Electric underfloor heating in Hornsby
We install electric underfloor heating across Hornsby, where the plan already says a new home should not run on indoor gas. Separate houses are 69.5% of homes here, so a whole floor is quoted more often than a single bathroom. Mornings in the north and along the river are properly cold, and a tiled floor holds that overnight temperature until something takes it out. We put under tile heating mats into the station flats and in slab heating cable into a new ridge slab.
The benefits of electric underfloor heating in Hornsby
Separate houses are 69.5% of homes here and flats 21.9%, and the flats sit in three suburbs. Most of the reasons below come from rules Council has written since 2024. The rest come from the roof above the house and the network the switchboard is connected to.
A new home here is an electric decision
Council's plan has said since August 2024 that indoor gas should not be used in any new residential development. It names the appliance too, asking that indoor cooktops, ovens and heaters are electric on the drawings. In slab heating cable is the electric heater that goes in before the concrete is booked. The benefit is that the floor heating is settled on the architectural plans rather than argued over later. The rule reaches development applications for new homes rather than renovations or complying development.
Daytime power suits a heated floor here
23.4% of households here are solar customers, the highest share of any Sydney council on the Ausgrid network. The benefit is that our thermostats can be set to take that midday power and store it. In screed heating cable and in slab heating cable store the warmth and give it back through the evening. 36.9% of homes here already have a controlled load or off peak circuit to run it on. So a Hornsby floor can be warm all evening on power the roof made at lunchtime.
Check which network your bill comes from
About 96% of the land here is on the Ausgrid network and the western fringe is on Endeavour. Our thermostats run on a timer, so the hours floor heating takes power are set to whichever network you are on. There are 129 Endeavour substations inside this boundary, and the two run different off peak arrangements. Endeavour's own price list names under floor heating among the appliances a controlled load circuit can run. The benefit near Old Northern Road is that one timer setting is all that changes between the two.
The heritage controls name the bathroom itself
Not one of the 658 heritage items here lists an interior. Council's heritage controls say kitchens and bathrooms can generally be updated and that services may be upgraded. Under tile heating mats are exactly that, a service added to a bathroom while it is being updated. The benefit is that nothing significant inside the house is lost, because the mat sits in the new tile bed. Ask for that advice in writing before the tiles are ordered, and Council aims to answer inside 21 days.
Two different jobs in the one area
In screed heating cable suits the ridge and the rural north west, where a whole heated floor is worth quoting. 46.2% of all homes here have four bedrooms or more, and the ridge suburbs run 73% to 97% houses. The benefit of a screed is that its cement topping holds the heat long after the circuit switches off. Hornsby, Waitara and Asquith hold 79% of the area's flats, and Waitara alone is 89.3% flats. In a tower there it is one bathroom and one under tile heating mat at a time.
There is nothing outside to find a place for
Council's plan says every building except a dwelling house should hold its air conditioning units in the basement or on the roof. On a flat building that rules out the balcony and the façade, and makes plant a design problem early. Under tile heating mats have no condenser, no fan and nothing that has to be put somewhere. The benefit is that a heated bathroom floor adds no plant to a building the plan has already filled up. Nothing is drilled into the slab and nothing is chased into a party wall.
What we would install in Hornsby
Seven homes in ten here are separate houses, and most of those floors were laid a long time ago.
A mat under the tiles
Flats are 21.9% of homes here and the three station suburbs hold 79% of them. Under tile heating mats go into the tile bed of that bathroom, and the slab underneath is never drilled.
Under tile heating matsCable in a screed
A rear addition on a Beecroft or Pennant Hills house is where a cement screed topping goes down. In screed heating cable goes into that topping, and the mass it adds holds the heat for longer.
In screed heating cableCable in a slab
About 231 new houses a year are approved across this area, and the rural and river blocks are the steep ones. The plan encourages pole and pier construction there, so a new floor is often suspended. In slab heating cable is tied to the reinforcement either way, and it adds no floor height at all.
Slab heating cables, dual coreWhy Hornsby properties choose us
We install across Hornsby and the rest of the Hornsby area, and we size every job from your floor plans before we quote. Installation is always subject to checking installer availability, which we do before we agree a day.
How we install underfloor heating in Hornsby
Plans first, then a quote
Send us the plans for your new home, renovation, office or hotel. We measure the heated areas from them, calculate the cable size and quote the materials. If you want us to install, a second quote covers the installation labour. Nothing is ordered and no day is booked until you accept.
Installation day
Once you accept and tell us the job site is ready, we agree a day, subject to checking installer availability. The floor has to be prepared and ready before that day: your own trades handle levelling, waterproofing and anything else above the slab. Our installer lays the cable or the mat, fits the thermostat, and tests the system with our own equipment before leaving site. Your tiler covers it with the screed or the tile bed.
In a strata building the path is different again
In a New South Wales strata scheme the lot boundary generally sits at the upper surface of the floor. The slab underneath belongs to the building rather than to you. We lay the mat into the tile bed instead of touching that slab, and nothing is drilled or chased into it. Installing hard flooring, and the wiring and power points that come with it, is a minor renovation under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015. Waterproofing is carved out of that definition, so a full bathroom rebuild goes to a special resolution rather than an ordinary one. Your builder or project manager deals with the owners corporation, and we build to whatever that approval allows.
On Dangar Island everything arrives by boat
Dangar Island is one of the few places in Sydney with no cars on it. A vehicle permit exists for the ones that do come. Materials reach it, Milsons Passage and Berowra Waters by boat or barge, which changes the order of a job rather than the job itself. On the mainland construction runs 7am to 5pm Monday to Saturday, with nothing on Sundays or public holidays. There is no separate quieter window built into those hours at all. We book under tile heating mats onto the day the room is open and barge them across with the tiles.
