use it.

For a standard Australian bathroom — around 4 to 6 square metres — an electric floor warming system beneath heated tiles costs roughly two to five cents per square metre per hour to run. Run it for two hours in the morning and one hour in the evening across a full winter season, and you're looking at a surprisingly modest figure. Many homeowners find it costs less than they were spending on a single portable electric heater — which they're now getting rid of.

For whole-home radiant floor heating in larger properties, hydronic systems paired with a heat pump are the more cost-effective choice at scale. But for room-by-room comfort — bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchens, under-rug heating in living spaces — electric systems are the clear, practical winner.

And with rooftop solar now in roughly one in three Australian homes, the ability to run your heating thermostat during peak solar generation hours makes the running cost conversation even more compelling.

What to Look for When You Make the Switch

If you're weighing up replacing your ducted gas heating with an underfloor heating system, here are the questions worth asking before you commit:

Warranty: A quality electric underfloor heating system should come with meaningful warranty coverage — not a vague 12-month policy, but multi-year protection on the heating elements themselves. Warmup, for example, backs its cables and mats with 25-year warranty coverage. That's the kind of confidence that only comes from a system built to last.

Thermostat intelligence: Don't settle for a basic timer. A programmable, Wi-Fi enabled thermostat controller that you can manage via app, that shows energy usage in real time, and that can be scheduled room by room — that's the standard worth insisting on.

Floor compatibility: Whether you're laying heated tiles, installing under engineered timber, or exploring under-rug heating for a living area — confirm your system is rated for your specific flooring type. The wrong pairing can affect both performance and warranty.

Installation: For electric systems, a licensed electrician completes the connection. The rest of the installation is often far simpler than people expect — particularly for thin mat systems that sit directly within the tile adhesive layer.

The Bigger Picture

Australia's shift away from gas isn't just a policy story. It's a lifestyle story.

Homeowners who've made the switch to radiant floor heating consistently describe a change that goes beyond degrees Celsius. It's quieter homes. Cleaner air. No allergens being pushed through ducts. No reliance on a gas supply that gets more expensive and more politically complicated every year.

And for those who've paired a radiant heat system with smart heating controls and rooftop solar? The sense of having genuinely future-proofed their home is real and palpable.

The cold tile shock of a Melbourne winter morning is optional. It always was. Australians are just finally realising it — and the underfloor heating industry is doing everything it can to keep up.

We're proud to be part of that.Warmup Australia provides electric underfloor heating systems, radiant floor heating solutions, and smart thermostat controllers for homes across Australia. To explore what's right for your home, visit warmup.com.au.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

"We Finally Got It Right": How Aussie Homeowners Are Ditching Old Floor Heating Systems for Warmup — and Never Looking Back

There's a particular kind of frustration that comes with a thermostat that won't listen to you.

You set your underfloor heating system to warm up at 6:30 AM. You wake up at 6:45. The floor is cold. Again.

That was Sarah and Tom Whitfield's reality for nearly three years in their Mornington Peninsula home. They'd invested in a floor heating system from a mid-tier brand during their renovation, lured in by a low upfront price and vague promises about "smart controls." What they got instead was a thermostat controller that dropped Wi-Fi constantly, a support line that rang out, and a warranty claim process that went nowhere — twice.

"We just assumed underfloor heating was overrated," Sarah told one of our installation partners recently. "Turns out, we'd just chosen the wrong system."

When the Wrong Radiant Heat System Costs More Than Money

Stories like the Whitfields' are more common than most homeowners realise. The Australian market for radiant floor heating has expanded rapidly over the past decade, and with that growth has come a flood of budget systems — many with inadequate warranty coverage, poor thermostat heating accuracy, and customer service that evaporates the moment installation is complete.

The problem isn't with underfloor heating itself. Radiant heat systems, when designed properly, are among the most energy-efficient and comfortable heating solutions available. Whether it's electric heated tiles in a bathroom, radiant floor heating beneath engineered timber, or under-rug heating in a living space — the technology, done right, is genuinely transformative.

The problem is the "done right" part.

What Warmup Clients Are Actually Saying

I'll be honest — when I first joined the Warmup Australia team, I expected to spend most of my time talking about product specs. Wattage. Cable spacing. Thermostat compatibility. The technical side of heated floorboards and radiant heat systems.

What I didn't expect was how often I'd be moved by the conversations our team brings back from the field.

A few weeks ago, one of our installers in Brisbane shared a message from a client — a retired couple in Fig Tree Pocket who had previously used a competitor's floor warming system for nearly five years. They'd replaced it with Warmup's 4iE Smart WiFi Thermostat and a new underfloor heating system during a kitchen and bathroom renovation.

The message read, in part: *"We didn't realise what we'd been putting up with until we switched. The old system felt like guesswork. This one just… knows what we want. And for the first time, when we called with a question, someone actually called back."*

That last line stayed with me. Because that's what it comes down to, isn't it? Not just heated tiles or warm floorboards. It's the trust.

The Warranty Difference Nobody Talks About Enough

One of the most consistent threads in every client switch story we hear is warranty — or rather, the lack of meaningful warranty from previous suppliers.

Warmup backs its underfloor floor heating systems with industry-leading coverage: 25 years on heating cables and mats, and multi-year coverage on thermostat controllers. That's not a marketing line. It's the reason a family in Perth reached out to us after their previous heating carpet solution failed mid-winter and their original supplier had simply closed its doors.

When we hear these stories, the team doesn't celebrate a competitor's failure. We celebrate the fact that someone now has a heating system for their floor that they can rely on — and a warranty that actually means something.

Smart Thermostats That Actually Earn the Word "Smart"

Modern radiant floor heating lives and dies by its thermostat heating controls. A heating thermostat that's clunky, inaccurate, or disconnected from your lifestyle doesn't just frustrate — it wastes energy and money.

The Warmup 4iE is the world's best-selling smart thermostat for underfloor heating systems, and the reason comes down to genuine intelligence: it learns your schedule, adapts to your preferences, and can be controlled remotely via app. For a heated floor beneath tiles, timber, or even a heating carpet layer, precision matters — and this delivers it.

For clients upgrading from manual or basic programmable thermostats, the shift is described almost universally as a revelation. One Sydney client who replaced an old under floor radiant heat setup in their Federation-era home put it this way: *"I spent years thinking underfloor heating just wasn't for old houses. Now I genuinely look forward to getting out of bed in winter."*

Why Being Part of This Team Matters to Me

I'm not going to dress this up in corporate language. The reason I find genuine satisfaction in being part of Warmup Australia is simple: the product solves a real problem, and the company stands behind it.

Heated floorboards shouldn't be a luxury that comes with a side of anxiety. Radiant heat systems should work the first time, the hundredth time, and ten years from now. And when something does go wrong — because occasionally something will — there should be a human being who answers the phone and helps you fix it.

The stories I hear from our team aren't marketing wins. They're people who are genuinely warmer, genuinely more comfortable, and genuinely relieved that they made the switch.

That's the kind of work worth showing up for.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

Underfloor Heating for Australian Apartments: What You Need to Know Before You Renovate

Apartment bathroom renovations are one of the most common installation scenarios for underfloor heating in Australia — and one of the most misunderstood. If you own an apartment in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, or any other capital city and you are planning a bathroom renovation, here is what actually applies to your situation.

The short answer on body corporate approval

The question most apartment owners ask first: do I need body corporate permission to install underfloor heating?

In most cases, no — provided you are using an undertile heating system (not a hydronic or water-based system, which would require penetrating the slab), the installation is done within your lot, and you are using a licensed electrician for all electrical connections.

The body corporate's jurisdiction typically covers structural elements, common property, and anything that affects the building's shared systems — plumbing stacks, electrical risers, fire services. An undertile heating mat that sits beneath your bathroom tiles and connects to your apartment's electrical supply through the wall is no more a body corporate matter than replacing your hot water system.

That said, strata schemes vary and the specific provisions of your owners corporation rules should be checked before you begin. In virtually all cases, a licensed electrician's sign-off on the installation is all the documentation you need.

The floor build-up question

Apartment renovations have one constraint that freestanding homes do not: floor height. There is usually a maximum total floor build-up allowed above the original concrete slab — particularly at doorways, where a height difference between rooms creates a trip hazard and may not comply with your strata scheme's requirements for maintaining accessibility.

Undertile heating mats add approximately 3mm to the floor build-up — less than a thick tile adhesive bed. For most apartment bathrooms, this is within tolerance and requires no structural accommodation.

If you are changing tile format — for example, moving from small mosaic tiles to large-format 600x600mm or 900x900mm tiles — the tile adhesive depth may change more than the heating mat does. The total build-up calculation should include the heating mat, tile adhesive, and tile thickness compared to what was previously installed.

A Warmup technical team member or the specifying tiler can confirm the total build-up for your specific tile and system choice before work begins.

The weight question

Concrete slabs in Australian apartment buildings are designed to carry significant dead loads — heavy furniture, full bookshelves, people. A tile floor is already a substantial dead load. A tile floor with an undertile heating mat beneath it adds negligible weight — the heating mat itself is extremely lightweight.

This is not a structural concern in a concrete apartment building. If you are in a heritage building with timber floors, the conversation is different — but the buildings that present weight constraints rarely have tiles in the bathroom to begin with.

