R-value lookup · NCC climate zones
What R-value do I need? Check your suburb or postcode.
Australia’s building code asks for different insulation in different climates. Pop in your address below and I’ll show you the climate zone for your home and the actual R-values the National Construction Code sets for it — ceiling, walls and floor.
I’m Peter Johnson. After 40 years and 6,000 roofs, you’ll get the right number for your climate from me, not the biggest one I can sell you. Every figure here names the exact NCC table it comes from.
What R-value do I need?
Type your suburb or postcodeand we’ll show the NCC climate zone for your address and the added insulation R-values the National Construction Code sets for it.
Built on the official ABCB Australian Climate Zone Map · 2,600+ postcodes & 15,000+ suburbs mapped.
Real reviews, real jobs
What our customers say
Genuine Google & hipages reviews from Comfort Zone customers across SE Queensland.
- A
Angela M.
SE Queensland
“The fact that I can't even tell it's 6 degrees outside when I wake up in the morning speaks for itself. Have wasted so much money attempting to heat and cool an uninsulated home. Worth every $.”
- Phipages
P Peter
Alstonvale, 2024
“Connected with Comfort Zone Insulation and would recommend them”
- J
Jessa B.
Brisbane
“It dropped about 4 degrees straight away, and we added another 3 with the second job. I appreciate Peter's honesty, and the team showed pictures before and after.”
- Nhipages
Nola M
Birtinya, 2024
“They were courteous and competent.”
- I
Iain V-B.
Brisbane
“Quick and polite service. Great follow-up advice and photos sent for our records. Above and beyond what we expected. Would highly recommend.”
- Jhipages
Jennifer's E
Upper Caboolture, 2024
“Excellent customer service. Highly recommended. Has a profound knowledge of insulation products and has the best interest of his customer.”
- G
Gerry S
Fitzgibbon, 2023
“I used Comfort Zone and they have a done an excellent job.”
- Jhipages
Jennifer
Upper Caboolture, 2024
“Excellent customer service. Highly recommend. Has a profound knowledge of insulation products and has the customer best interest.”
- J
Jung K
Riverhills, 2023
“An experienced family operation. Highly recommend. Thank you for the great job!”
- Dhipages
Diane A
Ormeau, 2024
“Peter and crew did a great job I would definitely recommend them”
- D
David H
Sunshine Coast, 2021
“Completed the job as quoted and to a high standard. Great personal service. Would highly recommend Comfort Zone for ceiling installation work.”
- Thipages
Timea
Highland Park, 2023
“I was extremely satisfied with the service they provided. They gave a very thourough explanation of the materials used, the way the work will be carried out and the price I had to pay was the exact amount quoted, no hidden costs included. They arrived on time, well prepared and workwas carried out exactly how they said it would be, they were super efficient, well prepared and were kind enough to even clean up after themselves. The services they provided was second to none! I don't hesitate to recommend them for any insulation job!”
- B
Benjamin H
Carseldine, 2019
“Very good explanation about their works. Advice of existing problems with the roof. Clean work. Very professional.”
- Mhipages
Mark
Pottsville, 2017
“Michelle, we are done - Peter from comfort zone insulation was very helpful. very honest with his recommendations - in fact he told me that the product my daughter had if installed correctly was superb. Thanks Peter you are a champion and i would recommend you to any person that was wanting professional advice and old school service.”
- I
Ian G
Burnside, 2019
“Good information, communication and professionalism.”
- Jhipages
Jessica
Pottsville, 2016
“This business offers a fantastic product that other businesses did not. Pump in ceiling insulation. Knowledge of the industry second to none.”
- D
Danny D
Boondall, 2018
“He explained everything he was going to do and the different types of insulation they used. He talked through the different options but made a recommendation for the one most people use, which is the one I chose. He was very understanding towards what I needed and not about himself.”
- Jhipages
Jack
Pottsville, 2023
“Excellent communication and informative. Professional.”
- G
Graham R
Riverhills, 2018
“Comfort Zone. Turned up ahead of time, completed in about 2 hours, cleaned up. All good. Very motivated installation team.”
- Thipages
Tony P
Redland Bay, 2023
“Very knowledgeable about insulation”
- A
Alex B
West Ipswich, 2018
“Fast, friendly, efficient.”
- Shipages
Steve
Redland Bay, 2017
“Excellent job and reasonable price.”
- L
Luke D
Mcdowall, 2017
“Peter did a good job. It was a quick and clean service. I'm happy to recommend!”
