Underfloor Heating Cost — Quick Estimate
Enter your floor area, heating type and electricity rate to get estimated daily, monthly and seasonal running costs.
Your Floor & Usage
Estimated Cost
Estimates assume continuous operation. A thermostat typically reduces effective run time by around 30%. Actual costs vary with insulation, floor construction and thermostat settings.
How to estimate underfloor heating running costs
The formula
Daily cost = (floor area × W/m²) ÷ 1000 × hours per day × electricity price. A 10 m² floor at 120 W/m² draws 1.2 kW. At 8 hours per day and $0.28/kWh, that is 9.6 kWh × $0.28 = $2.69 per day.
Wattage by heating type
Heating foil runs at around 100 W/m², low-output mats at 120 W/m², standard mats at 150 W/m² and cables at 160 W/m². Lower wattage means lower running costs per square metre, but also a slower warm-up time.
Why a thermostat matters
These estimates assume the system runs continuously for the full scheduled hours. A programmable thermostat cycles the heating on and off to hold the target temperature, typically reducing effective run time by around 30%. Use the full calculator to include this saving.