Electric underfloor heating in Wollongong
We install electric underfloor heating across the Wollongong area, from the escarpment villages down to the lake shore. Bellambi station averages 10.2°C on a July night, milder than the city and still cold underfoot. Separate houses are 68.4% of homes here, with towers in the city centre and walk up blocks in the north. Council keeps sloping escarpment houses on raised timber floors rather than slabs, which decides how we heat them. So under tile heating mats go into bathroom retiles, and in slab heating cable goes into new houses at West Dapto and Tallawarra.
The benefits of electric underfloor heating in Wollongong
This is a city of miners' cottages, inter war bungalows, post war fibro and brick, split level foothill houses and new towers. The escarpment behind it and the lake in front of it set the rules that reach a floor. Three of the reasons below come out of Council's own planning chapters and the rest out of the weather, the roofs and the stock.
Heating the raised timber floors the escarpment asks for
On a site sloping 10% or more Council asks for a split level or raised timber floor rather than a slab. Under tile heating mats warm that floor without adding the weight a heavy screed would put through it. Insulation goes between the joists first, so the warmth comes up into the room instead of away underneath. Council's geotechnical chapter exempts interior work that leaves the load bearing capacity alone, so we keep the build light.
A Tallawarra slab is built for in slab cable
Every new home on the Tallawarra lands must run on electricity alone, and Council has ruled out polystyrene waffle pod slabs. In slab heating cable is tied to the reinforcement of a solid slab like that and covered in the pour. We insulate the slab edge, so the warmth it stores comes up into the rooms rather than out the sides. Send us the plans before the concrete is booked, because the cable layout is set with the engineer's drawing.
Interior work on a listed cottage needs no consent
There are 465 listed items in this council and not one of them names an interior. Council's heritage chapter says many internal alterations that affect no structure and no significant detailing need no consent. So under tile heating mats go into a Thirroul bungalow or a Kembla Heights miner's cottage with no development application. Ask Council's heritage staff for the exemption in writing first, because it is given case by case.
Flood controls that reach the wiring under a floor
Flash flooding runs off the escarpment here, and Council's floodplain chapter governs what sits below the flood planning level. Wiring below that level has to be rated for continuous submergence, with a safety switch and the metering above it. In slab heating cable is cast into the slab, and the wiring below the level is specified for continuous submergence. An addition may stay no lower than the existing floor level, and under tile heating mats keep it there.
Run the floor heating while the roof is making power
35.8% of houses here carry rooftop solar, rising to 46.1% across the Dapto and West Dapto postcode. Charges on this network are lowest in the middle of the day, every day of the year. Our thermostats run on a timer, so floor heating can take its power while the sun is still up. In slab and in screed heating cable then hold that warmth in the floor well into the evening.
Bathrooms in the towers and the walk up blocks
Flats are 18.5% of homes here, from blocks of one or two storeys up to towers of nine storeys or more. Under tile heating mats go into the tile bed of a bathroom retile, with nothing cut or chased into the slab below. In a strata scheme that slab belongs to the building rather than to your lot, which is what keeps the work simple.
What we would install in Wollongong
Separate houses are 68.4% of homes here, and 87.8% of all the homes standing in 2021 were already standing in 2011.
A mat under the tiles
A bathroom retile is the job here, in the brick, weatherboard and fibro houses of the northern and steelworks suburbs. Under tile heating mats sit inside the tile bed, so the floor underneath is left where it is.
Under tile heating matsCable in a slab
About 477 new houses a year are approved here, with West Dapto and the Tallawarra lands the two release fronts. In slab heating cable is tied to the reinforcement and set out before the pour, with the slab edge insulated.
Slab heating cables, dual coreCable in a screed
A screed suits an escarpment or foothill house where a topping is going down over a raised timber floor. In screed heating cable goes into that topping, and we check what the floor can carry before any weight is added.
In screed heating cableWhy Wollongong properties choose us
We install across Wollongong and the rest of the Wollongong 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 Wollongong
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 a sloping block the geotechnical report comes first
Work under a development consent runs 7am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, with nothing on Sunday or a public holiday. A renovation that needs no consent may run 7am to 8pm on a weekday and 8am to 8pm at the weekend. There is no out of hours permit to apply for. Council takes no bond for building work on private land. A skip on the road reserve needs an approval under section 138, and a work zone needs one of its own. What governs the order of work here is the escarpment that runs behind every suburb. On land known or suspected to be subject to slope instability, a geotechnical report comes before most development rather than after it. Interior alterations that are not structural, and that leave the floor's current load bearing capacity alone, are exempt from that step. So a bathroom retile with under tile heating mats needs none of it, while a new room on a slope starts with the report. On a flood lot the order changes again, because the flood planning level is settled before any floor level is drawn.