What thermostat to use

Apartment bathrooms in Australian cities — particularly in the compact bathroom designs common in apartments built in the 2000s and 2010s — benefit greatly from the DUAL thermostat that manages both the floor heating and a heated towel rail from a single wall unit. Wall space in a compact bathroom is often limited, and replacing two controllers with one keeps the wall looking clean.

The thermostat must be mounted outside the wet area zones as defined by AS/NZS 3000. In a small apartment bathroom, this typically means placing it near the door or on the wall opposite the shower — a licensed electrician will confirm the correct location.

Smart WiFi thermostats are particularly useful in apartments where the occupant may be in and out of the city for work, travelling frequently, or managing the property as an investment. Remote control and scheduling via phone means the system can be turned off entirely when the apartment is empty and set to warm the floor for a scheduled arrival.

Renting your apartment

Underfloor heating adds measurable appeal to a rental property. In Hobart, Canberra, and Melbourne's inner suburbs — where rental competition is high and bathroom quality is a genuine differentiation factor — warm bathroom floors command consistent positive feedback from tenants and can support rental premiums in the right markets.

Warmup's smart thermostat remote access allows a landlord or property manager to monitor the system remotely without access to the tenant's phone. The system can be scheduled to sensible defaults at the start of a tenancy with the tenant given full control to adjust through their own downloaded app.

The bottom line for apartment owners

Undertile heating in an apartment bathroom is a routine installation in Australia. It requires a licensed electrician, a thermostat with a floor sensor, and confirmation that your strata rules do not contain unusual restrictions on internal renovations. In the overwhelming majority of Australian apartments, none of these present any obstacle.

The cost — typically $750 to $1,200 all in for a standard apartment bathroom — is modest relative to what a full bathroom renovation costs and significant relative to what it improves. A bathroom that feels genuinely comfortable at 6am in July is a different thing from one that does not, and in Hobart, Canberra, and Melbourne that difference is experienced every single morning for five or six months of the year.

If you are renovating an apartment bathroom and not including underfloor heating, it is worth asking yourself why not — because the reasons most people give do not actually apply.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

Underfloor Heating Solutions Showdown: Warmup Australia vs Cold Buster vs Thermogroup — Which One Actually Wins?

When someone first starts comparing underfloor heating solutions in Australia, the sheer number of brands can feel overwhelming. Warmup Australia, Cold Buster, Thermogroup, Hotwire, Warmtech — they're all out there, all claiming to be the right choice, and the pricing can vary wildly. So what's actually different between them, and does spending more get you anything meaningful?

This comparison digs into three of the most commonly researched brands — Warmup Australia, Cold Buster, and Thermogroup — to help buyers make an informed decision rather than just going with whatever the hardware store stocks.

Setting the Scene: Why Electric Underfloor Heating Is Worth Comparing Carefully

Electric underfloor heating isn't a purchase most people make twice. Once those cables or mats are embedded in the floor and tiles are laid on top, the system is in for the long haul. Getting it wrong — choosing underpowered systems, skipping quality thermostats, or buying from a brand with poor warranty support — is a costly mistake that can take years to surface.

Radiant floor heating works by conducting heat directly through the floor surface into the room. The efficiency and comfort of this process depend on cable quality, the evenness of heat distribution, and how well the thermostat manages temperature cycles. These are exactly the areas where brands differ most noticeably.

Brand-by-Brand Breakdown

Warmup Australia: The Premium Standard

Warmup Australia sits at the top tier of the floor heating Australia market, and the reasons are layered.

Product Range Warmup offers one of the broadest ranges of any underfloor heating brand in the country. Their systems include dual-conductor heating cables, mesh mats for easy installation, foil heaters for floating floors, and dedicated systems for timber. They've engineered products for almost every floor type and installation scenario.

Smart Thermostat Technology This is where Warmup Australia genuinely separates itself from the competition. Their 4iE Smart WiFi Thermostat and 6iE Smart WiFi Thermostat allow homeowners to control their floor heating systems via a smartphone app from anywhere. Heating schedules can be set, energy consumption is tracked, and the system can learn household patterns over time. For anyone interested in reducing running costs, this level of control is not a minor feature — it's fundamental.

Warranty and Support Warmup Australia backs their heating elements with a 25-year warranty on cables and mats. That kind of long-term commitment reflects genuine confidence in the product's durability. Their Australian-based customer support is a real advantage for installers and homeowners who need technical assistance during or after installation.

Underfloor Heating Installation Cost Warmup's systems are priced at a premium, which is worth acknowledging honestly. Per-square-metre costs are higher than Cold Buster, but the total cost of ownership — factoring in energy efficiency, thermostat savings, and warranty coverage — often balances out over time.

Cold Buster: The Accessible Entry Point

Cold Buster fills a genuine need in the Australian market. Not every buyer needs a whole-home electric underfloor heating setup. For someone wanting to warm up a small bathroom or laundry on a tight budget, Cold Buster products provide a functional entry point into radiant floor heating.

What Works Cold Buster systems are widely available in hardware chains across Australia. Installation is relatively straightforward, and the brand is familiar to many licensed electricians, which can simplify the process of finding someone to do the work.

Where It Falls Short The thermostat options available with Cold Buster are basic by comparison to Warmup Australia. There's no smart connectivity, no energy monitoring, and no learning functionality. For a small space used occasionally, that may not matter. For anything larger or used daily, the absence of intelligent temperature control becomes a real limitation.

Cold Buster's warranty terms are also shorter and less comprehensive than Warmup Australia's offering, which is worth factoring into the long-term value calculation.

Verdict on Cold Buster: A sensible choice for small, budget-conscious projects. Not the right fit for anyone heating a significant floor area or wanting long-term peace of mind.

Thermogroup: The Australian-Owned Middle Ground

Thermogroup occupies an interesting position — more capable than Cold Buster, more locally rooted than some international competitors, and genuinely well-regarded in the bathroom renovation space.

Their Thermosoft range is a consistent performer in tile installations, and their product quality has improved notably in recent years. Thermogroup's distribution through tile retailers means buyers can often touch and examine the product before purchasing, which many find reassuring.

Where Thermogroup trails Warmup Australia is primarily in thermostat sophistication and the breadth of their system range. For complex projects involving multiple zones or mixed floor types, Warmup's engineering depth gives it a clear edge.

Verdict on Thermogroup: A solid mid-range option for standard bathroom and kitchen installations. Works well when paired with a quality thermostat — some buyers actually combine Thermogroup heating elements with Warmup thermostats for a smart middle-ground solution.

Underfloor Heating Near Me: Installer Availability

Finding a qualified installer for underfloor heating installation in Australia is easier with brands that maintain active installer networks. Warmup Australia has a well-established network of certified installers across major cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth, which makes the post-purchase experience smoother.

Cold Buster and Thermogroup products are familiar to most licensed electricians, so finding someone to install them is generally not difficult — but the level of system-specific expertise may vary.

The Honest Verdict

For a buyer who wants the best underfloor heating solution Australia has to offer — the right combination of comfort, energy efficiency, smart control, and long-term reliability — Warmup Australia is the benchmark against which other brands are measured. The premium price point is real, but so is the quality differential.

Cold Buster serves its market well and shouldn't be dismissed if the project is small and the budget is tight.

Thermogroup is a quality Australian-owned brand that delivers consistent results for standard installations.

But for anyone making a serious investment in electric underfloor heating — especially across multiple rooms or a whole home — Warmup Australia is the brand that earns its place at the top of the shortlist. Warm floors aren't just a luxury. In the right system, they're genuinely smart home infrastructure.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

Finally Got Underfloor Heating Solutions — Here's What My Family Would Say You Before YOU Buy

Underfloor heating solutions changed how our family experiences winter at home — and after living with the system for a full year, there are things worth sharing that most buying guides won't tell you. This isn't a sponsored review or a technical spec sheet. It's the real story of how one Australian family researched, compared, installed, and ultimately fell in love with radiant floor heating — and which brand earned their trust when it counted.

The Moment It Became a Priority

It started with a freezing July morning in Sydney. The kids refused to get out of bed because the bathroom tiles were, in their words, "like ice." Fair point. Between a wall-mounted heater that took twenty minutes to warm the room and tiles cold enough to make morning routines genuinely unpleasant, something had to change.

The conversation quickly moved from "we should look into this" to proper research mode. What followed was about three weeks of comparing brands, reading forums, getting quotes, and eventually making a decision that the whole family has since endorsed enthusiastically.

The Research Phase: So Many Brands, So Much Confusion

Searching for floor heating Australia online opens a door to an almost overwhelming number of options. Warmup Australia, Cold Buster, Thermogroup, Hotwire, Warmtech, Comfort Heat, Devex — the list goes on. Every brand has a website telling you they're the best option. None of them make it particularly easy to understand what actually differentiates them.

The approach that eventually worked was breaking the decision down into four questions:

What floor types does it work with? (Their bathroom has large-format tiles, their living area has engineered timber.)

Can running costs be controlled intelligently? (Energy bills already felt high enough.)

What happens if something goes wrong in five or ten years?

Who installs it, and are they easy to find?

Those four questions eliminated several brands almost immediately and brought Warmup Australia into clear focus.

