Electric underfloor heating in Woollahra
We install electric underfloor heating across Woollahra, where the heritage listing often reaches inside the house rather than stopping at the front door. Flats are 55.6% of homes here, so a mat under a bathroom floor is the job we are called to most. The harbour keeps the mornings mild and the stone and tile underfoot cold regardless. So we mostly fit under tile heating mats over a floor that stays, rather than pour a new slab.
The benefits of electric underfloor heating in Woollahra
Flats are 55.6% of homes here, terraces and semis 21.0% and separate houses 22.3%, which is three markets of a similar size. What separates this area from the two beside it is not the buildings. It is how far inside those buildings the rules reach, and how little room there is for outdoor plant.
The listing here usually names the interior too
548 of the 740 heritage items here list their interiors, including every one of the listed flat buildings. Where an interior is specified, consent is needed to change anything inside the item that the schedule names. Council's own example of what the minor works letter covers is renovating a non original bathroom. The benefit of under tile heating mats is that they go into that bathroom's new tile bed and nowhere else. Strata and company owners sign that letter under common seal, so the building signs before the floor comes up.
Paddington keeps its timber floors by rule
The Paddington controls list original timber floors among the elements that matter, and Council does not support gutting those interiors. So the benefit of under tile heating mats here is that the timber floor stays and the heat goes above it. Buildings without damp proof courses in their party walls must have a timber floor at the lowest level. Council's reasoning is that an on ground slab in such a building usually drives soil moisture into the walls. Nothing is poured, nothing is chased into a party wall, and the sub floor underneath stays ventilated.
There is nowhere to put an outdoor unit
Council requires mechanical plant including air conditioners to be located internally within the principal building. Under tile heating mats have no outdoor unit at all, so that rule has nothing to apply to. In a conservation area a unit sits behind the outer front wall, stays under 1.8m and never goes on a roof. Its external conduits may not exceed 3m in length, and plant noise has to stay within background levels at the boundary. The benefit is that nothing is fixed to the facade, and there is no plant noise to measure at all.
No flue through a listed roof
A draft amendment would have stopped gas cooktops, ovens and unflued space heating in new residential development here. Council deleted it on 11 December 2023, so gas is still a legal choice in this area. The question becomes what gas costs the building: a flue through a protected roof and a meter on a protected elevation. The benefit of under tile heating mats is that they need neither, because the heating is laid inside the floor. In slab heating cable is the other electric option, and that one is decided before the concrete is booked.
Homes here use more power than most
Households in this area average 17.7 kilowatt hours a day, the third highest of any area in Sydney. Only 12.4% of them have a controlled load circuit to put a heating load on. The benefit of our thermostats is that they run on a timer and a floor sensor rather than continuously. In the Double Bay commercial centre Council has recorded Ausgrid warning developers the grid cannot take more air conditioning. On a large heated floor that question goes to your electrician before anything is set out.
Solar is rare outside a few streets
Rooftop solar runs 24.2% around Bellevue Hill against 7.7% around Paddington, where the terraces have small roofs. Where you have a roof full of panels, our thermostats can be set to run the floor heating at midday. Where you do not, the same timer runs the floor heating overnight or early instead, on the ordinary tariff. In screed heating cable holds its heat longer, because the screed topping adds mass the mat does not. So in a rear addition the heating can run at midday and still be warm underfoot that evening.
What we would install in Woollahra
The instruction here is to warm the floor that is already down rather than swap it for a slab.
A mat under the tiles
Terraces keep their timber floors by rule and listed flats keep their interiors by schedule, so the floor usually stays. Under tile heating mats go over it on an insulation board, or into the tile bed while a bathroom is open.
Under tile heating matsCable in a screed
Rear wings and later additions are what the plan calls the areas of less significance, and a new screed goes there. In screed heating cable goes into that topping, and harbour homes stepped over garages take it on their suspended floors.
In screed heating cableCable in a slab
About 39 new houses a year are approved here, so a poured slab is the smallest of the three jobs. In slab heating cable is cast into those few new slabs, and the finished floor sits exactly where the plan says.
Slab heating cables, dual coreWhy Woollahra properties choose us
We install across Woollahra and the rest of the Woollahra 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 Woollahra
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.
Short days and no tradesperson permit
Work here stops at 5pm on weekdays and at 1pm on Saturday, which is two hours earlier than the area to the south. Concrete cutting, drilling and jackhammering are narrower again, 9am to 4pm on weekdays and 9am to 1pm on Saturday. There is no tradesperson parking permit: a property gets 25 visitor permit days a year, so trades share cars and carry materials in. So we tell you plainly not to switch the floor heating on until the tile adhesive has fully cured.
