---
title: "Hydronic Underfloor Cooling: Efficient Comfort for Your Home"
date: 2025-02-11T17:58:00+11:00
author: Geoff Pennington
canonical_url: "https://sogeo.com.au/hydronic-heating-cooling/hydronic-underfloor-cooling-efficient-comfort-for-your-home"
section: Pages
---
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![Hydronic Underfloor Cooling System]()
# Hydronic Underfloor Cooling: Efficient Comfort for Your Home
Learn about hydronic underfloor cooling systems. Efficient, eco-friendly cooling that complements your existing cooling system for maximum comfort for Melbourne homes and businesses
SóGeo designs and installs hydronic underfloor cooling across Melbourne. A radiant cooling layer that supplements your air conditioning system, runs at low electrical input, and pairs with a hydronic heat pump for heating and cooling from a single source.
## How hydronic underfloor cooling works
Hydronic underfloor cooling circulates cool water through the same in-floor pipework that delivers heating in winter. Instead of warm water flowing through the system, cooler water at a controlled temperature absorbs heat from the room as it circulates beneath the floor finish. The floor itself becomes a heat-absorbing surface, drawing warmth out of the room slowly and silently.
The system runs at a flow temperature above the room’s dew point, which is the temperature at which moisture would condense on the floor surface. SóGeo specifies the flow temperature and controls for each install to manage humidity correctly. Done right, hydronic underfloor cooling takes the edge off the room temperature with no fan noise, no air movement, and no condensation.
## Best installed with in-screed systems
For radiant cooling to perform, the pipework must be close to the floor surface with good thermal contact. In-screed systems deliver this. The pipework sits on a positioning board on top of the slab and gets covered with a thin layer of screed and the final floor finish. The screed layer thickness, the pipework spacing, and the floor finish material all influence cooling output, and SóGeo specifies each detail against the room’s heat gain calculation.
In-slab systems with pipework buried deep in the structural concrete are less responsive for cooling because the floor surface is further from the chilled water. They work for heating but underperform for cooling. For new builds and major renovations where cooling is on the program, the in-screed option is the right specification.
## Available with hydronic heat pumps, air-source or ground-source
Hydronic underfloor cooling is only available when paired with a hydronic heat pump. The same heat pump that delivers warm water in winter reverses operation in summer to deliver cool water. This means a single piece of equipment handles both heating and cooling across the year. There is no separate cooling system to install, maintain, or replace.
SóGeo specifies either an [air-source hydronic heat pump](https://sogeo.com.au/air-source-heat-pumps) or a [ground source heat pump](https://sogeo.com.au/ground-source-heat-pumps), depending on site, load profile, and budget. The ground source option is more efficient in extreme heat because it rejects heat to a stable 16 to 18°C ground temperature rather than to hot outdoor air. The pairing of geothermal with hydronic underfloor cooling delivers the most efficient summer cooling available for a Melbourne home.
## Complementing ducted reverse-cycle cooling
Hydronic underfloor cooling is not designed as a complete cooling solution. Think of it as a radiant layer that supplements your forced-air cooling system. Ducted reverse-cycle air conditioning is excellent at fast temperature reduction during extreme heat. It moves a lot of air, drops the temperature quickly, and handles latent load (humidity) through the cooling coil.
What it does not do well is hold a stable comfort temperature over long periods. That is where underfloor cooling earns its place. The radiant floor absorbs background heat continuously and silently, which means the ducted system runs less often, runs for shorter cycles, and uses less electricity overall. The combination is more energy-efficient than either system on its own.
## When hydronic underfloor cooling is the right choice
Hydronic underfloor cooling is the right choice for Melbourne homes and commercial buildings in three scenarios.
The first is new builds or major renovations where in-screed underfloor heating is already specified. Adding the cooling capability is largely a matter of selecting a heat pump that can run in reverse and configuring the controls correctly. The marginal cost is modest.
The second is luxury or passive-house projects that want the silent, radiant comfort of a fully integrated hydronic system year-round. No visible vents in main living areas, no fan noise, and no temperature stratification from floor to ceiling.
The third is commercial fit-outs where the existing forced-air cooling is at capacity but the building cannot accept a larger ductwork retrofit. Hydronic underfloor cooling adds cooling capacity without adding ductwork, and integrates with the existing hydronic heating system.
## Get a hydronic underfloor cooling quote from SóGeo
SóGeo is a Melbourne hydronic specialist. Director Darren Burch has been installing hydronic systems for over twenty years, drawing on three generations of hydronic experience from Ireland. Every underfloor cooling install starts with a site visit and a heat gain calculation room by room, followed by a fixed quote against the design.
For the full overview of SóGeo’s hydronic heating and cooling service in Melbourne, see our pillar page on [hydronic heating Melbourne](https://sogeo.com.au/hydronic-heating-cooling). For the heating side of the same install, see our [hydronic underfloor heating page](https://sogeo.com.au/hydronic-heating-cooling/hydronic-underfloor-heating-comfort-efficiency). For installation pricing detail, see our [cost guide](https://sogeo.com.au/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-switch-from-gas-to-hydronic-heat-pumps).
Or [contact SóGeo](https://sogeo.com.au/contact-us) directly for a site visit and fixed quote on hydronic underfloor cooling for your home.
## Our Partners
[  ](https://www.reece.com.au/) [  ](https://www.stiebel-eltron.com.au/) [  ](https://www.mitsubishielectric.com.au/) [  ](https://www.purmo.com/au) [  ](https://www.viessmann.com.au/)
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