Running costs

One of the most common questions we get asked about electric floor heating, is how much does it cost to run?

The answer to the question is that, as with any heating or cooling, the costs will depend on a number of factors including:

• How well your home is insulated (double glazing or single glazing)
• If you have PV Solar Panels
• Which Electricity Tariff you are on
• The outside temperature & desired internal temperature

Whilst here in Australia, insulation levels have historically not been as good as many European countries where floor heating is the norm, this was partly compensated for by the fact that the external winter temperatures here are in most cases, considerably higher. However as energy prices have increased over the years to gain maximum energy efficiency & in order to reduce your carbon footprint, consideration should always be given to a good solar passive design & the highest levels of insulation that are practical within your budget. Increasing ceiling insulation to R5, cavity wall insulation & double glazing the windows will usually always pay for themselves over the long term.

Our best advice on this subject if using in-slab or in-screed under floor heating as your main heating system for your home, would be firstly to install a PV solar system on your roof to take advantage of the ‘free energy’ from the sun & secondly carefully weigh up the benefits of the off-peak tariff options from Synergy (see Off Peak Tariffs)

 Heat Output

The typical heat output in an average installation is around 100-120 watts per square metre for the available free floor area in main living areas (family/dining/kitchen etc.) However in bathrooms we usually increase the output around 200w/sqm in bathrooms to ensure higher comfort levels & a faster response time.

Advanced Control

The advanced digital thermostat we use in our installations measures the temperature in regular 15-minute cycles & then delivers just the right amount of power during the next cycle in order to maintain a constant temperature. This ensures energy is not wasted & also avoids the 'peaks & troughs' associated with many other forms of heating.

 Off Peak Tariffs

In July 2022 Synergy in response to the very high number rooftop solar systems feeding into the grid, they introduced a brand new tariff called Midday Saver https://www.synergy.net.au/Your-home/Energy-plans/Midday-Saver to encourage people to use power during the peak PV generating times – the optimum times for use are 9am-3pm (6 hours) & this ‘green’ period is referred to as Super Off Peak (8c per kwh as at July 2022) representing a 73% saving on the standard A1 tariff. From 9pm-9am the cost is 36% lower so also great for an early morning ‘boost’ of where you want to heat bathrooms before the sun comes up!

This tariff, if overall power use is the home is optimised, is in our opinion a bit of a game changer for using in-slab or in-screed heating as a primary home heating system in energy efficient homes – with the current 73% saving from standard A1 tariff these systems now becomes even more viable even in large areas.