Underfloor heating for Hornsby homes
Seven homes in ten are a separate house
Separate houses are 69.5% of the homes here and 46.2% of all homes have four bedrooms or more. The house count went from 35,508 in 2011 to 36,475 in 2021, so it grew by about a hundred a year. Flats went the other way, from 7,353 to 11,767 across the same decade. About 62% of today's flats were already standing in 2011, which makes this a mixed stock rather than a new one. So a Beecroft house takes in screed heating cable and a Waitara flat takes an under tile heating mat.
The station towers and the bush edge
Hornsby, Waitara and Asquith hold 79% of the area's flats. Waitara alone is 89.3% flats, with 42.7% of its homes in towers of nine storeys or more. Asquith went from 45 flats in 2016 to 1,079 in 2021. Beecroft, Cheltenham, Pennant Hills and Thornleigh are the railway ridge, at 73% to 97% houses. Cherrybrook is 81.5% houses with 71.8% of them at four bedrooms or more. Berowra, Mount Colah and Hornsby Heights sit against the bush, where under tile heating mats warm a cold tile floor quickest.
Bush fire land changes what sits outside
Council counts 28,592 properties on bush fire prone land, which it puts at about 40% of all properties in the area. Cowan, Hornsby Heights, Berowra and Westleigh carry the most of it. That standard reaches the outside of a building and not the inside of a floor. Where it bites on a heating decision is plant, because an outdoor unit needs a position, a clearance and a screen. The benefit of under tile heating mats is that there is no outdoor unit to position, clear or screen.
Winter mornings in Hornsby
Terrey Hills is the nearest record to the Berowra line and Parramatta North to the railway suburbs. The rural north west and the river run colder than either.
- July nights
7.8°C at Terrey Hills nearest the Berowra line, 6.3°C at Parramatta North nearest the railway suburbs, and 5.9°C at Mangrove Mountain nearest the river. A tiled floor sits close to that overnight, and it is the first thing a bare foot meets in the morning.
- Frost
About one night in five years at or below 2°C at Terrey Hills, and 6 a year near the river. The overnight low is what decides how cold the floor is at seven in the morning.
- Climate zone
Zone 5 across the whole area, from Waitara up to Brooklyn and west to Galston. Insulation under the heating is what keeps the warmth in the room, and it is sized from that zone.
Get a free quote in Hornsby
Tell us what you need done in Hornsby and we will get back to you with a price as soon as we can. There is no obligation to go ahead.
Services we provide in Hornsby
New home builds
Home renovations
Bathroom renovations
Apartments
Hotel bathrooms
Office buildings
Cold storage and frost heave
Suburbs we service in Hornsby and surrounds
We install across the Hornsby area and the surrounding localities, and we check installer availability before we agree a day. If your suburb is not listed below, contact us and we will confirm coverage.
Frequently asked questions about Hornsby
Do you cover every suburb in the Hornsby area?
Yes. We install across the Hornsby area and the surrounding localities, including every suburb listed on this page. We check installer availability before we agree a day, which is the one condition that travels with every job. If your suburb is not shown, contact us with the address and we will confirm coverage before we quote.
What are your service hours in Hornsby?
Our hours are Monday to Friday, 8am to 5:30pm, and we are closed on Saturday and Sunday. Plans and photographs can be sent at any time through the quote form on this page. If you need us on site in Hornsby, the day is agreed once we have checked installer availability. It is worth sending the plans as early as you can.
Does the gas rule stop me using gas in a renovation?
No, it reaches new homes only. Council's plan says indoor gas should not be used in any new residential development, and that cooktops, ovens and heaters should be electric. It applies to development applications for new homes rather than to renovations or complying development. So an existing house here is not caught by it. On a new house in slab heating cable settles the heating question before the concrete is booked.
Will the floor run on my own solar?
Yes, for part of the day, and more households here are set up for it than anywhere on the network. 23.4% of homes here are solar customers. A heated floor is one of the few loads that can run in the middle of the day and still be useful at night. A tiled floor gives up its heat slowly. Our thermostats run on a timer, which is what turns that into a daily habit here.
Am I on Ausgrid or Endeavour out near Galston?
Check the bill, because this area has both. About 96% of the land is Ausgrid and the western fringe is Endeavour, with 129 Endeavour substations inside the boundary. The two run different off peak arrangements. Endeavour's own price list names under floor heating among the appliances a controlled load circuit can carry. Which one you are on changes the hours your floor heating runs cheaply, not whether we can install it.
Can I retile a bathroom in a listed Beecroft house?
Yes, and the controls say so in writing rather than leaving it to a planner. None of the 658 listed items here names an interior. Updating a kitchen or a bathroom is named as acceptable, as is upgrading services, provided nothing significant inside is lost. Feature tiling and fireplaces are on the list of things to keep. Ask for that in writing, and the under tile heating mat goes in when the tiler opens the floor.
Is it colder here than in the rest of Sydney?
Yes, and it varies a great deal inside the area. Terrey Hills, nearest the Berowra line, records a July mean minimum of 7.8°C. Parramatta North, nearest the railway suburbs, records 6.3°C, and Mangrove Mountain nearest the river records 5.9°C. Nights at or below 2°C come about once in five years at Terrey Hills and 6 times a year near the river. Our thermostats are programmed to warm that floor before the household wakes, in the north west most of all.
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