- Bhipages
Bruce H
Kuluin, 2023
“Prompt and efficient quoting.”
- B
Brendon
Brays Creek, 2016
“Peter supplied and installed roof insulation for me. He was very informative and provided good advice.”
- Ghipages
Gerry S
Fitzgibbon, 2023
“I used Comfort Zone and they have a done an excellent job.”
- T
Trevor G
Brookside Centre, 2016
“Excellent tradesmen from Comfort Zone Insulation. They were punctual and cleaned up after. Highly recommended.”
- Thipages
Tamara
Underwood, 2023
“Peter is honest, hard-working and came on time. Knew excally what he was talking about and answered my questions. Would 100% recommend”
- J
John G
Beaudesert, 2019
“Peter is an honest person who provided me with the information I wanted then performed a good job with great results for the benefit of myself and my family.”
- Shipages
Sterling G
Ashgrove, 2023
“Comfort Zone were very knowledge with great communication and follow up”
- Ghipages
Graham R
Riverhills, 2018
“Comfort Zone. Turned up ahead of time completed in +- 2 hours cleaned. All good. Very motivated installation team”
- Jhipages
Jung K
Riverhills, 2023
“An experienced family operation. Highly recommend. Thank you for the great job!”
- Khipages
Kathy A
North Lakes, 2023
“We connected with Peter through HiPages and he was prompt, professional and even came back after the job was complete to assist with a question we had. We would highly recommend Peter for further insulation works.”
- Dhipages
David H
Sunshine Coast, 2021
“Completed the job as quoted and to a high standard. Great personal service. Would highly recommend Comfort Zone for ceiling installationn work.”
- Shipages
Sue H
Sunshine Coast, 2021
“Incredible customer service”
- Ehipages
Eileen C
Cedar Vale, 2021
“Quality work, good customer service, prompt”
- Chipages
Craig M
Woody Point, 2021
“Called within 5 minutes of request. Very knowledgeable and explained job in great detail, provide great advice in prior preparation for works required. Very friendly and helpful.”
- Jhipages
Jenny C
Plainland, 2021
“Although I did not hire Peter I was impressed with the initial contact and the knowledge he was willing to impart. I was treated with respect which I appreciated. I would have hired but I received a lower quote.”
- Qhipages
Quinton
Coomera, 2020
“Professional installation without any short cuts. True to their word with high integrity. Response from Comfort Zone Insulation”
- Ghipages
Gary P
West Kempsey, 2020
“Came & Gave a free quote”
Don't get the numbers crossed
Three different R-values get quoted for the same roof.
This is where a lot of people get talked in circles. Same ceiling, three numbers — and only one of them is what's actually going in your roof.
1 · Added R-value
R3.0
what you install · “on the bag”
The insulation an installer actually fits, and the figure every NCC table on this page gives. This is the number to compare quotes on. Our zone-5 example: R3.0 cellulose.
2 · Total-system R-value
~R4.1
the whole roof working together
The ceiling lining, the insulation, the roof cavity and the air films all add up — roughly R1.0–R1.1 on top of the bag. Genuine. But it describes the whole assembly, not the product you bought.
3 · NatHERS “effective”
~R5.5
a whole-of-home energy model
A modelling figure from a 7-star home design. It’s the one some quotes wave around to make a roof sound like it needs an R5.5 batt. Your climate zone almost never does.
The plain version: match the added R-value to your climate zone, then install it with no gaps. A seamless cellulose ceiling reaches its rating where a cut-to-fit batt loses some of it — here’s why an R5 batt isn’t really an R5 in your roof.
The added R-values, by zone
Every NCC climate zone, and what the code asks for.
The added insulation R-values from NCC 2022 Housing Provisions, Part 13.2 — the figure an installer fits. Ceiling figures are for a typical pitched roof and move with roof colour and sarking; the tool above gives your zone with its exact table.