Why Warmup Australia Kept Coming to the Top

The Smart Thermostat Changed Everything

One thing that wasn't anticipated going into this process: how much the thermostat would matter. Warmup Australia's smart thermostat range — particularly the 4iE WiFi Thermostat — genuinely impressed during the research phase and has exceeded expectations in daily use.

The ability to set heating schedules means the bathroom floor is already warm when the alarm goes off. The kids step out of bed onto warm tiles. Nobody complains. The morning routine runs smoother. It sounds like a small thing. It isn't.

The app also shows energy consumption in real time, which matters more than expected. Being able to see exactly what the electric underfloor heating costs to run each day — and adjust schedules accordingly — has kept the system from becoming an expensive habit. In practice, running costs have been very manageable.

The Warranty Made the Decision Easier

Warmup Australia offers a 25-year warranty on their heating elements. For a product that gets embedded in a floor and covered in tiles, that kind of long-term backing isn't just reassuring — it's a statement about confidence in the product's quality. No other brand reviewed during the research phase offered anything close to that level of commitment.

It reframed the pricing conversation entirely. Yes, Warmup Australia costs more upfront than Cold Buster or a budget alternative. But a 25-year warranty on the heating element means the system should outlast the tiles above it. That's genuinely long-term value.

The Installer Network Made the Process Easy

Searching for underfloor heating near me led to finding a Warmup Australia certified installer fairly quickly. The installer was familiar with the product range, knew exactly how to handle the underfloor heating installation under large-format tiles, and walked through the process clearly before starting work.

For anyone in Sydney or other major Australian cities, finding a qualified installer through Warmup's network is straightforward. The process from first call to completed installation was smooth, professional, and finished on schedule.

What Was Installed — and How It Performs

Two rooms were done in the first phase: the main bathroom (approximately 9 sqm) and the ensuite (approximately 5 sqm). A third room — the home's main living area — was added six months later after seeing how well the first two performed.

Bathroom (9 sqm): Dual-conductor cable under large-format tiles. Scheduled to warm up from 6:00am on weekday mornings. Consistently reaches target temperature before the first family member is up.

Ensuite (5 sqm): Heated mat system under tiles. Used more casually, run on demand rather than a strict schedule.

Living Area (approx. 22 sqm): Warmup Australia's foil system under engineered timber. This was the most discussed decision — electric in-floor heat under timber requires careful product selection. Warmup's foil system is specifically designed for this application. After one full winter, it's performing exactly as described.

The Costs — Being Honest About the Numbers

Underfloor heating installation cost for their project broke down roughly as follows:

Bathroom (9 sqm): ~$1,100 including labour and thermostat

Ensuite (5 sqm): ~$650 including labour and thermostat

Living area (22 sqm): ~$2,200 including labour and smart thermostat

These are real-world figures from a Sydney installation in 2024. Costs will vary by location, electrician rates, and the specific Warmup Australia products chosen.

Running costs have added an estimated $20–$40 per month to the electricity bill across winter months, with smart scheduling keeping usage tight. That's considered genuinely reasonable for the comfort delivered.

What Would Be Done Differently?

Do it earlier. The only real regret is not committing to radiant floor heating sooner. The research phase felt intimidating, but in hindsight, Warmup Australia's support team and the installer made the whole process accessible.

Start with more rooms. There was a temptation to start small and see how it went. After the first installation, it was clear that expanding was the right call. Having done all three rooms in one project would have saved some coordination time.

The Bottom Line: A Personal Recommendation

For any Australian family weighing up underfloor heating solutions — particularly for bathrooms, kitchens, or living areas — the experience points clearly toward Warmup Australia as the brand most worth choosing.

The product quality is evident from day one. The smart thermostat makes the system genuinely liveable and cost-effective. The 25-year warranty means this isn't a decision that needs to be revisited. And the installer experience — professional, knowledgeable, efficient — reflects well on how Warmup Australia supports the people selling and installing their systems.

Cold Buster and Thermogroup serve real markets, and they're not bad products. But for a family making a meaningful investment in floor heating Australia-wide, the difference in quality, technology, and long-term support is noticeable enough to justify choosing the better option.

Warm floors. Every morning. Worth every cent.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

Underfloor Heating vs Ducted Heating in Australia: The Real Cost Comparison

This comparison comes up constantly and is almost always framed incorrectly. Ducted heating and underfloor heating are not competing solutions to the same problem — they are solving different problems, and understanding that changes which one you need.

What ducted heating actually does

Ducted gas or electric heating pushes warm air through ceiling or floor vents into multiple rooms simultaneously. It is whole-home heating — the intent is to bring every room to a liveable temperature quickly.

Done well, it works. Australian homes built since the 1990s with a ducted gas system can go from overnight temperatures to comfortable living temperatures in 20 to 30 minutes on a cold Melbourne morning.

The problem is what happens after the air heats up. Warm air rises. In a standard Australian home with 2.4-metre ceilings, the warmest air is at ceiling height and the coolest air is at floor level — exactly where you and your family spend your time. A thermostat set to 20 degrees and mounted on a wall at 1.2 metres reads 20 degrees while your ankles are sitting in 16-degree air and your floor tiles are at 12 degrees.

Ducted heating is also expensive. A gas ducted system costs $4,000 to $8,000 installed and has annual servicing costs. Electric ducted systems cost more to run than gas equivalents at current electricity tariffs. Ongoing maintenance — filter cleaning, duct inspection, compressor servicing — adds cost that most homeowners underestimate.

What underfloor heating does differently

Radiant floor heating warms the floor surface directly. Heat radiates upward from the floor — which is how radiant heat actually travels — and the temperature gradient in the room is inverted compared to a ducted system. The floor is warm, the air near the floor is warm, and comfort is achieved at a lower air temperature than conventional heating systems require.

This is not a theoretical benefit. Studies from European heating markets — where underfloor heating has been the standard residential specification for 30 years — consistently show that radiant floor heating achieves equivalent perceived warmth at air temperatures 2 to 3 degrees lower than convective heating. Lower air temperature means lower energy use.

Electric radiant floor heating systems also have no ductwork to lose heat through. Ducted systems in Australian homes commonly lose 20 to 30 percent of their heat output through duct leakage and conduction before the warm air reaches the room. An underfloor heating system delivers its heat directly to the surface with no losses in transit.

The real cost comparison

For a four-bedroom home in Melbourne, a ducted gas heating system costs approximately $5,000 to $8,000 installed. Annual gas bills for heating: $600 to $1,200 depending on usage. Annual servicing: $150 to $300. Over 15 years — the typical lifespan before major maintenance or replacement — total cost: $14,000 to $26,000.

For the same home with inslab electric underfloor heating installed during construction: $4,000 to $8,000 installed. Annual electricity running cost for a scheduled system: $200 to $500 depending on floor area and tariff. No annual servicing required. 25-year product guarantee. Over 15 years: $7,000 to $15,000 total.

The numbers overlap at the high end of underfloor and the low end of ducted. But the underfloor system has a 25-year guarantee with minimal ongoing maintenance. The ducted system will likely need compressor replacement, duct cleaning, and potentially full system replacement within that period.

Where ducted heating still wins

Whole-home air conditioning — systems that heat in winter and cool in summer — cannot be replicated by underfloor heating. If you want a single system that manages both heating and cooling, a ducted reverse-cycle system with good zoning remains the most practical solution for most Australian homes.

Underfloor heating solves the floor temperature problem. It does not solve the summer cooling problem. In Queensland, Western Australia, and coastal New South Wales, the cooling load typically dominates the air conditioning conversation. In those climates, the most practical outcome is often a ducted reverse-cycle system for cooling plus targeted underfloor heating for the wet areas where the cold-floor problem is most acute in winter.

What the combination looks like in practice

The most comfortable and cost-effective outcome for most Australian homes in cold-climate cities is not an either/or decision. It is:

Inslab heating (in a new build) or undertile heating (in renovations) for bathrooms, laundry, and kitchen — the rooms with tile floors where the cold-floor problem is felt most acutely. A smart thermostat for each zone.

A reverse-cycle split system in the main living area for cooling in summer and supplementary heating on the coldest days when you want the whole room warm quickly.

The underfloor heating handles the floor temperature problem that the ducted or split system never really solves. The air conditioning handles cooling and emergency heating loads. Each system does what it is best at.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

Queenslander Homes and Underfloor Heating: Why Old Timber Houses Are Better Candidates Than You Think

If you own a Queenslander and you have ever looked into underfloor heating, you may have been told that raised timber floors and electric heating systems do not mix. That is only half true — and understanding the full picture changes the economics of the decision considerably.

The Queenslander floor problem

The traditional Queenslander home — raised on stumps, with timber floors and high ceilings, designed for subtropical ventilation — is not what most people picture when they think about heating. Queensland winters are short. Most Queenslander owners spend six months a year not thinking about warmth at all.

But when the cold does arrive, the Queenslander is poorly equipped for it. The raised design allows air to circulate freely beneath the floor — which is exactly what makes these homes comfortable at 32 degrees in February but miserable at 8 degrees in July. The subfloor ventilation that keeps your home dry and cool becomes a cold-air inlet in winter. Timber floors conduct cold readily. The bathroom — invariably tiled in any renovation done after about 1980 — becomes the coldest surface in the house.