Underfloor heating for Woollahra homes
Older flats than the areas either side
Flats were 54% of the homes here as long ago as 2006, and the stock has barely turned over since. Owner occupied flats outnumber owner occupied houses by about 1.3 to 1. 3,358 flats are owned outright, which is the largest outright owned group in the area. So the person paying for an under tile heating mat here is usually the person who will stand on it.
Five belts around one harbour
Paddington's part of this area is 59.9% terraces, which is the terrace belt and the floor rule that goes with it. Darling Point is 87.1% flats and Double Bay 76.6%, the harbour towers and the blocks below them. Bellevue Hill is 61.4% flats despite its reputation, while holding more houses than any other suburb here. Vaucluse on this side is 67.0% houses, and a whole heated living floor there takes in screed heating cable.
Renovation rather than rebuilding
New houses are rare here, at about 39 a year across the whole area. Council describes most development in Darling Point as alterations and additions to the existing housing stock. It has also counted a net loss of 83 dwellings across 35 approvals between 2020 and 2025. Flats were amalgamated into larger apartments, or turned back into houses. The work here is therefore almost always inside a building that is staying. The benefit is that under tile heating mats go into a building that is staying, with nothing demolished to fit them.
Winter mornings in Woollahra
Observatory Hill is the Bureau of Meteorology station closest to this area, from 3.2km away at Darling Point to 7.5km at Watsons Bay.
- July nights
8.1°C at Observatory Hill, which sits 3.2km from Darling Point and 7.5km from Watsons Bay. A tiled floor sits close to that overnight, and it is the first thing a bare foot meets in the morning.
- Frost
None at Observatory Hill, where the lowest reading in the whole record is 2.1°C. The overnight low is what decides how cold the floor is at seven in the morning.
- Climate zone
Zone 5 on every suburb here, from Paddington out to Watsons Bay. Insulation under the heating is what keeps the warmth in the room, and it is sized from that zone.
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Tell us what you need done in Woollahra 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 Woollahra
New home builds
Home renovations
Bathroom renovations
Apartments
Hotel bathrooms
Office buildings
Cold storage and frost heave
Suburbs we service in Woollahra and surrounds
We install across the Woollahra 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 Woollahra
Do you cover every suburb in the Woollahra area?
Yes. We install across the Woollahra 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 Woollahra?
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 Woollahra, the day is agreed once we have checked installer availability. It is worth sending the plans as early as you can.
Does a listing here reach past the front door?
Yes, more often than not, and that is unusual. Three quarters of the listed items here have their interiors named in the schedule, and every listed flat building is one of them. Where yours is among them, the change needs consent rather than just the owners corporation. The letter route is the quick one but it still takes a fortnight. Find out before the old floor comes up, because the answer changes which of our three systems suits.
Can I put a heated slab into a Paddington terrace?
No, and the rule is specific. Council lists original timber floors as significant fabric and says it does not support gutting the interiors of terraces that hold significant original fabric. Buildings without damp proof courses in their party walls must keep a timber floor at the lowest level. Council's reasoning is that an on ground slab there drives soil moisture into the walls. So under tile heating mats over the timber floor are the answer, and the sub floor stays ventilated underneath.
Why does underfloor heating suit this area more than air conditioning?
Because of where the plant has to go. Council requires mechanical plant including air conditioners to be located internally within the principal building, and outside only where it cannot reasonably go elsewhere. In a conservation area a unit sits behind the front wall, under 1.8m, never on a roof, with conduits no longer than 3m. Under tile heating mats need no plant at all, so none of those conservation area limits has anything to measure.
Did Woollahra ever ban gas the way its neighbour did?
No, it did not. A draft amendment would have reached new homes and substantial alterations. The vote to delete it was tied, and settled on the deputy mayor's casting vote in December 2023. Submissions had run 25 for the ban and 13 against. So gas remains the owner's choice here, which is the opposite of the position in the area immediately north. Gas stays legal here, and under tile heating mats remain the option that needs no flue through a listed roof.
Should I worry about the supply in an older block?
Yes, usually, but it is worth checking before anything is ordered. Households here average 17.7 kilowatt hours a day, the third highest of any area in Sydney. Only 12.4% have a controlled load circuit to put heating on. Council has recorded Ausgrid advising developers in the Double Bay commercial centre that the grid cannot accommodate additional air conditioning demand. So your electrician settles the supply before under tile heating mats or in screed heating cable are ordered.
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