Practical advice on heating and cooling your Perth home
Straight answers from the engineers who design and install the systems. Floor heating, radiators, heat pumps, geothermal and heat recovery.
Can you put a heat pump in a garage, and where should it go?
In a closed garage a heat pump breathes its own cold air and loses up to half its efficiency. How to hide one properly.
When should I plan floor heating for a new build?
The slab is the deadline and the design stage is the time. When to start, what to have ready, and what if the pour is booked.
What rules apply to installing radiators in WA?
Gas, electrics and the water supply need licensed trades and certificates. What the rules cover, and the part they leave to the designer.
Do I need heat recovery ventilation if I have floor heating or radiators?
Floor heating warms the house but doesn't change its air. When a sealed home needs heat recovery too, and when it doesn't.
Geothermal or hydronic heating? Why it isn’t either-or
Geothermal is where the heat comes from, hydronic is how it reaches you. Why you choose the floor first and the heat source second.
Does floor heating work in rooms with high ceilings and big windows?
Warm air rises to a high ceiling; a warm floor stays where you are. Why it suits tall rooms, and what big glass changes.
Which floor coverings work best over floor heating?
Tiles and polished concrete are the easiest. Timber and carpet work too, if the heating is designed for them before it's built.
How much does hydronic floor heating cost to install in Perth?
Why there's no honest price per square metre, what really sets the cost of floor heating in Perth, and how to get a real number.
Who is responsible if a floor heating pipe is damaged in the pour?
The contracts decide who pays. A gauge kept on through the pour decides whether anyone has to argue about it.
When do I have to decide on floor heating with a Perth builder?
Before the contract is priced, and well before slab down. Where floor heating fits in a Perth build, for owners and builders.
Can I heat a renovation or extension with hydronic heating?
Floor heating in the new part, radiators in the old, one heat pump for both. What to decide before the extension's slab is poured.
What is a heat-load calculation, and why should it come before the price?
How much heat each room loses on a July morning decides everything after it. Why a rule of thumb gets the hard rooms wrong.