The renovation moment

Most Queenslanders undergo significant bathroom and kitchen renovations during ownership — either for personal use or to improve rental and resale value. In the inner Brisbane suburbs where Queenslander renovation activity is highest — Paddington, Red Hill, Bardon, Ashgrove, Balmain, New Farm — a bathroom renovation is rarely a cosmetic exercise. These projects are typically full gut-and-retile jobs: waterproofing, new tiles, new vanity, new plumbing positions.

This renovation moment is the correct time to install undertile heating. The tiles are coming up anyway. The waterproofing is being applied to the substrate anyway. The electrician is already on site for the lighting and exhaust fan. Adding a Warmup undertile mat to the floor before the tiles go down adds a morning of electrician time and a few hundred dollars of product cost to a project that is already spending $15,000 to $40,000.

The result is a bathroom floor that is warm at 7am in July. In Paddington in winter, that matters.

What about the timber floors in the rest of the house?

Here is where the picture changes. The original timber floors throughout a Queenslander — often hardwood or brushbox, sometimes a century old — are generally not compatible with electric underfloor heating systems. Solid hardwood expands and contracts significantly with temperature changes, and the temperature cycles of a radiant floor heating system can cause movement issues.

Engineered timber is a different story. If you are replacing the original timber floors with engineered hardwood — which is the common choice in Queenslander renovations that want to maintain the aesthetic while improving durability — most engineered products are compatible with low-temperature underlaminate heating systems. The key is checking the floor manufacturer's specifications for maximum surface temperature, and using a thermostat with a floor sensor to ensure the heating never exceeds that limit.

Warmup's technical team confirms compatibility with specific floor products before supplying a system for timber applications. This step is not optional — it protects both the floor and the warranty.

The inslab option for extensions

Many Queenslander renovations include a ground-level extension at the rear — typically a new kitchen-living zone that connects the raised main house to a new slab-on-ground addition. This is extremely common in inner Brisbane, where the rear-extension model allows a Queenslander to gain open-plan living without touching the heritage footprint.

If you are pouring a slab for a Queenslander extension, include inslab heating. The cost at construction stage is low, the extension floor will be tiled or finished with polished concrete, and the thermal mass of a concrete slab is exactly what makes radiant floor heating effective. The extension becomes the warmest part of the house in winter — which, in a heritage home with draughty timber floors and high ceilings everywhere else, is exactly the outcome you want.

The Brisbane cost reality

Brisbane's heating season is short — primarily June, July, and a few weeks either side. Annual running costs for a Queenslander bathroom undertile system on a scheduled thermostat are realistically $20 to $40 per year. The upfront cost is $500 to $1,000 installed.

By any reasonable measure, that is a cheap solution to a real problem. The reason most Queenslander owners do not have it is simply that the conversation about underfloor heating tends to happen in Melbourne and Canberra, not Brisbane — even though the Queenslander's architectural characteristics make it a particularly good candidate.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

How Long Does Underfloor Heating Last in Australia? The Honest Answer

The honest answer — with a properly installed Warmup system — is that the heating element will outlast the bathroom it is installed in. Possibly by decades.

That sounds like marketing. Let us look at why it is not.

How electric heating elements actually age

An electric undertile heating cable or mat is, at its core, a resistive heating element enclosed in polymer insulation. It has no moving parts. It does not contain refrigerant. It does not have a compressor, a burner, a motor, or a fan. There is nothing mechanical to wear out.

The failure modes for electric underfloor heating elements are limited: physical damage during installation (the cable being cut or kinked by a trowel, which is covered by Warmup's SafetyNet installation guarantee), manufacturing defects in the insulation or element, and thermal stress from operating above the rated temperature over extended periods.

Manufacturing defects show up early — within the first year or two — if they exist at all. A system that operates correctly through its first winter is almost always going to operate correctly for many years beyond.

Thermal stress is managed by the thermostat. A floor sensor monitors the element temperature directly and prevents overheating. This is why fitting the correct thermostat — one designed for the specific heating system — matters for longevity as much as it matters for running cost.

What Warmup's 25-year guarantee actually covers

Warmup offers a 25-year product guarantee on every heating element — the longest product guarantee offered by any electric underfloor heating supplier in Australia.

This guarantee covers manufacturing defects and material failure in the heating element for the full 25-year term from installation. If a Warmup system fails due to a product defect at any point within 25 years, Warmup replaces it.

The terms are clear: the guarantee covers the heating element, not damage caused by subsequent renovation work, not damage from the system being operated outside its specified parameters, and not physical damage inflicted after installation. A guarantee against manufacturing defects is what it says — and a 25-year term is a genuine statement of expected product life.

The thermostat: a different lifespan conversation

The heating element is the long-lived part of the system. The thermostat is not. Electronic thermostats, particularly smart WiFi models, have a realistic lifespan of 7 to 15 years depending on the model and how intensively it is used.

This is not a problem — thermostats are surface-mounted wall units that replace straightforwardly without touching the floor at all. Replacing a thermostat costs $150 to $400 and takes an electrician an hour. The element beneath your tiles keeps working regardless.

In 25 years of system operation, you might replace the thermostat twice. That is a known and manageable cost.

Inslab heating: a genuinely indefinite lifespan

Inslab heating embedded in a concrete slab operates under even more favourable conditions than undertile heating. The cable is surrounded by concrete on all sides, perfectly protected from physical contact. It operates at lower average temperatures than a surface system because the thermal mass of the slab retains heat, reducing the system's total run time.

The concrete does not degrade around the cable in any meaningful way. The cable does not corrode. There is no oxygen, no moisture, and no mechanical stress.

Warmup's inslab heating cables carry the same 25-year guarantee as the undertile range, but the structural reality is that an inslab system installed correctly in a new build could plausibly operate for 50 years or more. There are European installations of similar technology that are approaching 40 years of operation with no recorded element failures.

The slab is essentially the safest operating environment possible for a heating element. The 25-year guarantee reflects conservative product testing standards — the actual lifespan of a well-installed system is likely considerably longer.

What does actually go wrong (and when)

Most reported failures of electric underfloor heating systems in Australia fall into one of three categories:

Installation damage — the cable was cut or kinked during tiling, usually detectable by a resistance test before the tiles go down. This is exactly what SafetyNet covers.

Incorrect thermostat fitting — no floor sensor, or a generic thermostat not designed for floor heating, leading to thermal stress on the element over several years.

Subsequent damage — a renovation done 10 years after the original installation, where the new tiler was not aware the heating cables were beneath the old tiles and cut through them.

The first two are avoidable with correct installation. The third is preventable by marking the thermostat and documenting the floor heating layout for future owners and trades — something Warmup's installation documentation helps with.

The depreciation calculation

At $750 to $1,500 installed for a bathroom floor heating system, depreciated over 25 years, the cost per year is $30 to $60. Add running costs of $20 to $80 per year depending on your location and you are spending $50 to $140 per year for warm bathroom floors every winter morning.

It is one of the better-value home improvement calculations you will find. The reason it looks like a large upfront cost is that we are accustomed to thinking about heating in terms of monthly running bills rather than installed infrastructure. A hot water system costs $1,200 to $2,500 installed. An air conditioner costs $1,500 to $3,500. Neither lasts 25 years reliably. Underfloor heating does.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

The Best Underfloor Heating Solutions in Australia for 2025 (A Real Buyer's Guide)

Underfloor heating solutions have quietly become one of the most talked-about home upgrades across Australia — and honestly, it's not hard to see why. When someone finally makes the switch from a wall heater or ducted system to proper radiant floor heating, they almost never look back. Warm floors on a cold Sydney morning, no drafts, no noise, no dust being blown around — it genuinely changes how a home feels from the ground up.

This guide breaks down the best floor heating systems available in Australia right now, who makes them, what they cost, and which one is actually worth your hard-earned money.

Why Underfloor Heating Is Having Its Moment in Australia

For years, underfloor heating was seen as a European luxury — something you read about in architecture magazines but never actually installed in your own home. That's changed dramatically. The cost of electric underfloor heating systems has dropped, installation has become more straightforward, and Australian homeowners have woken up to just how much comfort they've been missing.

Unlike traditional heating, radiant floor heating works from the ground up. Heat radiates evenly across the entire floor surface instead of being pushed through vents or blown from a wall unit. The result is a room that feels genuinely warm rather than just less cold. Feet stay comfortable, temperatures stay consistent, and energy use can actually be lower than older heating methods when the system is properly controlled.

The Top Brands Offering Floor Heating Australia Wide

1. Warmup Australia — The Market Leader Worth Knowing

When most people start researching underfloor heating installation, Warmup Australia is the name that comes up first — and for good reason. Warmup has built a reputation globally and locally for producing well-engineered electric underfloor heating systems that are reliable, energy-efficient, and backed by serious warranty support.

Their range covers electric in-floor heat for bathrooms, kitchens, living areas, and whole-home solutions. What sets Warmup apart is their smart thermostat range, which allows users to programme heating schedules, monitor energy use, and control everything via a smartphone app. For anyone serious about managing running costs, this is a genuine advantage.

Warmup Australia also offers professional design support, which matters more than most buyers realise. Getting the layout of heating cables or mats right before the floor goes down is critical — mistakes at that stage are expensive. Warmup's team takes the guesswork out of the process.