| Zone | Climate & where | Ceiling (added) | External wall | Suspended floor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot humid. Tropical North Queensland (Cairns, Townsville, Cape York), the Top End (Darwin) and the Kimberley. | R2.5R1.5–R4.5Table 13.2.3a | R1.5–R2.5Tables 13.2.5a / 13.2.5b | R2.0Table 13.2.6a |
| 2★ our patch | Warm humid. The South East Queensland coast — Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan, Moreton Bay, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast — plus the warm coastal NSW strip up to about Coffs Harbour. This is where most of our work is. | R2.5R2.5–R3.5Table 13.2.3c | R1.5Tables 13.2.5c / 13.2.5d | R2.0Table 13.2.6a |
| 3 | Hot dry. The hot, dry country properly west of the Great Dividing Range — the Western Downs (Dalby, Chinchilla), Mount Isa, Alice Springs and inland WA. | R2.5R2.5–R5.0Table 13.2.3d | R1.5Tables 13.2.5e / 13.2.5f | R1.5Table 13.2.6a |
| 4 | Hot dry, cool winter. Hot-dry inland with genuinely cool winters — much of inland NSW and Victoria (Wagga, Mildura, Shepparton) and South Australia's mid-north. | R3.5R3.0–R3.5Table 13.2.3e | R2.0–R2.5Tables 13.2.5g / 13.2.5h | Enclose subfloor*Table 13.2.6a / 13.2.6d |
| 5★ our patch | Warm temperate. Toowoomba and the Darling Downs, the South Burnett (Kingaroy, Nanango) and the Granite Belt foothills, plus Perth, Adelaide and most of coastal Sydney. | R3.0R2.5–R3.0Table 13.2.3f | R1.5–R2.0Tables 13.2.5i / 13.2.5j | Enclose subfloor*Table 13.2.6a / 13.2.6e |
| 6 | Mild temperate. Melbourne, Geelong, the Bellarine, lower-country around Canberra, and the cooler Granite Belt highlands (Stanthorpe sits on the zone 5/6 line). | R4.0R3.5–R4.0Table 13.2.3g | R2.4–R2.5Tables 13.2.5k / 13.2.5l | R4.0Table 13.2.6a |
| 7 | Cool temperate. Canberra, the Southern Highlands and tablelands, Ballarat, Bendigo and Hobart. | R4.5R4.0–R5.0Table 13.2.3h | R2.0–R2.5Tables 13.2.5m / 13.2.5n | R4.0Table 13.2.6a |
| 8 | Alpine. The alpine high country of NSW, Victoria and Tasmania — Thredbo, Mount Hotham, Cooma and the Central Plateau. | R4.5R4.0–R4.5Table 13.2.3i | R2.0–R2.7Tables 13.2.5o | R4.0Table 13.2.6a |
*In zones 4 and 5 the NCC doesn’t list floor insulation over an open subfloor as a standard path — its route is to enclose the subfloor and insulate the subfloor walls. On an existing raised home, a snug underfloor batt still adds genuine winter comfort; we’ll tell you straight whether yours is worth doing.
Source for every figure: NCC 2022 Housing Provisions, Part 13.2 (Building fabric), free to read on the ABCB website. Ceiling = pitched roof with a horizontal ceiling (Tables 13.2.3); wall figures are a representative single-storey value (Tables 13.2.5); floor = over an open subfloor (Table 13.2.6a).
Why there isn’t one magic number
Your zone sets the floor. Four things move it from there.
The NCC tables aren’t a single figure per zone — they’re a grid. Anyone who gives you one R-value before they know these four things is guessing or upselling:
- 1
Roof colour
Dark roofs soak up more sun, so in the hot zones they ask for more added ceiling insulation. The single biggest lever after your zone.
- 2
Roof ventilation
Whether the roof cavity is vented or sealed shifts the figure a little — a small adjustment here in the warm zones, not the headline.
- 3
Reflective foil / sarking
Foil sarking under the roof can lower the added insulation the code asks for — but only while it keeps its air gap and stays clean.
- 4
What's already up there
The bag number is added insulation. If there's sound, dry insulation already in the ceiling, we can often top over it to reach the figure.
Want the full picture on roof colour, vents, foil and the “Total System Value” trick? Read the full R-value & climate-zone guide.
Comfort Zone insulation.team
Family-owned insulation manufacturer, making comfy homes since 1986
A seamless cellulose blanket pumped right around the ducting and cabling — installed gap-free so the added R-value actually counts in the roof.
Comfort Zone insulation.team
Family-owned insulation manufacturer, making comfy homes since 1986
Straight from the source
No guesswork — the official map and the actual code.
The climate zones aren’t a rough postcode list someone typed up. They’re drawn as map areas by the Australian Building Codes Board. We took the official ABCB climate-zone map and matched every Australian postcode and suburb to it, so the zone the tool gives you is the one the code really uses for your address.
The R-values are read straight out of the NCC 2022 Housing Provisions, Part 13.2. And there’s no conflict between “the ABCB” and “the NCC”: the ABCB is the body that publishes the National Construction Code, and it’s free to read.
