Heating & Cooling in Murrumbeena
Murrumbeena is largely interwar — Californian bungalows and weatherboard homes, mostly single storey, many still close to their original layout. They are lovely houses and they are hard to heat well, because the things that make them charming are also the things that lose heat: high ceilings, timber floors over a subfloor, original windows and very little insulation in the walls.
What we see in Murrumbeena homes
The most common mistake in these homes is buying a bigger system to beat the cold. It doesn't work the way people expect. If the heat is leaving through the floor, the walls and the window gaps, a larger unit just replaces that heat faster and costs more to run doing it. We'd rather tell you that up front than sell you the bigger box.
The original room-by-room layout of a bungalow actually suits hydronic radiators well. Each room gets its own radiator and its own control, warmth is even and quiet, and there's no forced air stirring up dust through an old house.
Ducted reverse cycle is still very workable where there's decent roof space, and it has the advantage of covering summer as well. If cooling matters to you as much as heating, that's usually the direction we'd point you.
Systems that suit Murrumbeena homes.
We don't push one brand or one system type. These are the options we most often end up recommending here, and why.
Hydronic radiators
Individual radiators with individual control — quiet, even warmth that suits the way these homes are laid out.
Learn moreDucted reverse cycle
Zoned whole-home comfort where the roof space allows it, covering summer as well as winter.
Learn moreSplit systems
A practical way to make the room you actually live in comfortable without committing to a whole-home system.
Learn moreUnderfloor hydronic
Worth considering if you're already lifting floors or extending — it needs to be planned in, not added later.
Learn moreLocal, and easy to get hold of.
Heating and cooling in Murrumbeena — answered.
Our Murrumbeena bungalow is freezing even with the heater on. Do we need a bigger system?
Probably not. In interwar homes the heat is usually escaping through an uninsulated subfloor, uninsulated walls and gaps around the original windows and skirtings. A bigger system replaces that heat faster and costs more to run, but the house still leaks. Sealing draughts and insulating where you can will often do more than upsizing — and we'll say so rather than quote you the larger unit.
Does hydronic heating suit a Californian bungalow?
It suits them well. The original room-by-room layout maps neatly onto individual radiators with individual control, the warmth is even and quiet, and there's no forced air moving dust around an old house. Radiators can be retrofitted without lifting floors.
Can we get ducted into a single-storey period home?
Usually yes, provided there's usable roof space for the unit and the duct runs. The advantage over hydronic is that it covers cooling as well as heating. The trade-off is that forced air loses heat faster in a high-ceilinged, poorly sealed room. Which matters more depends on your house and how you live in it.
What about heating just the main living area?
That's a legitimate answer and often the sensible one. A well-sized split system in the room you actually spend your evenings in will cost far less than a whole-home solution, and in a home you're planning to renovate later it avoids paying twice.
We work across South East Melbourne.
Murrumbeena is one of the suburbs we cover most regularly. If you're just outside it, we're almost certainly still nearby.
Ready to sort out heating and cooling in Murrumbeena?
Start with the 2-minute quiz to see what suits your home, or book a quote and we'll come and look. No pressure, no upsell, just practical advice.