Their underfloor heating installation cost varies by system type and floor area, but their transparent pricing and support structure make it easier to budget accurately from day one.

2. Thermogroup — A Strong Australian Contender

Thermogroup is an Australian-owned brand that has been in the floor heating space for a long time. They produce both electric underfloor heating mats and loose cable systems suitable for tiles, timber, and other floor types. Their Thermosoft product line is particularly well regarded for bathroom installations where comfort underfoot matters most.

Thermogroup products are widely available through tile retailers and bathroom showrooms across the country, making them accessible for both DIY-inclined homeowners and professional installers alike.

3. Hotwire — Reliable and Builder-Friendly

Hotwire has a strong presence in the new construction and renovation market. Builders and electricians across Australia are familiar with the brand, which makes finding a tradie who has worked with their systems relatively easy. Their underfloor heating products are competitively priced and come with solid technical support documentation.

4. Cold Buster — Budget-Accessible Entry Point

Cold Buster appeals to buyers who want to dip their toes into electric in-floor heat without committing to a premium system. They're commonly found in hardware retailers and suit smaller spaces like bathrooms or laundries where the installation area is limited.

5. Warmtech and Comfort Heat — Worth Exploring

Both Warmtech and Comfort Heat serve niche segments of the Australian market. Warmtech is often chosen for commercial applications, while Comfort Heat positions itself toward mid-range residential buyers. Neither dominates the conversation the way Warmup Australia does, but both represent viable options depending on project scope.

Underfloor Heating Installation Cost — What to Expect

The underfloor heating installation cost in Australia typically ranges from $100 to $200 per square metre for electric underfloor heating, including materials and labour. Bathroom installations at smaller sizes (4–8 sqm) can start from around $500 to $800 all up, while whole-home systems covering multiple rooms run considerably higher.

Key factors affecting price:

Floor area to be heated

Type of flooring (tiles vs. timber vs. carpet-compatible systems)

Thermostat choice (standard vs. smart)

Electrical connection requirements

Getting a proper quote from a licensed electrician before committing is always the right move.

Underfloor Heating Near Me — How to Find a Qualified Installer

Searching underfloor heating near me is a good starting point, but vetting your installer matters. For underfloor heating installation, always use a licensed electrician. Many brands — including Warmup Australia — maintain a network of approved installers, which is worth checking before booking.

If you're in Sydney, Melbourne, or any major Australian city, the market is competitive and options are plentiful. Regional buyers may need to plan further ahead for availability.

Final Thoughts

Underfloor heating solutions in Australia have never been more accessible, better designed, or more worth the investment. Whether it's a single bathroom upgrade or a full home installation, the comfort gains are real and lasting.

Of all the brands reviewed here, Warmup Australia consistently stands out for the combination of product quality, smart technology integration, and post-sale support. For buyers who want confidence that their system will perform well for decades, that reputation matters.

Warm floors aren't a luxury anymore. They're a very reasonable expectation.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

WiFi Thermostats and Underfloor Heating: Why the Thermostat Matters More Than the Heating System

Most people shopping for underfloor heating spend the majority of their time comparing heating mats and cables. Fair enough — that is the part that goes in the floor and it matters. But the thermostat is what separates an underfloor heating system that performs brilliantly from one that frustrates you, runs at the wrong times, and costs more than it should.

If you are installing underfloor heating in Australia and you are debating whether to upgrade to a smart WiFi thermostat, here is why the answer is almost always yes.

What a thermostat actually controls

A floor heating thermostat does several things simultaneously. The floor sensor — a thin probe that runs beneath the tiles to sit between the heating cables — monitors the temperature of the heating element directly. This is not optional. Without a floor sensor, the element can overheat, which damages the cable and can cause failure of the tile adhesive. Every quality underfloor heating thermostat includes a floor sensor input.

The thermostat also controls when the system runs. This is where most of the energy efficiency lives. A system that runs only when you need it costs a fraction of one left on continuously — and the difference between "only when you need it" and "roughly when you think you need it" is where smart thermostats earn their place.

The scheduling advantage

A basic programmable thermostat lets you set fixed on/off times for each day of the week. This is already a big improvement over manual control — you set it once, the bathroom floor is warm when you need it, and you forget about it.

A smart WiFi thermostat goes further. It connects to your home network and is controlled through an app on your phone. This means:

You can change the schedule from anywhere. If you are working from home unexpectedly and want the floor warm earlier, you adjust it from your phone without touching the wall unit.

You can set different schedules for weekdays and weekends — which most households use very differently.

You can monitor energy consumption in real time. Warmup's app, for example, shows you actual energy use by day, week, and month — so you know exactly what the system is costing and can make informed adjustments.

Some models use geolocation, detecting when your phone is a certain distance from home and starting the floor heating before you arrive. For people with irregular work schedules, this removes the need to manually trigger the system each time.

For holiday homes and rental properties — very common in coastal Tasmania, the Mornington Peninsula, Queensland's hinterland — remote control is particularly valuable. You can turn the heating off entirely when the property is unoccupied and turn it on from your phone a few hours before guests arrive.

The DUAL thermostat: a specifically Australian solution

Australian bathrooms — particularly in new builds and renovations over the past 15 years — routinely include both underfloor heating and a heated towel rail. Managing these as separate wall units creates clutter and confusion.

Warmup's DUAL thermostat controls both the floor heating system and the heated towel rail from a single wall-mounted unit. In bathrooms where the wall is clean and minimal, this matters. One controller, one schedule, one app interface.

For architects and interior designers specifying bathroom fit-outs in Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra apartments — where wall space is at a premium and clean aesthetics are non-negotiable — the DUAL thermostat is consistently the specified solution.

Where thermostats go in Australian bathrooms

Australian electrical regulations require the thermostat to be located outside the wet area zones defined under AS/NZS 3000. In a bathroom, this means the thermostat must be mounted outside the shower zone and bath zone — typically near the door or on a non-wet wall.

This is not a limitation; it is simply a placement constraint to be aware of during planning. Warmup's installation guides include zone diagrams for every thermostat model, and the licensed electrician installing the system will confirm the correct location during the pre-installation assessment.

A note on compatibility

Warmup thermostats are designed to work with Warmup heating systems. This is not a lock-in gimmick — it is about the floor sensor range, wattage compatibility, and the way the app integrates with the system's energy monitoring. A generic thermostat from a hardware store may work electrically, but it will not include a floor sensor calibrated for the specific heating cable, and it will not provide energy monitoring data.

For a 25-year system — which is what Warmup's product guarantee covers — spending an extra $100 to $200 on the right thermostat is one of the easier decisions in the project.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

Underfloor Heating in a New Build: What Your Builder Might Not Tell You

If you are building a new home in Australia and underfloor heating is on your list of features to consider, there is one thing worth knowing before you sign anything: the window to include it at minimum cost is smaller than most people realise, and once it closes, it does not reopen without significant expense.

Here is what you need to know before the slab is poured.

The slab pour is the moment

Inslab electric underfloor heating works by embedding heating cables in the structural concrete slab before the concrete is poured over the top. The cables are fixed to the reinforcing steel mesh at the correct spacing, the cable ends are routed to the thermostat locations in the walls, and then the slab goes in over the top. The system is invisible, permanently protected, and will last as long as the building.

The cost to do this at the reinforcing steel stage is a fraction of what it costs to try to add floor heating after the fact. You are paying for cable, a few hours of electrician time for installation and routing, and a technical design from the supplier. The electrician is already on site. The reinforcing contractor is already on site. The concrete pour is already being scheduled.

After the slab is poured, the only way to add in-slab heating is to demolish the slab. This does not happen. In practice, post-pour inslab heating is not available.

Why some builders do not mention it

Not every volume builder includes inslab heating as a standard conversation item for two reasons. First, it adds a line to the quote that can make a house-and-land package look more expensive at comparison stage, even if the total lifetime value is strongly positive. Second, some builders subcontract electrical work separately, and the conversation about heating infrastructure may not happen until the project is already underway.

This is not necessarily bad faith — it is often simply a function of how the construction industry quotes and sequences work. But the result is that many buyers who would have gladly included inslab heating in a new build find out about it six months after they have moved in.

Ask the question before you sign. Ask it specifically and early: “Can we include inslab electric floor heating, and at what stage does it need to be decided?” A good builder will have a clear answer. If the answer is vague, contact the heating supplier directly to understand the sequence and cost.

What the technical design looks like

Inslab heating is not just cable dropped into a slab. It requires a technical design that specifies cable spacing, zone boundaries, cable lengths, thermostat locations, and load calculations for each zone.

Warmup’s technical team, and others, provide this as a free service for new build projects. The design accounts for the floor plan, the expected floor finish over the slab (tiles have lower thermal resistance than carpet; timber is higher), and the number of independent zones the homeowner wants.

Most families want at minimum three zones in a new home: wet areas (bathrooms and laundry), the open-plan living zone, and optionally the bedrooms. Each zone has its own thermostat, which means each can be controlled independently — and with smart WiFi thermostats, the entire system is manageable from your phone.