ABCB Australian Climate Zone Map (data.gov.au, CC BY 4.0)
ABS 2021 postcode & suburb boundaries
NCC 2022 Housing Provisions, Part 13.2 — ceiling, wall & floor tables
Straight answers
R-value questions I get asked most.
How do I find out what climate zone my house is in?+
Type your suburb or postcode into the tool on this page. The National Construction Code splits Australia into eight building climate zones, drawn as map areas — not a simple postcode list. We took the official ABCB climate-zone map and matched every Australian postcode and suburb to it (point-in-polygon against the ABCB shapes), so the zone you get is the one the code actually uses for your address. A handful of large country postcodes straddle a zone line; where that happens we tell you and list both.
What R-value do I actually need in my ceiling?+
It depends on your climate zone, and within the zone on your roof colour, whether the roof space is vented, and whether there's foil sarking. As a rough guide the NCC's minimum added ceiling insulation is about R2.5 in zone 2 (the SE Queensland coast), R3.0 in zone 5 (Toowoomba and the Downs), and R4.0–R4.5 in the cold southern zones 6–8. The tool shows the figure for your zone with the exact NCC table it comes from. We install around R3.0 cellulose as standard on the coast — comfortably over the zone-2 minimum without chasing a number your climate never asked for.
What's the difference between the added R-value, the total-system value and a NatHERS star rating?+
Three different numbers get quoted for the same roof. The ADDED R-value is what's printed on the bag — the insulation an installer actually fits, and what the NCC tables on this page give (for example R3.0 in zone 5). The TOTAL-SYSTEM R-value is the whole roof working together — the ceiling lining, the insulation, the roof cavity and the air films — which adds roughly R1.0–R1.1, so an added R3.0 becomes about R4.1 as a system. The NatHERS figure is a whole-of-home energy-model number (an added R3.0 ceiling can sit inside a 7-star design that quotes an 'effective' R5.5). They're all real. But the only one that describes what's going in your roof is the added figure — so that's the one to compare quotes on.
Why does my roof colour change the R-value I need?+
A dark roof soaks up far more sun than a light one — that's its solar absorptance (SA), and the NCC tables are built around it. In the hot zones (1, 2 and 3) a darker roof asks for MORE added ceiling insulation because there's more heat to keep out. In the cold zones it can be the other way around. Same house, same suburb: paint the roof charcoal instead of off-white and the required number moves. It's one of the biggest single levers on what you actually need.
Do I need underfloor insulation, and what R-value?+
For a suspended floor over an open subfloor — the classic Queenslander up on stumps — the NCC sets R2.0 in zones 1 and 2, R1.5 in zone 3, and R4.0 in the cold zones 6–8. In zones 4 and 5 the code doesn't list floor insulation over an open subfloor as a standard path at all; its route there is to enclose the subfloor and insulate the subfloor walls. That said, on an existing raised home a properly fitted underfloor batt still delivers real winter comfort — the Government's YourHome guide recommends underfloor insulation for heating climates. We'll always look under the house and tell you straight whether your floor is worth doing.
Is a higher R-value always better?+
No. Past the point your climate needs, a bigger number buys very little extra comfort — it's like putting two coats of SPF 50 sunscreen on at once. Once your ceiling is at the right R-value for your zone with no gaps, spending up on a much higher rating is mostly paying for a number on a bag. And the rating only counts if the insulation actually covers the whole ceiling: a batt cut to fit leaves gaps, and even a small uninsulated percentage drags the effective R-value down sharply. Pumped-in cellulose fills the corners as one seamless blanket, so the rating you pay for is much closer to the rating you get.
Where does this data come from — is it really the NCC?+
Yes. The climate zones are the Australian Government's official ones, published by the Australian Building Codes Board (the ABCB) as the 'Australian Climate Zone Map' on data.gov.au, matched to ABS postcode and suburb boundaries. The R-values are read straight from the NCC 2022 Housing Provisions, Part 13.2 (Building fabric) — ceiling Tables 13.2.3, external-wall Tables 13.2.5 and suspended-floor Table 13.2.6. There's no conflict between 'the ABCB' and 'the NCC': the ABCB is the body that publishes the NCC. Every figure on this page names its exact table, and the NCC is free to read on the ABCB site.
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Know your zone — now get the right number for your roof.
Send me your address, roof colour and roof type and I’ll work out the right added R-value for your climate zone, then give you a fixed-price quote within 48 hours for most houses. No upselling, no deposit.