Underfloor heating for Wollongong homes
A city centre of towers, with the university beside it
The city centre suburb alone holds 11,314 homes, 12.7% of every home in the council. Flats are 18.5% of homes here, and 2,075 of them sit in blocks of nine storeys or more. Another 5,711 sit in blocks of one or two storeys, which is fifth in New South Wales by count. There are 3,014 strata plans here, which is fifth in the state by count. Keiraville and Gwynneville are the youngest suburbs in the council, because the university campus sits between them. A record 772 apartments were approved in one year, so tower bathrooms are the newest floors we see.
Miners' cottages, inter war bungalows and post war fibro
Council's character statements describe single storey weatherboard miners' cottages on brick, timber or stone piers at Kembla Heights. Thirroul is described as 1920s and 1930s weatherboard bungalows, and Corrimal as inter war bungalows in brick. Bulli's houses are described as being of weatherboard, fibro and brick construction. Berkeley, Warrawong, Unanderra and Koonawarra hold one of the highest concentrations of public housing stock in the council. Social housing is 7.0% of homes here, and 5,120 are state owned, fourth in New South Wales by count. Floors like those are usually timber on piers or part slab, so a bathroom retile is the usual job.
From the lake shore up to the plateau
The homes here sit on a coastal strip about 45km long, held between the escarpment and the sea. Windang sits at about 2m, Thirroul at about 10m and Mount Keira at about 110m. Helensburgh sits at about 255m and Darkes Forest at about 370m, on the plateau above the passes. The western foothills are 89% separate houses, in the split level brick of Figtree, Cordeaux Heights and Farmborough Heights. Stanwell Park has pole homes, and Council describes Horsley at West Dapto as face brick with pitched tile roofs. West Dapto is estimated to generate around 19,500 dwellings, and it is the one belt here with no flats.
Winter mornings in Wollongong
Two working stations sit inside this council, Bellambi behind the beach at 10m and Port Kembla down at the harbour.
- July nights
10.2°C at Bellambi AWS 068228 and 11.2°C at Port Kembla AWS 068253, against 8.1°C at Observatory Hill in the city. A tiled floor sits close to that overnight, and it is the first thing a bare foot meets in the morning.
- Frost
No nights at or below 2°C at either station, and Bellambi's lowest reading of all is 4.1°C. The overnight low is what decides how cold the floor is at seven in the morning.
- Summer
2 days a year at or above 35°C at Bellambi, and 1.4 days at Port Kembla. Heating is a winter item here, and a thermostat on a timer draws nothing for the rest of the year.
- Climate zone
Zone 5 on all land here, from Helensburgh down to Windang. The energy rating zone models 25 megajoules per m² a year on a heated slab. Insulation under the heating is what keeps the warmth in the room, and it is sized from that zone.
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Services we provide in Wollongong
New home builds
Home renovations
Bathroom renovations
Apartments
Hotel bathrooms
Office buildings
Cold storage and frost heave
Suburbs we service in Wollongong and surrounds
We install across the Wollongong 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 Wollongong
Do you cover every suburb in the Wollongong area?
Yes. We install across the Wollongong 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 Wollongong?
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 Wollongong, the day is agreed once we have checked installer availability. It is worth sending the plans as early as you can.
What does a Wollongong winter do to a tiled floor?
Mildly, by the standards of our coverage. Bellambi averages 10.2°C on a July night and Port Kembla 11.2°C, and neither station has recorded a night at or below 2°C. The station that stood at the university, at the foot of the escarpment, recorded 8.3°C. So floor heating here is comfort rather than necessity, and a tiled floor still holds that overnight temperature until something warms it.
Do I need a geotechnical report to heat a bathroom floor?
No. Council asks for a geotechnical report on land known or suspected to be subject to slope instability, which covers much of the escarpment. Its chapter exempts non structural alterations inside a building that do not exceed the floor's current load bearing capacity. Under tile heating mats laid in a tile bed sit inside that exemption. A heavy screed on an old suspended floor is the case that does not, so we keep the build light.
Can I heat a floor in a new house at Tallawarra?
Yes, and the rules there suit it. Every new home on the Tallawarra lands has to use electricity only for all its energy. Council has also ruled out polystyrene waffle pod slabs for all development there, so the slab is a solid one. In slab heating cable is tied into the reinforcement of that slab and covered in the pour. Send us the plans before the concrete is booked.
Why does West Dapto get frost when the coast does not?
Because it sits back on the plain behind the lake. The station at Albion Park, a kilometre over the Shellharbour line, averages 6.5°C in July. It records about 10 nights a year at or below 2°C. Bellambi and Port Kembla record none at all. Much of West Dapto is Greenfield Housing Code land, so in slab heating cable belongs in the builder's contract before the slab is poured.
What does the energy rating zone mean for a heated slab?
Every home in this council sits in energy rating zone 56, which models 25 megajoules per m² a year for heating. That is a tight allowance, and the rating treats a heated slab as a greenhouse intensive system. So a whole heated slab here is argued on comfort and zoning rather than on the rating. We insulate the slab edge and keep in slab heating cable to the rooms that earn it.
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