The cost conversation

For a standard four-bedroom single-storey home in a growth corridor — think Springfield or Ormiston in SEQ, Craigieburn or Werribee in Melbourne, Alkimos or Ellenbrook in Perth — the installed cost of inslab heating for the full home at the construction stage is typically in the range of $4,000 to $8,000 depending on floor area, zone count, and thermostat specification.

On a $600,000 to $700,000 house-and-land package, that represents roughly one to one-and-a-half percent of the build cost. On a 30-year mortgage, the additional weekly repayment is negligible. The system adds measurably to the appraised value of the home, lasts indefinitely, costs a small amount per day to run, and eliminates the cold-floor problem permanently.

It is one of the most cost-effective inclusions available at the new-build stage. The reason it is not universal is simply that people do not know to ask for it.

After the build: undertile is the answer

If you have already moved into a new home and the slab is poured, you have not missed out entirely. Undertile heating can be installed during any bathroom or kitchen renovation, at any time, in any existing home. It will not give you the whole-floor thermal mass performance of inslab heating in a living area, but for bathrooms and kitchens — the rooms where the cold-floor problem is most acute — it works exactly as well.

The lesson is simply this: if you are building, ask about inslab heating before the reinforcing stage. If you have already built, install undertile heating when you next renovate a wet area. Either way, you are solving the problem — just at different costs and different stages.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

The Best Room in Your House to Install Underfloor Heating First (And Why It Is Never the Lounge)

If you are thinking about underfloor heating for the first time and you are wondering where to start, nearly everyone gives you the same answer: the bathroom. And they are right — but the reason why is worth understanding, because it changes how you think about adding more rooms later.

Why the bathroom is always first

Australian homes are not cold the way northern European homes are cold. We do not have minus-twenty winters. What we have are eight to fifteen degree overnight temperatures in most of the major southern cities — cold enough that getting out of bed and walking across a tile floor in bare feet is genuinely unpleasant, but not so cold that the whole-house heating problem dominates every decision.

The bathroom concentrates that problem. Tile holds cold better than any other common floor material. It does not warm up from ambient temperature the way timber does. A bathroom that sits at 12 degrees overnight will still feel cold underfoot at 7am even if the house has warmed to 18. And bathrooms are where you are most exposed — wet feet, minimal clothing, no way to avoid the floor.

This is why undertile heating in a bathroom is the most impactful comfort upgrade most Australians can make per dollar spent. You are solving the problem at the exact point where the cold is actually felt.

What about the kitchen?

Kitchens are the second most common installation, and for good reason. Tiled kitchens — particularly in older Melbourne and Sydney homes where tessellated tiles or slate extend from the bathroom across the kitchen floor — present the same cold-floor problem. In a kitchen, you stand for longer periods. Cold tiles become fatiguing in a way they are not in a bathroom where you are moving.

Kitchen undertile heating is an excellent second installation. It is also a natural extension of a bathroom renovation project — if the tiler is already on site and the electrician is already scheduled, adding the kitchen at the same time reduces both the cost per square metre and the disruption.

The caveat: avoid heating beneath the refrigerator, dishwasher, and cabinetry with plywood bases. These areas do not benefit from heating and the element should not be installed beneath fixed appliances. Most installation guides and technical support teams will walk you through the exclusion zones.

Bedrooms: often overlooked, high reward in cold climates

In Canberra, Hobart, Ballarat, and similar high-altitude or inland cold-climate locations, carpeted bedrooms are often where Australians feel the cold most acutely — not the tile floor in the bathroom, but the moment when your feet hit carpet that has been sitting at 8 degrees all night.

Undercarpet heating solves this without requiring any tiling. An ultra-thin mat installs between the carpet and underlay during carpet installation or replacement, connects to a thermostat, and provides gentle radiant warmth through the carpet pile. The floor sensor on the thermostat prevents overheating, and the soft warmth through carpet on a Hobart winter morning is distinctly different from the sharp cold it replaces.

For families with young children who play on the floor in winter, bedroom and living area floor heating is not a luxury — it is a genuine quality-of-life improvement.

Living areas: where inslab heating shines

The large open-plan living, dining, and kitchen zones that dominate Australian residential design present a challenge for undertile heating systems because the floor area is large and the energy cost of heating it all through tile is significant.

This is where inslab heating — installed during new home construction — makes the most sense. A concrete slab heated from within is not trying to warm just the tile surface. It is warming a large thermal mass that releases heat slowly and evenly. Combined with good insulation, double glazing, and a smart thermostat that pre-heats the slab during off-peak hours, an inslab system in an open-plan living zone delivers whole-room comfort without the running cost of heating the air.

For existing homes, a floor-to-ceiling renovation that includes a new screed layer can make inscreed heating feasible for large living areas. But the floor height addition needs to be accounted for carefully.

The rooms to skip (or do last)

Formal dining rooms used twice a week. Spare bedrooms rarely occupied. Hallways that people walk through but do not inhabit. These are not worth the installation cost until the rooms you actually live in are done.

The logical order for most Australian homes: bathroom first, kitchen second, master bedroom third if you are in a cold climate. Living areas as part of a new build or major renovation. Everything else is a bonus.

A note on zoning

When you have multiple rooms with underfloor heating systems, each requires its own thermostat — or you need a multi-zone controller. This is not a limitation; it is an advantage. The bathroom does not need to run at the same time as the bedroom. The thermostat schedules for each room can be set independently, which means you only run each zone when it is being used.

A smart thermostat system across three rooms — bathroom, kitchen, master bedroom — controlled through a single phone app, is one of the more satisfying home automation setups available in Australia, and one of the few that pays for itself in reduced running costs and improved comfort simultaneously.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

Is Underfloor Heating Expensive to Run? An Honest Breakdown for Australian Homes

The short answer is no — not if you install the right system and use a decent thermostat. The longer answer requires actually looking at the numbers, which most guides are reluctant to do.

Let us do that here.

What drives the running cost

An electric underfloor heating system is essentially a resistive heating element — it converts electricity into heat. The cost of running it depends on three things: the wattage of the system, how long it runs each day, and what you pay per kilowatt-hour of electricity.

A standard bathroom undertile system in a 6 square metre bathroom might have a total load of around 600 to 900 watts. Running continuously, that is 0.6 to 0.9 kWh per hour.

Australia's average residential electricity tariff sits around 28 to 35 cents per kWh in most states in 2026, though it varies meaningfully between states and between peak and off-peak periods.

At 30 cents per kWh, a 750-watt bathroom system running continuously would cost around 22.5 cents per hour.

But here is the thing: no properly configured underfloor heating system runs continuously. That is the whole point of the thermostat.

What the thermostat actually does

A floor thermostat does two jobs. The floor sensor monitors the temperature of the heating element directly, preventing it from exceeding a safe limit and protecting both the cable and your tile adhesive. The time and temperature programming controls when the system runs at all.

A well-programmed thermostat for a bathroom might look like this: on at 5:45am, off at 7:30am. On again at 7pm, off at 10pm. That is roughly three hours of run time per day during the winter months.

At 22.5 cents per hour, three hours per day costs around 67 cents. Over a 90-day winter season (June through August), that is about $60. Over a six-month heating season in Hobart or Canberra, perhaps $120.

But that assumes the system runs at full capacity for the entire scheduled period — which it will not. Once the floor reaches the set temperature, the system cycles off and only runs again when the sensor detects a temperature drop. In practice, actual run time during a scheduled window is typically 50 to 70 percent of the scheduled duration, depending on how well-insulated the floor is and the ambient temperature.

Real-world daily running costs for a standard Australian bathroom underfloor heating system with a programmed thermostat fall between 20 and 50 cents per day in most parts of the country.

City by city: what Australian homeowners actually spend

Canberra and alpine NSW: The longest heating season in the country — May through September in most suburbs, potentially April through October in elevated areas like Braidwood and Cooma. At 30 to 45 cents per day over 150 to 180 days, annual running cost for a single bathroom: $45 to $80.

Melbourne and regional VIC: A genuine winter, typically April to October for heating purposes. At 25 to 40 cents per day over 120 to 150 days: $30 to $60 per bathroom per year.

Hobart and regional TAS: Similar to Melbourne in season length, slightly colder overnight temperatures. $50 to $90 per bathroom per year is a realistic figure.

Sydney and coastal NSW: Milder, shorter season — typically May through August. $20 to $40 per bathroom per year.

Adelaide: July overnight temperatures around 7 to 9°C make floor heating genuinely useful for four to five months. $25 to $50 per bathroom per year.

Brisbane, Gold Coast, and South East QLD: Short winter season, mild nights aside from Toowoomba and elevated areas. $15 to $35 per bathroom per year for most homes.

Perth: Short but reliably cold winter — June and July primarily. $15 to $30 per bathroom per year for a slab-on-ground home.

How does this compare to other heating options?

A typical reverse-cycle split system air conditioner running in heating mode in a living room consumes 1,000 to 2,500 watts depending on capacity and outdoor temperature. Running for three hours per evening through winter costs $2 to $4 per day — several times more than a bathroom floor heating system.

Gas ducted heating is often cited as cheaper to run than electric heating, and per kWh it is — but it heats the air in the room rather than the surface you touch. You typically need to run it longer to achieve comfort, and it does nothing for the floor temperature that makes getting out of bed in winter the unpleasant experience most Australians know.

Radiant floor heating warms the floor surface directly. When you step onto a warm floor at 6am in a Canberra winter, you do not care that the air temperature in the room is still 14 degrees — your feet are warm and that is where it matters first.

The smart thermostat factor

Smart WiFi thermostats have changed the economics of running electric underfloor heating systems more than any other single development. The ability to schedule heating from your phone, set different schedules for different days, and have the system auto-adjust based on whether you are home makes a meaningful difference to annual running costs.

Warmup's app-controlled thermostats, for example, allow scheduling down to 15-minute intervals across a 7-day program. The energy monitoring feature tracks actual consumption in real time, so you can see exactly what the system is costing and adjust accordingly. Some models include geolocation features — the system detects when your phone is approaching home and starts warming the floor before you arrive.

This level of control means the floor heating system only runs when it genuinely needs to. There is no forgetting to turn it off before a holiday. There is no running through spring because you did not update the schedule. You set it once, you adjust it occasionally, and you stop thinking about it.

What about inslab heating?

Inslab floor heating in a full home is harder to cost in the same way because it covers larger areas and is typically configured in zones. An inslab system heating a large open-plan living area will consume more electricity than a bathroom undertile system — but it replaces other heating entirely for those spaces rather than supplementing it.

The efficiency advantage of inslab heating is that the slab stores heat. In a well-insulated home, you can run the system at off-peak electricity rates overnight, charge the slab with heat, and draw on that stored warmth through the morning peak hours without the system running at all. Paired with rooftop solar, this becomes one of the most cost-effective whole-home heating strategies available in Australia.

The honest bottom line

Underfloor heating is not expensive to run if you do two things: use a programmable thermostat, and schedule the system to run only when you need it.

If you install a floor heating system and leave it on a manual setting, yes, it will cost more than it should. If you run a smart thermostat with a proper daily schedule that matches your routine, the cost for a single bathroom is less than the price of a coffee every two days. For most Australian households, that arithmetic is not difficult.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

Undertile Heating vs Inslab Heating: Which One Do You Actually Need?

This is the question that comes up most often when Australian homeowners or builders start looking seriously at underfloor heating — and the honest answer is that the right system is almost always determined by one thing: when in the life of the building you are making the decision.

Let us go through both properly.

What undertile heating actually is

Undertile heating is an electric heating mat or cable system that sits directly beneath your tile finish — between the tile adhesive and the substrate beneath it. It does not go in the slab. It does not require any structural work. It lays flat across the floor, gets embedded in tile adhesive during the tiling process, and connects to a thermostat on the wall.

This is the right system for:

Any bathroom or kitchen renovation in an existing home. The floor is already there. You are not pouring concrete. You tile, and the heating mat goes down before the tiles do.

Apartment renovations. Undertile floor heating adds as little as 3mm to the floor build-up, which is within the tolerance of virtually every apartment renovation in Australia.

Quick installations. A licensed electrician can commission a standard bathroom undertile system in a single visit.

Any room where you are replacing tiles anyway. If the old tiles are coming up, the cost of adding undertile heating is minimal compared to the total renovation spend.

What it is not suited to: new homes where the slab has not been poured yet. You can still use undertile heating in a new home — but if you are at the construction stage, you are leaving performance and value on the table.

What inslab heating actually is

Inslab heating embeds electric heating cables directly in the structural concrete slab before it is poured. The cables are fixed to the reinforcing steel mesh at the correct spacing, the cable ends are routed to where the thermostat locations will be, and then the slab is poured over the top. The system is invisible. There is nothing to maintain. It will outlast the building.

Because the cables are embedded in a large volume of concrete — which has excellent thermal mass — inslab heating delivers radiant floor heating across the entire floor area with exceptional evenness. There are no warm spots near the cable and cold spots between runs. The slab absorbs heat and releases it slowly and consistently.

This is the right system for:

New homes being built on a concrete slab — which covers the majority of residential construction in Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, and large portions of Melbourne and Sydney's outer suburbs.

Any stage of construction where the slab pour has not yet happened. The window to install inslab heating is the reinforcing steel stage. Miss it and you cannot go back.

Builders and developers who want to offer underfloor heating as a standard or premium inclusion. The cost per home is low when done at scale, and it is a genuine point of difference in a competitive market.

Large floor areas. For an open-plan living zone of 50 square metres or more, undertile systems can be expensive. Inslab heating covers the same area at a lower cost per square metre when installed during construction.

What inslab heating is not suited to: renovation projects, existing homes, or apartments. Once the slab is poured, it is poured. You cannot add inslab heating to an existing floor without demolition.

The key difference most people miss

Undertile heating warms quickly and cools quickly. Because the heating element is close to the floor surface, with only tile adhesive and tile between the cable and the room, surface temperature responds fast — typically 20 to 40 minutes from cold to comfortable. It is ideal for a bathroom that you use for 30 minutes in the morning and not again until evening.

Inslab heating takes longer to reach temperature — typically one to three hours — but retains heat for much longer. It is better suited to living areas and open-plan spaces that you want to maintain at a consistent temperature for extended periods. In homes with good insulation, an inslab system can warm the floor overnight using off-peak electricity and the slab will still be warm at lunchtime.

Understanding this difference helps you choose not just the system, but the thermostat scheduling strategy. Both systems benefit enormously from a smart thermostat — the kind that lets you set precise daily heating windows so the floor is warm exactly when you need it.

What about inscreed heating?

Inscreed heating sits between the two. The cables are embedded in a separate screed layer poured over the existing slab, rather than in the structural slab itself. This means it can be used in renovations and extensions where a screed pour is feasible — typically in ground-floor extensions, laundries, and large living areas where there is enough floor height to accommodate the additional build-up.

Inscreed systems have better thermal mass than undertile but less than inslab. They take longer to heat up than undertile but respond faster than inslab. For heritage homes with high ceilings and a budget for a full ground-floor renovation, inscreed heating can be the right answer.

So which one do you need?

If you are renovating: undertile heating. Full stop.

If you are building new on a concrete slab: inslab heating, installed before the pour. If you miss that window, undertile heating once your floors are finished.

If you are building a new home with a suspended timber floor: neither inslab nor inscreed is feasible. Underlaminate heating (beneath floating timber or laminate) or undertile in the wet areas is the right solution.

If you are renovating a ground-floor extension and can accommodate a screed pour: inscreed heating is worth considering, particularly for large living areas.

The conversation with your Warmup supplier or the technical support team will take about ten minutes and tell you definitively which system suits your project. It is one of the fastest and most useful calls you will make during a renovation or build.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

How Much Does Underfloor Heating Cost in Australia in 2026?

It is one of the first questions every Australian homeowner asks, and one of the hardest to answer in a single sentence — because the cost of underfloor heating depends almost entirely on what you are installing, where you are installing it, and when in the build or renovation you decide to do it.

What we can do is break it down honestly, category by category, so you know what to expect before you speak to a supplier or electrician.

The Product Itself

For a standard bathroom undertile heating system — a heating mat or cable that sits beneath your tiles and connects to a thermostat on the wall — the product cost for a 5 to 8 square metre bathroom typically falls between $350 and $650 depending on the brand, system type, and whether you need a mat or loose cable layout.

Add a quality thermostat to that. A basic programmable model starts around $150 to $200. A smart WiFi thermostat — the kind you control from your phone and that monitors energy use automatically — sits between $250 and $400. Thermostats are not optional for tile systems: they protect the heating element from overheating and they are how you keep running costs manageable. Do not skip it, and do not fit a cheap one.

So for a complete bathroom underfloor heating system — mat or cable plus thermostat — you are realistically looking at $500 to $900 at the product level, depending on brand and thermostat choice. That is for a single, standard-sized bathroom.

Installation

The product cost is only part of the picture. In Australia, all final electrical connections — the thermostat, the power supply, the connection to your switchboard — must be made by a licensed electrician. This is not optional and it is not negotiable. It is a requirement under AS/NZS 3000 Wiring Rules in every state and territory.

The good news is that the physical laying of the heating mat or cable — unrolling it across the floor, positioning it around obstacles, setting it in tile adhesive before the tiles go down — is straightforward enough that a tiler can complete that part while the electrician handles the wiring.

Electrician costs for a standard bathroom underfloor heating system installation in a major Australian city typically run between $250 and $600. More complex installations — second bathroom, inslab heating, zoned systems — will cost more. Regional areas can vary either way.

Add it up: a single bathroom in an Australian home, fully installed with a quality thermostat, typically comes to between $750 and $1,500 all in. That is the realistic number.

Inslab Heating: A Completely Different Cost Structure

If you are building a new home on a concrete slab, the cost calculation changes significantly — and in your favour.

Inslab heating embeds cables directly in the structural slab before it is poured. The cables cost more than a mat system, and the layout requires a technical design, but you eliminate almost all labour cost beyond the cabling itself because the electrician is already on site for the build. The cost per square metre drops dramatically compared to retrofitting.

Inslab heating for an entire home is typically quoted per project, based on the number of zones, the home's floor area, and the number of thermostats required. For a full four-bedroom home, you might be looking at $3,000 to $8,000 installed depending on size, zone configuration, and builder margin. Spread across the lifetime of the home — and that system will last as long as the slab does — it is exceptional value.

The critical point: installing inslab floor heating after the concrete is poured is effectively impossible without demolition. The time to include it in a new build is during the reinforcing steel stage, before the pour. If you are building now and not including it, you are locking yourself out.

Inscreed And Underlaminate Systems

Inscreed heating — where cables are embedded in a separate screed layer poured over the structural slab — is used in extensions and renovations where a screed pour is feasible. The cost sits between undertile and inslab, and depends heavily on the screed depth and floor area.

Underlaminate heating, for timber and floating floor applications, is priced similarly to undertile in terms of product cost, with slightly lower installation complexity.

Undercarpet systems — ultra-thin mats that install between carpet and underlay — are typically the most affordable floor heating systems to purchase, often $200 to $400 for a standard bedroom, though the thermostat and electrical connection cost remains the same.

Running Costs: Not What You Might Expect

The initial cost is one number. The running cost is another, and this is where Australian homeowners often get a pleasant surprise.

A bathroom undertile system running on a scheduled thermostat — set to warm the floor for an hour before your alarm goes off, then again in the evening — typically costs between $0.20 and $0.50 per day during winter, depending on your electricity tariff and the size of the floor.

Over the course of a Melbourne or Canberra winter, you might spend $40 to $80 running the system. For a Hobart home with a six-month heating season, perhaps $60 to $100. For a Brisbane or Perth bathroom where the system runs for only three months of the year, annual running costs can be as low as $20 to $40.

The reason the running cost is low is not because the system uses no electricity — it is because you are heating a floor, not a room, and because a good thermostat prevents the system from running any more than it needs to.

The Real Question: Is It Worth It?

At $750 to $1,500 installed for a bathroom, underfloor heating is not a trivial purchase. But it is far less than most Australians assume before they look into it, and it delivers a daily comfort improvement that heating options costing five times more often cannot match.

A ducted gas system heats the air in a room. Radiant floor heating heats the floor surface — which is what your body actually touches when you step out of bed at 6am in a Canberra winter. Those are different experiences, and anyone who has used heated floors for a winter will tell you they are not going back.

At a cost per day of between 20 and 50 cents over a 25-year product life, the economics are genuinely compelling. The only real answer to "is it worth it" is that most people who install it wonder why they waited.

[underfloorheatingwarmupaustralia]

Electric Underfloor Heating for Bathrooms

Step onto a cold tile floor first thing on a winter morning and you feel the problem straight away. Electric underfloor heating for bathrooms solves that daily discomfort without relying on bulky heaters, noisy fans or patchy warmth that never seems to reach where you need it most.

For many Australian homes, the bathroom is one of the coldest rooms in the house. Tiles hold the chill, ventilation can pull heat out quickly, and short heating bursts from lamps or wall units often warm the air rather than the floor. That is why more homeowners, renovators and builders are turning to underfloor systems that heat the room from the ground up.

Why electric underfloor heating works so well in bathrooms

Bathrooms are a natural fit for electric underfloor heating because they are usually compact spaces with hard floor finishes and clear heating demands. You do not need to heat a large open-plan area for hours. Instead, you want targeted comfort at the times of day the room is used most.

An electric system sits beneath the floor finish and produces radiant heat. Rather than forcing hot air around the room, it gently warms the floor surface, which then helps warm the space more evenly. That creates a very different feel from overhead heating. The warmth is quieter, more consistent and far more noticeable underfoot.

This matters in bathrooms because comfort is not just about air temperature. If the tiles are cold, the room still feels cold. A heated floor changes that experience immediately.

The comfort benefits go beyond warm feet

The first benefit people notice is simple - the floor feels warm instead of icy. But the longer-term appeal is broader than that.

Bathrooms with underfloor heating often feel more balanced overall. There are fewer cold spots near the floor, and the warmth is less abrupt than a wall-mounted fan heater. That can make early mornings and late-night routines much more comfortable, especially in family homes where the bathroom is used constantly.

It also supports cleaner design. Because the heating is hidden beneath the floor, there is no need to make space for a visible heater on the wall. That gives renovators and designers more freedom with layout, storage and finishes.

For households sensitive to dust movement, radiant heating can also feel gentler. Unlike fan-driven systems, it does not rely on blowing air around the room. That is one reason many homeowners see it as a more comfortable, low-fuss way to heat smaller interior spaces.

Electric underfloor heating for bathrooms and energy use

Energy efficiency is one of the main reasons people look closely at these systems, but this is where a bit of nuance helps. Electric underfloor heating can be efficient in bathrooms because it is usually heating a smaller area for set periods, not trying to maintain whole-home temperatures all day.

When paired with the right thermostat and programmed around real usage patterns, the system can warm the floor before the household wakes up and switch back when the room is no longer in use. That kind of zone control matters. A bathroom does not need to be heated the same way as a living room.

Floor construction, insulation, room size and the chosen set temperature all affect running costs. A well-prepared installation with insulation boards beneath the heating system will generally perform better and respond faster than one installed without them. Faster heat-up times usually mean less wasted energy.

The key point is that efficiency comes from system design as much as the product itself. Choosing the right output, the right controls and the right floor build-up makes a real difference.

What type of bathroom floor works best?

Tile is the most common finish over electric underfloor heating in bathrooms, and for good reason. Tiles conduct and retain heat well, making them ideal for undertile systems. Stone performs similarly, although heat-up times can vary depending on thickness.

If you are renovating, it is worth discussing the final floor finish early. The heating system needs to match the build-up and intended use of the room. In some projects, floor height matters. In others, the priority may be rapid response, especially in ensuite bathrooms or powder rooms that are used for shorter periods.

This is where specialist advice helps. Not every bathroom renovation is starting from the same point, and the best solution depends on whether the floor is being retiled, rebuilt or included in a new slab or screed design.

What to expect during installation?

In most bathroom projects, electric underfloor heating is easiest to install during a renovation or new build. The system is placed beneath the floor finish, then connected to a thermostat by a licensed electrician. In wet areas, correct waterproofing and compliance are essential, so the sequence of trades matters.

For tiled bathrooms, undertile heating is often the preferred option because it is designed specifically for this application. Where floors are being built up more substantially, inscreed or inslab formats may be suitable depending on the construction method.

Good installation is not just about laying heating cable or matting. It includes heat-loss considerations, substrate preparation, insulation, waterproofing compatibility and thermostat placement. A specialist supplier-installer can coordinate these details properly and help avoid common issues such as uneven heating performance or avoidable delays on site.

How long does it take to warm up?

That depends on the system type and floor build-up. Undertile systems in well-insulated bathroom floors can deliver a relatively quick response, while thicker screed or slab constructions generally take longer to heat but may retain warmth for longer too.

There is no single answer that suits every project. If you want a bathroom to warm quickly for morning use, that needs to be considered in the specification stage. If the room is part of a larger new build where thermal mass is already part of the design, a different approach may make more sense.

This is one of the biggest reasons to avoid treating underfloor heating as a generic add-on. The system should fit how the room will actually be used.

Is electric underfloor heating safe in bathrooms?

Yes, when it is designed and installed correctly for wet-area use. Bathrooms require particular attention to electrical safety, waterproofing and compliance, so product selection and installation standards matter.

A properly specified system is concealed beneath the floor and controlled through an appropriate thermostat, giving you precise temperature management without exposed hot surfaces or portable appliances in the room. That is a practical safety advantage over plug-in heaters, especially in busy family homes.

It is also why choosing an experienced specialist matters. Bathrooms are not the place for guesswork or improvised installation.

When it makes the most sense

Electric underfloor heating for bathrooms is especially worthwhile when you are already renovating, replacing tiles or planning a new bathroom from scratch. At that point, the floor is accessible, the waterproofing sequence can be managed correctly and the system can be integrated with minimal compromise.

It also suits homeowners who want comfort without visual clutter, builders who need reliable heating specifications, and property professionals looking for an upgrade that improves day-to-day liveability. For premium homes it adds a polished finish, but it is not only for high-end projects. In many cases, it is a practical upgrade that delivers a better daily experience in one of the most-used rooms in the house.

If the goal is whole-home heating on its own, bathroom underfloor heating may only be one part of the answer. But if the goal is to make bathrooms feel warmer, drier and more comfortable exactly when people use them, it is one of the most effective options available.

Choosing a system with support behind it

The product matters, but so does the support around it. Homeowners and trade buyers alike usually need more than a box on site. They need clear specifications, installation guidance, responsive service and confidence that help will be there if questions come up later.

That is where a specialist provider stands apart. Warmup Australia supports projects with product supply, accredited installation, technical documentation and aftercare, which is especially valuable in bathroom applications where sequencing and compliance need to be right from the start.

A warm bathroom changes the feel of the whole home in a way that is hard to appreciate until you use it every day. If you are planning a renovation or building new, it is worth thinking about the floor before the tiles go down - because this is one upgrade you feel immediately, every single morning.

If you’re ready to experience the comfort of warm floors in your home, the team at Warmup Australia is here to help every step of the way. Whether you’re renovating a bathroom, building a new home, or simply exploring energy-efficient heating options, our local experts can guide you to the right solution. From product selection to installation advice, we make the process straightforward and stress-free. Get in touch with our friendly Australian support team today to discuss your project, request a quote, or learn how underfloor heating can elevate your everyday living.